Create a more productive, harmonious workplace

Anastasia was part of our consulting team to assist with our review and reset of the Waikato District Alliance roading maintenance services contract ($30m/year). She came highly recommended from other members of the consulting team given the nature of the joint “alliancing” culture underpinning the contract and the people/structure review required, and that we anticipated significant facilitation across both the Alliance and broader stakeholders.

Initial review work highlighted a significant and complex underlying disconnect in Alliance culture across the two parties, employees of both organisations and broader stakeholders which had a major impact on the operation and management of the Alliance as a joint venture entity. This was something we believed to be an issue at the outset, but the extent was not fully understood or in such a 360degree way until this testing was completed and presented back to the Council. This put us in a powerful position to be able to see some of the root causes and with the help of very cogent recommendations, put in place actions to mitigate and address.

What followed this initial work was detailed implementation over the next 12 months, including by Anastasia in particular, organisational restructure of the entity at leadership and operational level, review and reset of all position descriptions for Alliance personnel, reset of values and behaviours expectations; reset of the alliance culture and a plan to ensure it is embedded and continued to be driven through the next five years. Anastasia’s skill in “coaching" the Alliance leaders through these processes was critical to outcomes being achieved and ultimately “owned” by the entity and its leadership team.

Throughout all Anastasia was also frequently called on to facilitate, and sometimes, mediate, some complex and quite positional conversations and workshops to unpack and repack to get solutions - Anastasia proved herself time and again particularly adept in achieving outcomes in those situations through both pre-planning and generally her facilitation style, and regardless of her depth of knowledge of the subject matter.

It’s actually quite difficult to try and pick an overarching element that makes Anastasia so effective. The depth of her experience and knowledge was leveraged in so many ways, as was the fact we could throw anything at her and she would deliver every time, on time, and well above expectation. Her integrity and communication with us as her client, and her patience with us, was flawless; and her adaptability was invaluable. I could not recommend her more highly, and she is front of mind for the next critical thorny project we need to get delivered.

“I was hesitant to work with Anastasia because I saw myself as a solopreneur, not a business, and with her high-level experience I thought I was too small-fry. I came to her because of overwhelm. I knew things could be streamlined but I couldn't lift my head high enough to see what could be changed. I literally changed the structure and systems in my business after one intensive session with Anastasia. We've saved time and money and improved productivity and efficiencies and I started to behave more like a leader/manager/boss. Most of all, I can breathe now. Having her take things off my plate, ask questions, delve, write, sketch, map, was such a relief. I started to see why my head felt so full. She asked questions I would never have thought to ask. You don't know what you don't know. Anastasia does.”

“I knew Anastasia from previous experience working with her and once I knew she was specialising in organisational structure and culture I was sold. Now my team and I have crystal clear and beautifully crafted job descriptions and an organisation chart which provide an understanding of everyone’s roles. She put my ideas into action and she was able to add in new things. Our job descriptions are now so good that they are a huge selling point for new employees. Anastasia was able to relate to my needs and work with the team – she showed empathy for the position I faced as a business owner – she helped solve my problem. I couldn’t think of anyone better to help.”