Engagement Process
How an advisory relationship moves from first conversation to a working Integration Management Office — and when we step back.
Boards rarely need another framework diagram. They need a clear sequence: who we meet, what we read, when chargeable work starts, and how the client’s own leaders take the rhythm forward.
Before any fee
We hold a scoping conversation — usually forty-five minutes by video or at our Christchurch office. You describe the organisations, the close date or current stage, and the friction already visible. We say whether we have capacity and any sector conflict. No proposal theatre; a short note follows if both sides wish to continue.
The sequence we typically follow
- Conflict and confidentiality We complete a conflict check and execute a confidentiality agreement before receiving sensitive org charts or synergy models.
- Statement of work Scope, duration, fee basis, on-site expectations, and named Enterprise Evolve leads are written down. Work does not begin on a handshake alone.
- Diagnostic Interviews with both legacy leadership groups, review of existing plans, and a first map of workstreams and risks. For fixed diligence projects, this produces the board brief. For programmes, it shapes the IMO design.
- IMO standing up Agree cadence, owners, escalation paths, and the first three decisions that must not drift. Meeting hygiene matters more than branding the office.
- Execution support Weekly or fortnightly facilitation, challenge of synergy claims, and board packs. Intensity follows the statement of work — we do not invent extra workshops to fill a calendar.
- Handover Transfer of the issues register, reporting templates, and open decisions to the client’s ongoing governance. We remain available for a defined wind-down period if useful.
What you prepare
Organisational charts, the public or internal synergy thesis, top customers and suppliers, and the names of anyone already acting as a workstream lead. If those names do not exist yet, that is normal — naming them is early work.
What slows an engagement
Unclear decision rights at the buyer’s board, inaccessible target-side leaders, or a request to “validate” a synergy number we believe is unsafe. We will say so early rather than burn a month of goodwill.
Natural next step
Browse consultations for the engagement that fits, or request a conversation with the transaction stage and organisation sizes. We aim to reply within two business days.