Knowledge
Management ►►►►

+ Knowledge audits & taxonomy development
+ KM process design
+ Repositories, access portals, collaboration tools, expertise locators, & intranets
+ Physical and virtual communities of practice, knowledge networks/sharing events, and intermediaries

Nonprofit
Planning ►►►►

+ Strategies for growth and sustainability
+ Board process and structure
+ Financial modeling
+ Team, skills, and staffing

Project
Oversight ►►►►

Health Check
+ Commitment and trust
+ Governance, and decision- making
+ Staffing and staff skills
+ Scheduling, monitoring, and anticipation

Action Programs
+ Decision-making, priori-tization, change control
+ Skills: project control, meeting management' empowerment, etc.
+ Governance upgrades
+ Critical open issues management

Ongoing Oversight
+ Surface and help resolve problems before they become crises
+ Provide confidence in project progress

Process
Improvement ►►►►

+ Needs assessment & stakeholder analysis
+ Future visioning
+ Process analysis
+ Implementation strategy
+ Pilot planning/rollout

Change
Management ►►►►

+ Future state visioning
+ Situation analysis
+ Gap, leverage point, & intervention analysis
+ Transformation planning
+ Implementation support

The CEO of a growing, global, supply-chain intermediary recognized that a significant opportunity existed to leverage knowledge more effectively across the organization.  Chait and Associates was asked to help the organization develop a KM strategy and a set of focused pilot efforts.

The work began with an evaluation of the nature of knowledge sharing in the organization, management's mindset, and the firm's change-readiness.  Through interviews and workshops, a set of pilot opportunities was developed and the  objectives and scope of the overall KM initiative were set.  KM success factors were identified and communicated across the organization.  Chait also coached the CEO and his team on their required involvement in and responsibilities for KM.

Benefits: maintained drive to share information; leveraged knowledge to drive strategic decisions; controlled costs and maintained delivery dates by reusing knowledge.►►►►

When the CEO of an international management consulting firm recognized the need to leverage the company's extensive intellectual capital more effectively, he asked Chait to take on that mission. 

Leading a core team of eight KM specialists, Chait built a virtual organization that collected and organized 12,000 key documents focused on re-usable methodologies, products, tools, and "learnings," as well as detailed information on more than 4,000 employees and 16,000 client assignments.  The team deployed a Web-enabled application that provided instant access to all of this data using free text, key word, "more like this," and other search mechanisms.  At the same time, the team established a network of over 100 "Knowledge Stewards" to tailor and drive utilization of KM processes within each practice/business unit.

Benefits: 50%-75% time saving on regularly performed sales and service delivery tasks; projected $50M to the bottom line from improved sales conversion, reduced sales costs, more efficient service delivery, and more rapid assimilation of new staff.►►►►

A national nonprofit that focuses on the challenges of the elderly had been financially challenged for several years, which severely impacted its ability to revamp its programs in response to major changes in its marketplace.

Working with a team of consultants from Root Cause, Chait undertook an eight-month planning effort to develop a business plan for growth, financial sustainability, and greater influence that was designed to refine the organization's strategic goals, objectives, and planned activities, and to develop a model to ensure the organization's long-term financial sustainability.

Chait and his team help the organization develop a mission and vision that reflected marketplace realities, and a set of strategies and action plan to achieve that mission and vision.  They helped the organization restructure its governance structure, dividing the Board of Directors into two separate groups, one focused on fiduciary and funding issues, and the other on developing and supporting the policy and program agendas of the organization.  Chait also coached the Executive Director in how she could best advance the plan, mission, and vision.

Benefits:  a reenergized governance structure with Board members refocused and prepared to fill their newly defined roles; an internal team fully committed to implementing the plan; and a new funding process that immediately began to generate positive results.
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A regional transportation authority had undertaken the largest, most complex, and farthest-reaching project in its history.  The project involved the design, development, and installation of new technology; new concepts for operations management, including changes in the roles of hundreds of employees; and an aggressive timetable for completion.

As is all too common on projects of this size and scope, progress was slow and delays piled on top of delays.  While the staff was expert in running a transportation system, they simply did not have the skills or experience to manage a transformational project of this magnitude.

Senior Management called in Chait and Associates to perform a Health Check of the project, to coach management and staff through the project, and to oversee and support its progress.

We provided an independent and uniquely skilled set of eyes, ears, and hands to help ensure the success of the project.  And we are transferred the knowledge we have gained from decades of project-support experience about important and valuable tools and techniques that help ensure success.  We served in these capacities during the most intensive and difficult portion of the project.

Benefits: as the project is ongoing, final results are not yet in, but the staff have already learned and are practicing new skills, project management is moving from casual to professional, a new governance structure is in place, and barriers to progress are being eliminated.  The initial rollout has been expedited by several months and is on schedule.►►►►

After decades of stability, major changes in the competitive, regulatory, and IS environments forced a $2B Australian financial services company to redesign its administrative/delivery processes and systems.

Focusing on the core call center processes, Chait and his project team developed a one-stop service concept; designed a fully automated, client/server-based customer service system; and shifted the organization from a hierarchical to a "flat" structure.

Benefits: 33% reduction in headcount and a reduction from twenty days to one hour in elapsed time to solve typical customer problems.►►►►

Faced with rapid growth but flat profits, a real estate investment firm with a portfolio of over 700 multi-unit residential properties needed to dramatically improve productivity and customer service.

Chait worked closely with top management to redefine the corporate vision, and led a joint ADL/client team that applied role modeling and other change methodologies to develop a comprehensive restructuring plan.  Change activities included combining the sales and administrative organizations into a single customer-focused unit, and selecting/deploying a Windows NT/SQL/Lotus Notes environment to support the new structure and processes.

Benefits: profitability increased from 22% to 35%; expectations were met or exceeded for 95% of customers in every market segment; employee job satisfaction ratings rose to 95%.►►►►