What organisations are really struggling with... and how they're changing

After working with several teams in recent months, a set of familiar themes keeps resurfacing. Different sectors, different pressures, but the same underlying story: people want to do good work, yet the way their processes operate day to day gets in the way more than it should.

Across improvement workshops, teams often describe a sense of pressure building around them. They’re trying to meet expectations while navigating mixed portfolios, uneven allocation of workstreams and gaps created by sickness or turnover. This complexity shows up in exercises like portfolio mapping and allocation reviews, where teams recognise how tangled their workload has become.

Alongside this, many groups speak openly about their levels of confidence. They’re motivated and curious about improving how they work, but they sometimes feel unsure about how to engage in improvement activity without creating more work for themselves. The concern about accidentally increasing workload (especially when talking about innovation or new tools) emerges again and again.

Another theme is the search for clarity. Teams often say they want a clearer sense of identity and direction. They’re asking for stronger governance, tidier communication flows and more purposeful meetings. In several workshops, the discussion turned to how meetings feel: too many operational updates, too little space for connection, thinking and agreement. When people step back and look at their overall system, they can see how much this contributes to the pressure they experience.

The encouraging part is how willing teams are to make changes once they can see the roots of their challenges. When people take time to map their processes, examine handovers, look at communication patterns or assess where work is genuinely adding value, the solutions become more visible. Teams begin experimenting with structured huddles, clearer escalation routes, refreshed reporting, and more deliberate use of strategic forums.

What strikes most is that the shift doesn’t come from big, dramatic transformations. It's instead from small, confident steps which move forward to reduce friction (process and people), restore clarity and help people feel more grounded in their roles. Once teams can see the system around them more clearly, they move with more intention. They stop firefighting and start shaping the way they work - having the clarity to see objectively and explore their own agency.

Every organisation is different, but the underlying themes are surprisingly consistent:

People aren’t resistant to change. They’re resistant to overwhelm, ambiguity and processes which make meaningful work harder than it needs to be. When we help teams reflect, make sense of their environment and build realistic improvements together, things start to feel lighter and more achievable.

If you’d like to explore what these themes might look like in your own organisation (or if you’re curious about running an improvement workshop) we're always happy to talk.