Services/Operating Model Design
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Operating Model Design.

Six interdependent layers. Designed as a whole. Verified at month 12.

Who commissions this

COO · Director General · Chief of Staff · Transformation Director

When you need this

The organisation knows what it is trying to achieve. It needs a design for how it will work — across people, process, technology, service delivery, performance and governance. At scale over 18 months, or fast and focused in 8 weeks. The methodology is the same.

The bridge between what the organisation wants and what it delivers.

The CN approach

An operating model is not a target operating model document. It is how the organisation actually works — the six layers that determine whether strategy becomes operational reality or remains an ambition.

CN designs operating models across all six layers simultaneously, because changing one without the others fails. Technology selected before process is designed creates constraints that cost more to fix than the original design.

At any scale. The 18-month defence TOM. The 8-week OD intervention within a budget freeze. Same methodology. Right-sized to what the organisation actually needs.

The six layers

Every layer. Designed to work together.

Six interdependent layers. Click any to expand. Change management and programme delivery run through all six simultaneously.

🔭
Strategy & Purpose
Where are we trying to get to?
🔍
Discovery & Diagnostic
Current state. The real organisation.
⚙️
Constraints & Context
Budget. Timeline. Legacy systems.
design inputs
01
👥
People & Organisation
Structure, roles, accountabilities and the informal organisation that the chart never shows.
Org designRole clarityCapability gapsLeadership model
›
CN conducts a capability assessment identifying gaps between current and target state. Role design is grounded in what the work actually requires — not what the org chart suggests. Accountability frameworks built to work in the real organisation, not just on paper. Transition designed before the restructure is announced.
People & Organisation methodology →
02
🔄
Process & Ways of Working
How work actually flows. End-to-end process design with SIPOC at every handoff.
Process designSIPOCHandoffsSOPs
›
Every process mapped by following actual transactions — with the people who do the work. SIPOC applied at every transition point so accountability gaps cannot persist. Workarounds surfaced and closed. Standard ways of working designed with front-line staff, not imposed on them.
Process Design methodology →
03
💡
Technology & Systems
Process designed first. Technology selected to support it — not the other way around.
Tech-process alignmentSystem rationalisationAutomationAI integration
›
Organisations that select technology before process is designed create constraints that cost more to fix than the original design. CN designs process first, technology second. AI and automation embedded in ways of working. Change management for technology adoption built in from week one.
Technology & Systems methodology →
04
🎯
Service Delivery
Designed from the customer or citizen experience backward — not from internal process forward.
Service designJourney mappingService standardsFront-line capability
›
Service standards set at a level that is achievable and measurable. Front-line capability built to deliver consistently without constant management intervention. The gap between what is promised to service users and what is delivered — identified, understood and closed.
Service Delivery methodology →
05
📊
Performance, Insight & Data
Measures that track what matters. Reporting that enables decisions rather than describes history.
Performance frameworksData architectureReporting redesignPerformance culture
›
Performance frameworks built from strategic objectives down — not from available data up. Reporting redesigned so data enables decisions. Performance culture that creates psychological safety to surface problems early, when they can still be addressed — not at month-end when they cannot.
Performance & Data methodology →
06
🏛
Governance & Accountability
Decision rights. Escalation paths. Governance that enables delivery rather than impedes it.
Decision rightsGovernance redesignAccountability frameworkDelegated authority
›
Every governance mechanism tested: does this enable a decision or surface a risk? If not, it should not exist. Committee redesign that eliminates structures slowing delivery without adding value. Risk and assurance frameworks proportionate to what is actually at risk.
Governance & Accountability methodology →
🔄
Change Management
📋
Programme Delivery
verified outputs
✅
An organisation that delivers
Measurable performance. Verified at month 12.
📈
Benefits at month 12
Business case outcomes confirmed against baseline.
🏗
Capability that stays
The organisation sustains the model without CN.
Change management built in from week one — not added at go-live Discovery before design. Always. Month 12 verification in every SoW
What this involves
Discovery across all six layers

Current state assessed as it actually operates — not as it is documented. The gap between the formal operating model and the real one is where the design risks live.

Six-layer design

People & organisation. Process & ways of working. Technology & systems. Service delivery. Performance & data. Governance & accountability. Designed as a whole.

Organisational design

Roles, structures, handoffs. Unclear accountabilities diagnosed and resolved. SIPOC at every transition point. Works within constraints — budget frozen, headcount frozen.

Transition design

The transition is designed before the restructure is announced. CN does not recommend announcing a change before the path through it is fully designed.

Capability transfer

The internal team that can own and continue the methodology after CN leaves. Not a handover — an embedded capability built throughout the engagement.

What makes CN different here
▸CN designs across all six layers simultaneously — not as parallel workstreams integrated too late
▸Change management built into the design from week one — not commissioned after the model is finalised
▸OD within constraints: CN has delivered operating model work with recruitment freezes, budget constraints, mid-change organisations
▸The exit is designed before the engagement starts — the point at which the organisation sustains without CN is defined on day one
Programmes compressing discovery were 2.7x more likely to require redesign
McKinsey (2023)
Full evidence base →

Talk to us about operating model design.

45 minutes. No pitch deck. We listen to what you are dealing with first.

Start a conversation
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Change ManagementStrategy & InvestmentDefence TOM — from the field