OUR IMPACT
Jane Grieveson, UK Parliament
people make it work have been engaged by UK Parliament throughout 2017. We have worked with the Participation team to help them develop their ambition and build change plans and structures to implement this over the coming years and decades.
“people make it work has a distinctive way of working that is thought provoking and I find they are able to challenge assumptions and enable new thinking in a supportive and collaborative way. They bring a good balance of business and people skills – strategic, holistic and insightful with a genuine warmth and good understanding of people.”
“For me personally, working with them has been enjoyable and I have benefited from their experience and expertise. On a practical level their flexibility has been much appreciated and illustrates the kind of company they are – one that has a genuine aim to help and deliver what is needed.
“Working with people make it work has led us to shift thinking, develop new insights and ideas and brought more clarity and confidence as we plan our next steps.”
“people make it work have been working with both the Participation and the Organisation Design and Development teams in UK Parliament, to support their review of the Participation team’s work, and help create a clear plan for this area of work going forward. We are working with the Leaders of this team to review the wider needs that the team could be addressing and defining an ambition for Participation work in Parliament. We will subsequently help the team to identify the best working processes, development and design for the team going forward.”
people make it work is supporting Arts Council Wales’ Resilience programme, with programme design, organisation development and support through consultancy services.
“The Resilience Programme that has been facilitated by people make it work is a key, ongoing part of Arts Council of Wales’ commitment to assisting the arts sector become more sustainable and it was really important to us that we engaged an organisation that could themselves engage with the sector in order to get positive results. From the off, it was clear that people make it work in a highly responsive and reflective way. Theirs was no off the shelf standard ‘answer’ but demonstrated a clear desire to really get under the skin of the issue.
“With any major change programme, such as Resilience there is bound to be a healthy dollop of scepticism in the room! people make it work have really impressed us in the way that they have worked with this and channelled it in a positive way. Following the initial workshop sessions that people make it work designed and facilitated, it was obvious that it was not only the positive feedback from attendees, but also the step-change in approach from the participants which confirmed how the fresh approach had paid dividends.
“We’ve been truly impressed and delighted by the ability of the company to genuinely change thinking and encouraging organisations and individuals to challenge conventional wisdom.”
“people make it work creates a safe and supportive environment which allows this to happen. A good sense of humour also helps!”
“people make it work encouraged and helped develop the flexible approach that we set out to deliver with the Programme and we have found working with Richard and his associates to be hugely beneficial in reaching our own objectives. Although we are not even half way through our Resilience programme yet (and I’m sure there will be many more twists and turns along the road) people make it work has brought a new, challenging and exciting way of working. The company has certainly influenced and refreshed my practice but more importantly it’s getting our most valued arts companies to change their thinking. Looking forward to the next 12 months!”
Kath Davies, Arts Council Wales
Alison Tedbury – Royal Opera House
people make it work has been supporting the Royal Opera House to think about Employee Engagement, and the types of internal processes, services and skills that it might need to maintain and develop in this area of its work.
“I have worked with Richard Watts for the last 18 months in evaluating our staff engagement programme, enabling organisational change and proposing that the programme has a permanent and strategic role within the organisation.”
“Working with Richard is a partnership. He creates an encouraging environment to work in and allows enough room for ideas and thoughts to come to the surface.
“From the very start Richard was a great listening and sounding board. He really understood our organisation and what I was wanting to achieve. His excellent in depth knowledge and experience of the sector was invaluable and was able to offer a wide impartial view and knew exactly when to challenge my thinking”
The end result was a report and proposal where I was able to demonstrate a clear understanding of organisational engagement and why it is vital for us as a company to put it at the heart of what we do. Richard played a very big part in enabling me to present a coherent, meaningful and compelling piece of work.”
Designed, developed and delivered by people make it work, the Change Creation programme supports arts and cultural organisations to create lasting change. We’re currently shaping our future programmes, as now, more than ever, we know that we need to support the incredible organisations in our sector to re-model, plan and shape their futures. Find out more about the programme.