Managing a Transition
This is an example of the kind of opening proposal we might offer a client to help frame an exploratory discussion about the shape of a potential engagement and how we might begin a ’protean’ inquiry
An ideas paper to stimulate thinking about
‘managing the transition’
‘managing the transition’
Over the past 15 years XYZ has identified a niche in the marketplace for ABC services, and developed an approach which has proved to be very effective. As a result, the demand for these services has grown, and XYZ’s credibility and reputation has developed to such an extent that it has attracted significant new funding from both local and central government in recent years. As a result of the last tranche of investment in the past 6 months, the organisation has been able to double staffing levels and increase output considerably.
As a result of this success, the senior management of XYZ are now responsible for quite a significant operation. Having made the leap from a small to medium sized enterprise in a relatively short period, the leadership of the organisation is now becoming aware of a range of issues that come with increased size and expectations raised by continuing success:
• Managing a much larger group of people who present a different order of challenge in terms of co-ordinating relationships, dealing with differences, and so on
• Engaging with and relating to a larger group of external stakeholders, both regulatory and supportive, as well as many more clients and their networks in the community
• Developing the marketing and financing capabilities to both sustain and then grow the organisation from its current level of business
• Developing and supporting the growing new non-mainstream lines of business like providing training for professionals and offering consultancy to other interested authorities
As a result of this success, the senior management of XYZ are now responsible for quite a significant operation. Having made the leap from a small to medium sized enterprise in a relatively short period, the leadership of the organisation is now becoming aware of a range of issues that come with increased size and expectations raised by continuing success:
• Managing a much larger group of people who present a different order of challenge in terms of co-ordinating relationships, dealing with differences, and so on
• Engaging with and relating to a larger group of external stakeholders, both regulatory and supportive, as well as many more clients and their networks in the community
• Developing the marketing and financing capabilities to both sustain and then grow the organisation from its current level of business
• Developing and supporting the growing new non-mainstream lines of business like providing training for professionals and offering consultancy to other interested authorities
• Creating and resourcing the strategic, developmental, and operational capabilities that will take the organisation into the next decade
These activities are likely to constitute a significant drain on the most experienced and strategic resources in XYZ who currently are no doubt most focused on getting the ‘newly-doubled-in-size’ operation to work effectively. Apart from bringing in management consultants to investigate and advise senior management – a common response to this kind of situation – are there any other ways these challenges could be met? Might it for instance, be possible for current staff to be able to find the time, energy, creativity, and leadership to themselves come up with internal solutions to these, and be able to implement them effectively?
We believe that this is not only possible but preferable, in that: largely home grown solutions are likely to be far more attuned to the real work challenges and actual human resources the organisation has; and that such resolutions will be more practical and much easier to implement by the staff who created and are committed to them.
However to do this, we believe that XYZ staff are likely to benefit from a responsive and varying level of perceptive, light touch support to help bring what normally might be seen as ‘offline’ activity, e.g. strategy, policy, and development activities, ‘online’ into everyday work tackling the real issues facing the enterprise. In doing this they will be able to engage with these more development oriented challenges while tackling operational demands, making improvements to these, and learning and developing new capability while doing this. As Kurt Lewin once said, the best way to learn about something, is to try to change it, and, we would add, use this learning both to improve performance and develop new capabilities. We call this process close learning.
In the rest of this short paper we talk briefly about a number of issues and options which we think are likely to influence what ever approach XYZ decide to use to tackle the challenges ahead viz. the nature of the challenge; relevant systemic principles; a possible form for the intervention; types and levels of support; and budgeting information. The scope and level of the ideas offered may appear to be on too grand a scale for what is in prospect and something simpler may well be sufficient for what actually needs to be achieved. However the aim of this paper is to stimulate further reflection and not provide firm proposals, and we hope that the frameworks and ideas that follow, will be experienced in these terms.
We believe that this is not only possible but preferable, in that: largely home grown solutions are likely to be far more attuned to the real work challenges and actual human resources the organisation has; and that such resolutions will be more practical and much easier to implement by the staff who created and are committed to them.
However to do this, we believe that XYZ staff are likely to benefit from a responsive and varying level of perceptive, light touch support to help bring what normally might be seen as ‘offline’ activity, e.g. strategy, policy, and development activities, ‘online’ into everyday work tackling the real issues facing the enterprise. In doing this they will be able to engage with these more development oriented challenges while tackling operational demands, making improvements to these, and learning and developing new capability while doing this. As Kurt Lewin once said, the best way to learn about something, is to try to change it, and, we would add, use this learning both to improve performance and develop new capabilities. We call this process close learning.
In the rest of this short paper we talk briefly about a number of issues and options which we think are likely to influence what ever approach XYZ decide to use to tackle the challenges ahead viz. the nature of the challenge; relevant systemic principles; a possible form for the intervention; types and levels of support; and budgeting information. The scope and level of the ideas offered may appear to be on too grand a scale for what is in prospect and something simpler may well be sufficient for what actually needs to be achieved. However the aim of this paper is to stimulate further reflection and not provide firm proposals, and we hope that the frameworks and ideas that follow, will be experienced in these terms.
What is the nature of the challenge?
In response to an earlier inquiry about how to respond to these, one of your advisers put forward the idea of framing the challenge as a ‘transition’ and suggested the setting up a group to play a leading role in helping the organisation work its way through the various changes involved in this. This sounds to us like a very useful way to look at the work that lies ahead, and fits well with the close learning approach we’re proposing you adopt, to guide and influence the process of changing. If we use the concept of ‘transition’ to begin thinking about the nature of the work ahead, what are some of the changes that need to be considered?
• What we might regard as the ‘structural’ aspect of the transition, appears to have been largely achieved, in that the extra staff to support the new requirement have been recruited, and are already, or are soon to be, in place. Possibly more work needs to be done on refining role specifications, performance goals, and so on; and maybe there needs to be a fuller induction to the policies and procedures that the new people will need to learn to work to. We might call this transition 1.
• But in addition to these aspects (what we might term the ‘technical’ side of staffing) attention also needs to be devoted to the more psychological, social, and political dimensions of the work contract, allowing for the transfer of the less obvious, tacit aspects of knowing possessed by the Chief Executive and his most experienced staff, to the new members of staff. We might call this transition 2.
• At the same time, as the organisation has only very recently doubled in size, this cannot just be a matter of reviewing patterns of ‘business as usual’: there must now also be questions about how best to operate the business in its larger form, and a re-addressing of fundamental questions like: what is this organisation really about now?; and how does it really work? So we imagine that it will be important to create a learning climate that will encourage newcomers not just to absorb this knowing passively but to engage in a more open, questioning, and critical two-way interchange with existing staff. We might call this transition 3.
• There is also the question of yet further expansion, not only of the primary education and counselling service, but also into developing the smaller training and consultancy services, through new ‘products’ and into new sectors. This will require the organisation to build on as well as create new capabilities, to support a more innovation and outward-facing stance towards the opportunities and threats that will emerge in the future. We might call this transition 4.
If we pull these various aspects together – and there are probably others worth considering – we are talking about a multi-dimensional change process which in a sense needs to revisit and recreate the pioneering process which led to the development of XYZ in the first place. Only this time there are four times as many staff involved, many more governmental agencies and partnering organisations, a much larger client base taking at least three services, and the stakes are much higher. The approach for managing this transition accordingly needs to have the requisite variety to deal with the emergent challenges the organisation is likely to face.
• What we might regard as the ‘structural’ aspect of the transition, appears to have been largely achieved, in that the extra staff to support the new requirement have been recruited, and are already, or are soon to be, in place. Possibly more work needs to be done on refining role specifications, performance goals, and so on; and maybe there needs to be a fuller induction to the policies and procedures that the new people will need to learn to work to. We might call this transition 1.
• But in addition to these aspects (what we might term the ‘technical’ side of staffing) attention also needs to be devoted to the more psychological, social, and political dimensions of the work contract, allowing for the transfer of the less obvious, tacit aspects of knowing possessed by the Chief Executive and his most experienced staff, to the new members of staff. We might call this transition 2.
• At the same time, as the organisation has only very recently doubled in size, this cannot just be a matter of reviewing patterns of ‘business as usual’: there must now also be questions about how best to operate the business in its larger form, and a re-addressing of fundamental questions like: what is this organisation really about now?; and how does it really work? So we imagine that it will be important to create a learning climate that will encourage newcomers not just to absorb this knowing passively but to engage in a more open, questioning, and critical two-way interchange with existing staff. We might call this transition 3.
• There is also the question of yet further expansion, not only of the primary education and counselling service, but also into developing the smaller training and consultancy services, through new ‘products’ and into new sectors. This will require the organisation to build on as well as create new capabilities, to support a more innovation and outward-facing stance towards the opportunities and threats that will emerge in the future. We might call this transition 4.
If we pull these various aspects together – and there are probably others worth considering – we are talking about a multi-dimensional change process which in a sense needs to revisit and recreate the pioneering process which led to the development of XYZ in the first place. Only this time there are four times as many staff involved, many more governmental agencies and partnering organisations, a much larger client base taking at least three services, and the stakes are much higher. The approach for managing this transition accordingly needs to have the requisite variety to deal with the emergent challenges the organisation is likely to face.
How might this inquiry be framed – systemic principles
To initiate this we propose that XYZ and PIN set up a temporary ‘development partnership’ that has as its primary purpose the framing, facilitation, and fostering of a range of activities that will help the Chief Executive, staff, and relevant stakeholders and clients, work together on all of these transitions while running the everyday business. We further propose that we consider using the following systemic ideas to inform how we go about designing and facilitating the transition:
1. We adopt an ‘open systems’ view of the transition process in order to encourage XYZ to take account of the many different ‘stakeholders’ who are likely to have an impact on the effectiveness of the changes. So rather than trying to solve the problem as initially defined, the organisation seeks to involve everybody with an interest in the system in focus, in an ongoing dynamic process of finding out together how best to go on together
2. We make use of the idea of increasing ‘circles of involvement’ to progressively engage wider groups of staff, stakeholders, clients, and the public in dialogue about new ideas, dilemmas, and how to take effective action. So instead of going for the usual single ‘step’ form of change, we: build on the improved understanding and commitment of a ‘first circle’ composed of the Chief executive and a senior group; to first guide the engagement of a series of ‘second circles’ of XYZ staff; who in due course will then engage a series of ‘third circles’ of external stakeholders; and so on outward into the larger social context
1. We adopt an ‘open systems’ view of the transition process in order to encourage XYZ to take account of the many different ‘stakeholders’ who are likely to have an impact on the effectiveness of the changes. So rather than trying to solve the problem as initially defined, the organisation seeks to involve everybody with an interest in the system in focus, in an ongoing dynamic process of finding out together how best to go on together
2. We make use of the idea of increasing ‘circles of involvement’ to progressively engage wider groups of staff, stakeholders, clients, and the public in dialogue about new ideas, dilemmas, and how to take effective action. So instead of going for the usual single ‘step’ form of change, we: build on the improved understanding and commitment of a ‘first circle’ composed of the Chief executive and a senior group; to first guide the engagement of a series of ‘second circles’ of XYZ staff; who in due course will then engage a series of ‘third circles’ of external stakeholders; and so on outward into the larger social context
3. In the tradition of ‘action research’, we employ cycles of oscillation that alternate between periods of reflection followed by periods of action to pace, and align this progressive involvement of people and operational detail, with the kinds of outcomes that are actually being achieved and with what is seen as being feasible at the time. So rather than pushing relentlessly for planned changes, we encourage people to regularly regroup and reflect on their experience of actual outcomes before framing new lines of timely action in an emergent manner
4. In these cycles of activity we go beyond conventional methods of analysis and problem solving to tap into the power offered by more contemporary ideas such as 'appreciative inquiry', 'narrative methods', and 'complexity theory'
5. As a basic organising principle, we adopt the 'close learning' approach to maximise the opportunities for learning and development that people can get from tackling their real work in more open, creative and reflexive ways
4. In these cycles of activity we go beyond conventional methods of analysis and problem solving to tap into the power offered by more contemporary ideas such as 'appreciative inquiry', 'narrative methods', and 'complexity theory'
5. As a basic organising principle, we adopt the 'close learning' approach to maximise the opportunities for learning and development that people can get from tackling their real work in more open, creative and reflexive ways
How might we do this – use of an emergent approach
Here is one possible flow of activities that would provide a minimal critical structure for this kind of approach to the project. It sketches out some potential key events and activities which could be tackled over the next 12 months:
1.Orientation – forming the ‘development partnership’: during this brief initial phase XYZ and PIN would need to learn enough from each other about the scope and nature of the transition task and the range and appropriateness of possible approaches respectively, to agree on a broad strategy and outline plan for the project. This phase would help us think through the challenges of the early part of the work and who, in addition to the Chief Executive, ought to be involved in the ‘first circle’ of people who will help the Chief Executive guide the overall change process.
1.Orientation – forming the ‘development partnership’: during this brief initial phase XYZ and PIN would need to learn enough from each other about the scope and nature of the transition task and the range and appropriateness of possible approaches respectively, to agree on a broad strategy and outline plan for the project. This phase would help us think through the challenges of the early part of the work and who, in addition to the Chief Executive, ought to be involved in the ‘first circle’ of people who will help the Chief Executive guide the overall change process.
Say 3-4 days for selective interviewing/focus group work and design of ‘next steps’
2. First Review - launching the ‘first circle’: in this first ‘reflection’ oriented part of the action research cycle, members of the first circle would spend a day mapping the likely trajectory of the change, identifying the main issues - the ‘strategic agenda’ - that need to be worked on , appreciating the traditions, values and strengths the change process should build on, designing the next phase of work, and developing an opening narrative for discussing the work of the transition with other interested parties. An important part of this event will involve identifying the next group of people who will be invited to join in one of several ‘second circles’ who will actually help carry out the detailed inquiry and action that will move the transition project out into the wider organisation.
Say 3 days for design and liaison, and facilitating an evening and a day workshop
3. First Action Phase - finding out about ‘what works’: in this next ‘action’ oriented part of the action research cycle, members of the ‘first circle’ will engage and involve other members of staff in the ‘second circle’, to start working on selected issues on the ‘strategic agenda’. Facilitation and coaching support will be provided by PIN staff to help the team leaders adopt an appreciative and action influenced approach to this work; and through the practice of close learning, begin to create the new practices and develop the capabilities required to perform these. These emerging new ideas and practice proposals will be reviewed on a regular weekly basis by the Chief Executive and members of the ‘first circle’ (PIN facilitator available) to learn about, steer, and support ongoing activities which appear to be on track – so moving towards a ‘changing’ or ‘implementing’ rather than just a ‘proposing’ or ‘planning’ stance.
2. First Review - launching the ‘first circle’: in this first ‘reflection’ oriented part of the action research cycle, members of the first circle would spend a day mapping the likely trajectory of the change, identifying the main issues - the ‘strategic agenda’ - that need to be worked on , appreciating the traditions, values and strengths the change process should build on, designing the next phase of work, and developing an opening narrative for discussing the work of the transition with other interested parties. An important part of this event will involve identifying the next group of people who will be invited to join in one of several ‘second circles’ who will actually help carry out the detailed inquiry and action that will move the transition project out into the wider organisation.
Say 3 days for design and liaison, and facilitating an evening and a day workshop
3. First Action Phase - finding out about ‘what works’: in this next ‘action’ oriented part of the action research cycle, members of the ‘first circle’ will engage and involve other members of staff in the ‘second circle’, to start working on selected issues on the ‘strategic agenda’. Facilitation and coaching support will be provided by PIN staff to help the team leaders adopt an appreciative and action influenced approach to this work; and through the practice of close learning, begin to create the new practices and develop the capabilities required to perform these. These emerging new ideas and practice proposals will be reviewed on a regular weekly basis by the Chief Executive and members of the ‘first circle’ (PIN facilitator available) to learn about, steer, and support ongoing activities which appear to be on track – so moving towards a ‘changing’ or ‘implementing’ rather than just a ‘proposing’ or ‘planning’ stance.
Say a day for team leader training and 2 days facilitation a month for 3 months
4.Second Review – engaging XYZ staff: in this second ‘reflection’ oriented workshop a much larger proportion of XYZ staff will be invited to take part in an exchange and dialogue focused on issues on the ‘strategic agenda’ and the findings and proposals of the ‘second circle’ inquiries that have been carried out. The purpose of this interchange will be to expose the new ideas and proposals to the realities of the critical gaze and creative responses of those who will be asked to take responsibility for taking these forward and making them work effectively in whatever local contexts they work in. So this event is about considering stakeholder reactions, ‘future proofing’, building commitment to the proposed ways forward that have emerged so far, and clarifying and enriching the story that XYZ will be seeking support for from stakeholders in the outside world
Say 4 days for design, organisation, facilitation and post event debriefing
5.Second Action Phase – involving key stakeholders: in this second cycle of action oriented inquiry work, the ‘first circle’ leaders will continue developing their work by testing the ideas and proposals coming from the Second Review with key stakeholders from regulatory agencies, local authorities, financial sponsors, and from partnering voluntary and private organisations that support, or could support, the XYZ service. The purpose of these more externally oriented exchanges is to seek feedback and ideas to improve the efficacy of proposals as well build understanding and commitment from these sources of support, and may involve a series of visits and short workshop-type events
4.Second Review – engaging XYZ staff: in this second ‘reflection’ oriented workshop a much larger proportion of XYZ staff will be invited to take part in an exchange and dialogue focused on issues on the ‘strategic agenda’ and the findings and proposals of the ‘second circle’ inquiries that have been carried out. The purpose of this interchange will be to expose the new ideas and proposals to the realities of the critical gaze and creative responses of those who will be asked to take responsibility for taking these forward and making them work effectively in whatever local contexts they work in. So this event is about considering stakeholder reactions, ‘future proofing’, building commitment to the proposed ways forward that have emerged so far, and clarifying and enriching the story that XYZ will be seeking support for from stakeholders in the outside world
Say 4 days for design, organisation, facilitation and post event debriefing
5.Second Action Phase – involving key stakeholders: in this second cycle of action oriented inquiry work, the ‘first circle’ leaders will continue developing their work by testing the ideas and proposals coming from the Second Review with key stakeholders from regulatory agencies, local authorities, financial sponsors, and from partnering voluntary and private organisations that support, or could support, the XYZ service. The purpose of these more externally oriented exchanges is to seek feedback and ideas to improve the efficacy of proposals as well build understanding and commitment from these sources of support, and may involve a series of visits and short workshop-type events
Say 2 days a month for two months to coach/facilitate team leaders
6. Third Review – building wider support: the thought at the moment is that these various discussions with external stakeholders, in addition to achieving the more focused aim of getting critique and improved understanding, could also be used to inform and mobilise a much larger ‘marketplace’ event involving representatives from many of these organisations. The aim at such an event would be for XYZ staff to build a better informed, motivated, and cross-connected network of stakeholders who by sharing the evolving story about XYZ – what it’s about and where it’s going - would be more ready and willing to provide support for the intended changes in the context in which XYZ operates, and strengthen the quality of partnership work
Say 3 days to scope and design event and provide light touch support for XYZ leaders at the event
7. Third Action Phase – promoting the new XYZ to clients/public: at this stage we imagine that XYZ may be ready to begin a planned process for holding discussions, in a variety of formal and informal forums, to explore the implications of the ‘new XYZ’ with existing and prospective clients and their families as well as the community at large.
8. Fourth Review – consolidating the transition: given that the Chief Executive usually holds an annual review with the whole company, we see this as a meaningful opportunity for a final review of the transition project and a time to draw conclusions and move on.
6. Third Review – building wider support: the thought at the moment is that these various discussions with external stakeholders, in addition to achieving the more focused aim of getting critique and improved understanding, could also be used to inform and mobilise a much larger ‘marketplace’ event involving representatives from many of these organisations. The aim at such an event would be for XYZ staff to build a better informed, motivated, and cross-connected network of stakeholders who by sharing the evolving story about XYZ – what it’s about and where it’s going - would be more ready and willing to provide support for the intended changes in the context in which XYZ operates, and strengthen the quality of partnership work
Say 3 days to scope and design event and provide light touch support for XYZ leaders at the event
7. Third Action Phase – promoting the new XYZ to clients/public: at this stage we imagine that XYZ may be ready to begin a planned process for holding discussions, in a variety of formal and informal forums, to explore the implications of the ‘new XYZ’ with existing and prospective clients and their families as well as the community at large.
8. Fourth Review – consolidating the transition: given that the Chief Executive usually holds an annual review with the whole company, we see this as a meaningful opportunity for a final review of the transition project and a time to draw conclusions and move on.
Obviously this can only be a very tentative and imagined schedule of possible events/activities which would need to be carefully examined in the light of current reality and what emerges over time. It is offered here to create a ‘straw man’ to assist in the next conversation about the potential demands on and shape of this project.
How PIN could help - types and levels of support
There are many different ways that PIN could provide support for this project as envisaged above, varying in intensity and in the range of help offered. Here are some of the variations – we have added some tentative estimates of ‘days’ to help with budgeting considerations. This should be read in conjunction with the previous schedule of activities listed above:
Support the Chief Executive: providing one to one coaching/e mail/Skype support to the Chief Executive alone, helping him think and work through the various challenges and activities outlined above, and at a pace he can sustain, and in ways that suit his style. Say two days orientation to start, and then say a half day a month for 9 months. So say about 6 days (other specific support could be added as required e.g. facilitating a workshop)
Support the ‘first circle’ transition team: working with say 12-15 people comprising existing and potential future senior team members, and focusing on facilitating the thinking about the transition. This will need to be a little more formalised, so say 2 days of orientation to start, and then a full day workshop with the team to kick things off. Then perhaps a day a month working informally with the Chief Executive and other members of the team as appropriate for say 9 months - so say 10-12 days
Support major ‘ transition’ events: adding some design and facilitation support for the large group events e.g. meeting with enlarged transition group within XYZ (say 30-40), large group event with stakeholders, possible large events with clients/public, and final review with the whole of XYZ. Time estimates appear against some of the relevant events listed above
Support the Chief Executive: providing one to one coaching/e mail/Skype support to the Chief Executive alone, helping him think and work through the various challenges and activities outlined above, and at a pace he can sustain, and in ways that suit his style. Say two days orientation to start, and then say a half day a month for 9 months. So say about 6 days (other specific support could be added as required e.g. facilitating a workshop)
Support the ‘first circle’ transition team: working with say 12-15 people comprising existing and potential future senior team members, and focusing on facilitating the thinking about the transition. This will need to be a little more formalised, so say 2 days of orientation to start, and then a full day workshop with the team to kick things off. Then perhaps a day a month working informally with the Chief Executive and other members of the team as appropriate for say 9 months - so say 10-12 days
Support major ‘ transition’ events: adding some design and facilitation support for the large group events e.g. meeting with enlarged transition group within XYZ (say 30-40), large group event with stakeholders, possible large events with clients/public, and final review with the whole of XYZ. Time estimates appear against some of the relevant events listed above
Support leadership development: adding a facilitated action inquiry group (plus tailored online support), for developing the leadership capabilities of 6-8 future leaders, which focuses on individual development but can also work on team issues. Say a day a month for 6 months.
Support dialogue and discourse: adding a web based online support service including e mail, a blog, and a discussion forum. The purpose of this service would be to engage a larger target group of staff members e.g. between 25-40, in developing dialogue, and a new discourse and stories about XYZ, its work, and the changes. Could be offered for a period of 6-9 months to provide background support to the transition (and as mentioned earlier, offer more specific online coaching to selected people involved in leadership development). Could also be extended to include key external people for a period - so say a day a month for 6 months.
Support dialogue and discourse: adding a web based online support service including e mail, a blog, and a discussion forum. The purpose of this service would be to engage a larger target group of staff members e.g. between 25-40, in developing dialogue, and a new discourse and stories about XYZ, its work, and the changes. Could be offered for a period of 6-9 months to provide background support to the transition (and as mentioned earlier, offer more specific online coaching to selected people involved in leadership development). Could also be extended to include key external people for a period - so say a day a month for 6 months.
Opportunity costs and contingency budgetting
The facilitation-oriented close learning process is designed to address the real work challenges involved in strategic change, to build on ongoing learning about what works, and to focus particularly on issues involved in local implementation. This open-endedness, flexibility, and real work focus, does however pose different challenges to both client and provider. Such contracts need to be created, purchased and resource managed in a different way. These are best crafted and delivered when relatively little of the total budget and time is committed at the outset to a planned series of events/activities. Though the strategy for the programme and the total budget needs to be based upon clear learning goals and a campaign outline, the delivery is best designed and managed in a more flexible and dynamic way
To get a sense of what ‘learning goals’, ‘campaign outline’, and ‘total budget’ might be most appropriate in this instance, we have in this paper offered a range of different configurations of ‘target groups’, sequences of ‘inquiry activities’, and potential ‘service offerings’. We have also offered some tentative estimates of ‘days’ that might be involved to assist in the exploration and costing of different combinations you might want to consider. We hope that this will enable you to get a sense of possible ‘work packages’ and likely budget implications which we could then explore and develop in more detail before any decision is taken to go ahead is taken.