Contents
The first three months of an improvement partnership should establish how you work together and begin turning agreed priorities into usable changes. This guide describes an adaptable sequence for an established SME. It is not a promise that every system can be transformed in 90 days: the monthly allowance, access, existing systems and your team's availability determine what can responsibly be delivered.
Build a starting picture of the operation
Choose a small set of workflows where the business experiences friction. Trace one real task from start to finish with the people who perform it, including exceptions, waiting and repeated entry. Record the systems involved and who owns each handover. Use synthetic or appropriately authorised records when demonstrating the work.
Establish a baseline before changing the process. A practical record might include elapsed time, hands-on work, volume and rework for one task. Distinguish observations from estimates, and note when an unusually busy week could distort the picture. GOV.UK's benefits guidance describes the value of establishing a baseline; the SME measurement choices here are an application of that principle.
Turn the diagnosis into a short, shared backlog
For each candidate, record the problem, proposed outcome, affected people, prerequisites and acceptance check. Prefer a complete slice of work whose effect can be inspected. A connector that moves one approved record reliably may be more useful than a broad dashboard whose underlying data is unresolved.
Agree what will wait. If a change needs a third-party API or a process owner who is unavailable, separate the investigation from implementation. A backlog entry should not imply that an uncertain dependency is already solved. The delivery team and business sponsor should both understand the next commitment.
Deliver the first bounded improvement
Make the first release narrow enough to test and introduce safely. Define the ordinary journey and the important exceptions: duplicate records, missing information, an incorrect permission or an unavailable service. Agree a way to stop or reverse the change if the operating result is unacceptable.
Bring the people doing the work into the demonstration. Check whether the change fits the actual handover and whether staff know what to do when it cannot complete. Powerleague's ordering case study illustrates why local ordering and central fulfilment need to be considered together; it is not evidence for the timing or outcome of this proposed first release.
Make adoption part of delivery
Explain the new process in the language staff use. Provide a short procedure, a clear support route and practice with representative examples. Avoid leaving the old and new processes competing indefinitely without a decision about which one is authoritative.
Look for unresolved exceptions after release. If staff return to a spreadsheet, ask what it still helps them do. The answer may reveal a missing feature, unclear ownership or a training need. Treat that observation as evidence for the next backlog decision.
Use the three-month review to choose the next investment
Review completed changes, observed benefits, operating costs and remaining constraints. Separate delivery activity from business effect: a released feature, a completed training session and a reduction in avoidable rework are different kinds of evidence. Keep estimates labelled and do not describe regained capacity as a cash saving unless spending really changes.
Decide which improvement to continue, adjust or stop, and whether the monthly allowance still fits. Veda's initial partnership commitment is three months, then rolling monthly. Cancellation requires 30 days' written notice, effective at the end of a monthly billing period after the initial term. The review helps inform that decision; it does not create a guarantee of a particular financial return.
What to bring to the first conversation
Bring one or two examples of work that is slower or more repetitive than it should be, the systems involved and a person who can explain the handover. You do not need a complete technical specification or a preselected AI tool.
The Business Improvement Partnership includes onboarding. If you prefer a standalone diagnosis first, the £995 plus VAT Business Efficiency Audit remains optional and separate. A free Systems Strategy Call can help establish which starting point fits your situation.