Castlerigg was commissioned by South Cambridgeshire District Council (SCDC) to undertake a fundamental review of the council.  The purpose of the review was to assess whether the council had the right capability (people, assets, services, technology, processes) to meet its revised strategic priorities.

Working with Cabinet and the Executive Management Team (EMT), we together developed a revised organisational vision, blueprint and design principles to define what capabilities the council needed from a revised operating model, using our Adapt™ organisational capability modelling tool.  This provided the framework against which to assess the council today and its future options.

We deployed Construct™ to evaluate the council’s current operations and service design, underpinned by a detailed analysis of the council’s strategy, finance, workforce, performance, service management and partnership arrangements.

A practical options appraisal was then undertaken, assessing the options for a future operating model and the relative benefits, risks and costs for each proposed option.  Importantly, we also assessed the practicality of options based on the council’s current position and readiness for change, to ensure the final approved model was both realistic and achievable.

Key deliverables

Organisational Review Report including:

Organisational vision, blueprint, design principles and capabilities

An organisational capability assessment

Detailed appraisal of each potential organisational design model

A recommended model, justification and next steps

An outline operating model including a proposed functional alignment and management arrangements and programme documentation to enable SCDC to take a structured approach to delivering their chosen model and the council’s future strategic ambitions.