Most businesses that commission an operational process review have never done one before. They know something is not working, but they are not sure what the review will actually involve or what they will have at the end of it. This article is a plain account of how Hilt Core Vault runs a process review, from the first call to the final document.

The discovery call

The first step is a thirty-minute call with Lewis Fairbank. The purpose is not to sell anything. It is to establish whether a process review is the right tool for the problem you are describing. Some businesses come to us with a process problem that is actually a people problem, or a technology problem, or a strategy problem. If that is the case, we say so and point you in a more useful direction. If a process review is the right fit, we agree a scope and produce an engagement letter within five working days.

Kick-off and document collection

Once the engagement letter is signed, we schedule a kick-off session. Usually ninety minutes. With the key people who will be involved. We use that session to agree the specific processes we are reviewing, the staff we will interview, and the documentation we need access to. We then spend the first week collecting: existing process documents, org charts, role descriptions, any relevant policies. We do not assume the documentation is accurate. It is a starting point, not a source of truth.

Staff interviews

The interviews are the core of the review. We speak with the people who actually do the work. Not just the managers who oversee it. A typical review involves between eight and sixteen interviews, each lasting forty-five to sixty minutes. We ask people to walk us through what they do, step by step, and to tell us where the friction is. We take detailed notes. We do not record sessions without explicit consent. The interviews are conducted under a confidentiality agreement, and individual responses are not attributed in the final report.

Analysis and draft findings

After the interviews, we map what we heard against the documented processes and identify the gaps. We look for four things: handover failures, duplication, single points of failure, and undocumented workarounds. The draft findings document is shared with the client before the final report is produced. This gives you the opportunity to correct factual errors and to flag anything we may have misunderstood. We take that feedback seriously. The final report needs to be accurate, not just thorough.

The final report

The final report is a written document, typically twenty-five to forty pages, structured around the processes we reviewed. Each finding is numbered and described in plain language. Each recommendation is tied to a specific finding and prioritised as immediate, medium-term, or longer-term. The report is designed to be used. Not filed. We walk through it with you in a final session and answer questions. After that session, the engagement is formally closed, though Lewis Fairbank is available for follow-up questions for thirty days at no additional charge.

If you are considering a process review and want to talk through whether it is the right fit for your situation, the best starting point is a short call. There is no commitment involved.