Stop Managing Delivery Problems. Start Preventing Them.

MRA Consulting's Delivery Excellence Framework gives your organisation the governance, methods and capability to deliver consistently - on time, on budget and with lasting value.

• 70% of projects fail to meet their original objectives (PMI Pulse of the Profession)

• $122B wasted annually on failed IT projects (PMI, 2023)

• 5–7x ROI from structured delivery governance (McKinsey & Company)

• 28x less money wasted by high-performing delivery organisations (PMI)

Why This Program Exists

The Problem Is Not Your People. It Is the Absence of a System.

When delivery fails, the instinct is to look for someone to blame. A project manager who missed a risk. A team that didn't communicate. A sponsor who wasn't engaged. But in most organisations, the real problem runs deeper.

Delivery quality depends entirely on individual capability because there is no common framework. Standards vary from engagement to engagement. Risks are identified too late — or not at all. Issues escalate after the damage is done. And every time a new project starts, the organisation begins from scratch.

The result is a delivery model that cannot scale, cannot be measured and cannot be trusted to produce consistent outcomes. Clients feel it. Leaders see it in the numbers. And the business pays for it in margin erosion, client attrition and reputational risk.

Delivery Excellence is the answer. It is not a methodology or a tool. It is a management discipline — built on 8 proven pillars, governed at every level of the organisation, and applied through a common delivery method, tools, templates and KPIs. When it is embedded, delivery stops being a function of who is on the project and starts being a function of how the organisation works.

The 8 Pillars of Delivery Excellence

The Delivery Excellence Framework is anchored in eight disciplines that, when applied consistently, create the conditions for reliable, high-quality delivery.

1. Stakeholder Commitment: Sponsors and key stakeholders are aligned on objectives, decisions and accountabilities, and remain actively engaged throughout delivery.

2. Value Realisation: Delivery remains focused on achieving the intended business outcomes, with benefits defined, tracked and translated into measurable value.

3. Risk Mitigation: Delivery risks are identified early, assessed rigorously and controlled through proportionate mitigation actions before they impact outcomes.

4. Issue Management: Issues are surfaced quickly, owned clearly and resolved with pace to limit impact on outcomes and stakeholder confidence.

5. Scope Control: Scope is clearly defined, realistically bounded and governed through disciplined change control to protect outcomes, timelines and cost.

6. Planning Discipline: Plans are evidence-based, integrated and maintained with sufficient rigour to manage dependencies, milestones and delivery commitments reliably.

7. Delivery Capability: The team has the capacity, leadership, skills and ways of working required to execute effectively and consistently across the engagement lifecycle.

8. Organisational Capability: The organisation strengthens its delivery model, governance, knowledge and repeatable practices through the engagement, leaving a lasting capability uplift.

Two Service Offerings

A Sequenced Pathway from Diagnosis to Embedded Capability

Delivery Excellence works best as a two-step pathway: diagnose the current state first, then build and embed the capability to execute. Together, these offerings create a coherent transformation story.

OFFERING 1: DELIVERY EXCELLENCE HEALTHCHECK

Fast clarity on where to start and what to prioritise first.

A focused diagnostic engagement that gives leadership a fact-based view of current delivery maturity and improvement priorities. It offers a low-risk entry point for organisations that need clarity on their current state before committing to a broader transformation.

WHAT IT COVERS

• Structured stakeholder discovery interviews

• Current state assessment across all 8 Pillars

• Sample engagement review

• Gap analysis and improvement prioritisation

• Strategic Roadmap development

WHAT YOU RECEIVE

• Current State Analysis: A structured diagnostic including strengths, weaknesses, key risks and maturity observations across all 8 Pillars

• Strategic Roadmap for Improvement: A practical roadmap with priorities, sequencing, workstreams and governance implications

• Executive Read-Out: A senior leadership presentation summarising the diagnosis and recommended path forward

ENGAGEMENT DETAILS

• Duration: Typically 4–6 weeks

• Style: Diagnostic, interview-led, evidence-based, advisory

• Best used when: "We need to understand where we are and where to start."

Key Benefits

"From fragmented delivery practices to an integrated, measurable and scalable delivery model."

• Delivery Governance: Stronger visibility, clearer decision-making and a more consistent approach to oversight across all engagements and portfolio levels.

• Methods and Controls: Common implementation, project management, quality and portfolio practices that can be repeated, scaled and consistently applied across the business.

• Commercial Discipline: Improved rigour in estimation, bid management and risk management before delivery begins — protecting margins and client commitments.

• People Capability: Better definition of required delivery skills, targeted uplift of project leadership capability and stronger alignment between delivery expectations and people development.

• Operational Maturity: A more disciplined, measurable and sustainable delivery environment over time — one that builds client confidence and supports business growth.

OFFERING 2: DELIVERY EXCELLENCE PARTNER PROGRAMME

A 12-month strategic partnership to build and embed the framework.

A hands-on advisory engagement that works alongside your leadership team to design, build and progressively embed the Delivery Excellence operating model across the business. Structured in four phases, it moves from diagnosis through to fully embedded capability.

Phase 1 — Diagnose & Prioritise (Month 1)

Assess the current delivery environment, identify key risks and gaps, and define a focused strategic roadmap with KPIs.

Deliverables: Current State Analysis, Strategic Roadmap including KPIs

Phase 2 — Establish Core Methods (To Month 3)

Launch agreed quick wins, develop a Capability Uplift Programme and establish core project implementation and management methods.

Deliverables: Capability Uplift Programme, Implementation Method, Project Management Method

Phase 3 — Strengthen Control Environment (To Month 9)

Introduce quality assurance, portfolio health and risk management processes to strengthen the overall delivery control environment.

Deliverables: Quality Assurance Process, Project Portfolio Health Process, Bid & Risk Management Process

Phase 4 — Embed Capability & Discipline (To Month 12)

Execute the capability uplift programme and embed resource and skills management processes to sustain delivery excellence over time.

Deliverables: Project Estimation Process, Partner Collaboration Model, Resource & Skills Management Framework

ENGAGEMENT DETAILS

• Engagement model: 2 days per week over 12 months

• Best used when: "We know what must improve and want hands-on support to build it."

The MRA Difference

This program is not built on generic frameworks or off-the-shelf models. It is built on lived experience. Led by Stephen Wise (an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) with over 35 years of experience across Adobe, ServiceNow, NTT, Infosys, PwC and IBM) the program is not a workshop; it is a sustained, collective transformation of the Executive Team.

The program is grounded in four core principles:

1. Diagnosis Before Design: We never start with a pre-built programme. Every engagement begins with a rigorous diagnostic to understand your team's specific dynamics, strengths and gaps. The programme is designed around your reality.

2. Frameworks Applied to Reality: We use Lencioni's Five Dysfunctions and other frameworks - but always applied to your team's real challenges, real decisions and real dynamics. Not taught as theory in a classroom.

3. Sustained Practice, Not a Single Event: Behaviours change through repetition and accountability. Monthly team coaching sessions apply the frameworks to live strategic challenges over 6–9 months, embedding new norms into the team's operating rhythm.

4. The Whole Team and the Whole Person: We work at both levels - the collective team and the individual executive. Every participant receives personalised coaching to strengthen their own leadership alongside the team's development.

Who Is This For?

• Consulting and professional services firms: that deliver complex client engagements and want to improve delivery consistency, client satisfaction and margin performance

• Technology and IT services businesses: managing multiple concurrent projects or programs with inconsistent outcomes

• Organisations scaling their delivery capability: growing teams, new markets, or increasing project complexity — who need a framework that can scale with them

• Leadership teams: who know delivery is a problem but lack the internal capability or bandwidth to diagnose and fix it systematically

• PMOs and delivery leaders: who want to strengthen governance, methods and controls with the support of a senior advisory partner

You Are Ready For Delivery Excellence If

• Delivery quality varies too much from engagement to engagement

• You are losing margin on projects that should be profitable

• Client escalations are happening too frequently or too late

• Your team lacks a common language and approach to delivery governance

• You want to build a delivery model that can scale as the business grows teams - and the organisations that sponsor them - willing to invest in the sustained work of genuine transformation.