Case studies

Two results from my earlier operations and quality roles. Client names are withheld; figures are as reported at the time.

Case 1: From SLA penalties to overachievement bonuses

Setting: a large professional-services client account in a business process services company, 2017–2019.

Problem: the account was missing its service-level agreements and paying penalties for it.

What was done:

1. Analysed the existing KPIs against staffing to find where the gaps were.
2. Used baseline volumes by work type to forecast future volume trends, testing several forecasting methods and keeping the most accurate. Seasonality and trend were built in.
3. Turned the forecast into interval-level demand, then into a staffing plan by skill set, and changed the schedules to match.
4. Recommended upskilling plans for the team, based on where the volume trends showed skills would be needed.
5. Built the model in Excel on purpose, so the operations team could run and update it themselves without an analyst.

Result: the account moved from paying SLA penalties to claiming overachievement bonuses. A second client account later asked for the same staffing rebuild.

What it shows: measure first, then change the process. The fix was a better forecast and schedule, not new software, and the people who run the work could keep it going after the project ended.

Case 2: A global real-estate footprint cut by nearly 30%

Setting: a global transformation programme at a Fortune 500 company, run from the Chief Innovation Officer's office. I was a Six Sigma Black Belt on the programme.

My part: I facilitated the discovery sessions and co-led them with the project owner, and analysed the baseline data on real estate, cost and people that the decisions rested on.

Problem: before separating into two companies, the business ran a global optimisation exercise. Real estate and the number of management layers were two of the areas in scope.

What was done:

1. Phase 1, real estate: reduced the global footprint from about 12 million to about 8.5 million square feet.
2. Phase 2, organisation: flattened the structure from 15 levels to 12, from entry level to CEO.

Result: both phases were delivered ahead of schedule.

What it shows: running discovery with the people who own the decision, and building the baseline those decisions rest on, at enterprise scale and ahead of plan.