Social change is not easy. Running an organisation that is devoted to changing something in society is not easy. Actually running any organisation isn’t easy, but in organisations that are cause driven - like providers of services to people experiencing poverty or other forms of social exclusion, or agencies campaigning for changes in policy - the bottom line is rarely clear. In fact there are many ‘bottom lines’.

Satisfying a wide range of parties who have some kind of stake in your organisation is the root of the complexity of organisations working to achieve lasting social change. And it is their strength.

Senior managers, funders and board members approach management consultants with a bewildering range of challenges:

Those in leadership roles in an organisation are most often concerned about some of the big picture issues…

• “We want to reassess and rearticulate our values and organisational ethos”
• “We want to get better at planning ahead and making sure our plans are achievable”
• “We’re wondering whether a group structure is right for us.”
• “It’s difficult getting our board to work well together. What should we be doing differently?”
• “We want to be more representative, reflecting the interests of our different supporters better. How can we do this?”
• “What should we be thinking about if we merge with another organisation?”

Funders, regulatory agencies, service users, members and other interested parties can cause organisations to think about what difference their work makes…

• “A major funder suggests we have an external review to assess our impact and value for money”
• “We need to understand our performance and impact better”
• “We need to understand better what our membership thinks of us”
• “We need to prepare for (or deliver) the new approach to regulation”
• “Our performance management system doesn’t enable us properly to monitor and evaluate our performance and impact”
• “We need to research a topical theme with implications for government policy in relation to the sector”
• “Would social auditing be right for us?”
• “Last time we conducted a survey of our service users, it raised a number of issues, but nothing happened after the report. How can we get it right this time?

Senior managers also worry about some of the big questions internal to their organisations’ functioning:

• “Our senior team needs to move up a gear”
• “We want to change the way our organisation works to respond to the changing world and to become more efficient”
• “We want to review our senior managers’ roles and our top structures”
• “I’m a new chief executive. I see a range of problems. Which one should I be thinking of tacking first?”
• “I’ve been the leader here for quite a while now. How do we plan for a successful succession?”
• “We’re planning a major meeting of experts to help think through our longer term future. We need to make sure the meeting works well and achieves our goal.”
• “We don’t seem to be getting on with our partners in an important project. We need a meeting to mediate and help us move forward.”
• “There are so many different approaches to quality management. Which one should we use and how should we implement it?”

Since 2003, ALL these statements and questions have been the opening lines of a conversation with a senior executive or board member in a charity, NGO or public sector body.

Each has led to a successful consultancy assignment for transform.

See our Services and Press sections for complete examples.