Seven Cs of Consulting, The

Change process - the Seven Cs

The consulting process follows a natural flow of expansion and contraction. A one-year contract to manage the merger between two companies; a three-month contract to install a new piece of hardware; a one-day event to take people through a customer care programme; or ten seconds to intervene in a team meeting: all contain a series of meta-level stages that are found in the Seven Cs framework:

1. Identify and understand the client's needs.

2. Clarify the root cause or issues to be addressed.

3. Create a solution to resolve the problem.

4. Manage the change process.

5. Confirm that the transition has taken place according to plan.

6. Ensure that the changes will continue once the project is complete.

7. Close the project and relationship with ...