People-first help for businesses

Your business isn’t a template. The help shouldn’t be either.

We help businesses get organized so the right people make the right decisions at the right level. Fewer decisions wait on one or two people, and those closest to the work know what’s theirs to decide.

Book a 30-minute conversation See how an engagement works

You might recognize a few of these

“Everything runs through me.”
“I can’t take a week off.”
“Do I need to ask first?”
“Who owns this?”
“We typed that in twice.”
“We bought the software. Nobody uses it.”

Why it feels stuck

The same problem looks different in every role.

When it isn’t clear who owns what or who decides, company leadership, team leaders and the people who do the work each pay for it in a different way. Here’s what that looks like today, and what’s different after an engagement.

If you run the business

Today

Questions find you after hours and on weekends. You sign off on things you shouldn’t need to see, and a week away feels risky because so much of the business lives in your head.

After

Decisions you don’t need to make have a named owner, written down. You keep the calls only you should make.

If you lead a team

Today

You’re responsible for the results but not sure what you can decide without checking first. You fill gaps nobody owns, and the day goes to chasing answers instead of helping your people.

After

You know what you own, what you can decide on your own and when to take a decision higher. If you’re new to leading, coaching gives you one-on-one time to think out loud, decide and follow through.

If you do the work

Today

You know where the work gets stuck, because you’re the one waiting on it. You redo things, type the same numbers in twice and guess who to ask when something new comes up.

After

Your role is written down, so you know what’s yours and who to ask. The double handling you point out gets fixed first, because the people who run a routine know where it wastes time.

None of this means anyone is doing a bad job. It usually means the business grew and the roles didn’t keep up.

What we help with

We help remove the bottlenecks, starting with people.

Most bottlenecks are people work: who owns what, who decides and whether each person is in a role that suits them. Once that’s clear, we work on the everyday routines, then the tools.

People

Each person in a role that fits them and the business.

You know your people. We help you see what each one does, what they’re good at and what keeps them going. Then we work out together where each person does their best work and what the business needs from each role.

Clear roles: Who owns what and who decides, written down so nobody has to guess.
Growing your people: Helping the people you have grow into the roles the business needs next.
New leaders: Helping your best doers become people others want to follow.
Coaching: One-on-one time for new leaders and the people who run the business to think out loud, decide and follow through.

Process

Cut the invisible tax on everyday work.

We walk through your routines with the people who run them, find the double handling and fix that first. No new system on day one.

Everyday routines: The work that repeats each day, week, month and quarter, and who does it.
Double handling: Numbers typed in twice, or a report rebuilt by hand every month.
Handoffs: Work that moves to the next person without anyone pushing it.

Tools

The right fit for how you work, starting with what you have.

Tools come last. We start with what you use today, from pen and paper to old software, and don’t change what already works. If what you have is enough, we’ll say so.

What you use now: What helps the work today, and what gets in the way.
Simple fixes: A small change within our scope that makes what you have work better.
When to call in IT: If it needs more than a simple fix, we’ll suggest an IT professional.

How it works

Five steps, from listening to a written plan.

1
ListenWe talk with company leadership and the team leaders one at a time and write down what each person says, in their own words.
2
MapWe map how work and decisions really move today, from a customer’s first call to payment, with the people who run each routine.
3
FindWe look for where work waits, gets done twice or depends on one person, and why.
4
PrioritizeWith company leadership, we design the roles the business needs, then pick the few changes worth making first.
5
ActYou get a written plan, a named owner for every role and a first step the team can take that week.

See how an engagement works

Who you’ll work with

You’ll work with Mike from first call to plan.

Mike Bravo Consulting is a one-person firm by design. The person you meet in the first conversation is the person who sits down with your team, maps the work and writes the plan: Mike Bahr, Owner and Principal Consultant.

Mike spent nearly 20 years planning and leading in the Army National Guard, then years building programs that helped people and leaders grow inside a technology company.

More about Mike

Let’s figure out what’s in the way.

Start with a 30-minute conversation about what’s stuck and whether we can help.

Book a 30-minute conversation