The client’s professional services organization was experiencing declining delivery quality and extended implementation timelines, with customers waiting 9–12 months to realize value. These delays were driving rework, eroding team confidence, and limiting the company’s ability to scale delivery predictably.

I assessed the delivery system end to end to identify the structural constraints limiting speed, quality, and time to value.

The assessment surfaced a small number of high-impact issues: unclear hand-offs between customer-facing and engineering teams, inconsistent inputs into delivery, and excessive manual effort in routine execution. Together, these constraints were creating avoidable rework and unpredictable throughput.

I led a targeted effort focused on removing these constraints:

• Clarity & alignment: Standardized how requirements were captured by the customer-facing team, giving engineers the information they needed to deliver right the first time.

• Efficiency through automation: Automated user story creation based on standardized requirements, reducing manual overhead and errors.

• Accountability & motivation: Defined clear success metrics and created a recognition program to celebrate progress and achievements.

• Scaling best practices: Built template solutions for recurring problems and a standardized template for customers to report issues and defects.

Results:

• Defects reduced by more than 50%.

• Average time to value improved 25% 

• Delivery became more predictable, with fewer escalations and less rework

• Teams operated with greater focus and confidence, supported by clearer expectations and integrated quality

• Improved collaboration between customer-facing and engineering teams created a healthier delivery culture.

The client’s professional services organization was operating at only 60–70% billable utilization, well below the 90% target. This represented substantial unrealized revenue and indicated deeper issues with visibility, prioritization, and accountability across the delivery system.

I assessed how work flowed through the organization and identified the structural constraints preventing predictable revenue realization.

The review revealed that while teams were busy, there was limited transparency into how time was allocated, inconsistent expectations around billable work, and no systematic feedback loop connecting daily activity to business outcomes.

I led a focused execution advisory effort centered on two high leverage changes:

• System-level visibility: Established clear, consistent utilization metrics and embedded them into regular operating rhythms, making work allocation and performance transparent across the organization.

• Accountability through feedback loops: Integrated utilization data into leadership discussions and team communications, aligning daily execution with financial and delivery objectives.
  
  

Results

• Billable utilization increased to over 90% within two months

• Revenue realization improved without adding headcount

• Teams operated with clearer expectations and fewer surprises

• Leadership gained reliable insight into delivery capacity and constraints, enabling better planning and scaling decisions