How a market research firm improved turnaround times and teamwork by rethinking its process
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The Challenge
The UK Operations Director of a global market research company was feeling the pressure. Clients were demanding faster reporting, competition was intensifying, and budgets were tightening.
Her teams had already made impressive gains in processing speed, but it still wasn’t fast enough. She worried that her “go faster” message was starting to sound like “you’ll never be fast enough.” Morale was beginning to dip, and there was no more budget for additional headcount.
But slowing down wasn’t an option. Clients needed data earlier to refine their strategy and secure renewals. Each delay risked contract retention and reputation.
The question was: how could she gain more speed without pushing her people harder?
The Discovery
We began by stepping back and mapping the full reporting process - from receipt of raw data to delivery of client reports. Each stage was owned by a separate sub-team, each using its own data platform within a centrally developed system. Every manager knew their own stage inside out, but few understood how their outputs affected the next team’s work. The process was linear: one team finished, then passed everything on. And while everyone was doing their part efficiently, something wasn’t adding up.
It was time to follow the data.
Letting the Data Tell Its Story
When we analysed the process data hidden inside each platform, a new pattern emerged.
- Each stage didn’t need to wait for all of the previous stage’s data before starting.
- Significant portions of data were sitting idle, waiting for completion signals before being released.
- There were large pockets of invisible “dead time” between steps - the real cause of the slowdown.
The insight was simple but powerful: They didn’t need to move faster. They needed to move smarter.
The Solution
Together we redesigned the process around simultaneous flow rather than strict sequence.
- Data model redesign:
I built a connected data model showing which production units each sub-team needed to begin their work. This allowed multiple teams to work in parallel rather than waiting for the full batch to complete. - Dynamic dashboards:
Each sub-team gained a real-time dashboard showing which items were ready, what to prioritise, and how their actions affected downstream speed. - Behavioural shift:
We focused on engagement and communication to ensure adoption.- Teams understood they weren’t being asked to “go faster” - just to work differently.
- They could see the results of their efforts in real time.
- Managers supported the transition with clear messaging and training.
This wasn’t just a process change; it was a mindset shift from linear production to collaborative flow.
The Outcome
Reports delivered up to two days earlier. Clients now received reports on Wednesdays and Thursdays instead of Fridays or Mondays, giving them two extra days to apply insights and act on data.
And the benefits extended far beyond turnaround times:
- More focus: Each sub-team finished earlier, creating time for strategic work and development.
- Stronger relationships: Teams gained empathy for each other’s roles and eliminated blame.
- Continuous improvement: The visibility sparked curiosity. Staff began identifying new improvement opportunities themselves.
- Commercial impact: Faster turnaround became a sales advantage and reduced special requests, freeing even more capacity.
The Operations Director regained both speed and morale, without adding cost or pressure.
What We Learned
This project demonstrated that the biggest performance gains often lie between teams, not within them.
Key insights:
- Take a step back to see the real picture. Incremental improvement inside silos can hide systemic opportunities.
- You don’t always have to accelerate to go faster. Intelligent overlap and parallel work can reduce total time without adding stress.
- Your systems hold more data than you think. The hidden insights inside existing tools can expose valuable opportunities for change.
The 5Ps in Action
This engagement touched all five pillars of operational success:
- Profit: Elevated value for clients by providing data faster
- Person: Protected morale by reframing “speed” as “clarity.”
- People: Strengthened communication and collaboration across sub-teams.
- Process: Shifted from sequential to parallel workflows.
- Performance: Created transparency and smarter metrics to track true throughput.
In Reflection
Speed pressure often hides a deeper issue: misaligned processes. When operations are designed around people and context, performance improves naturally.
You don’t need to push your team harder, you just need to design your systems to work smarter.
Call to Action
If your teams are running fast but still not getting ahead, the issue may not be effort, it might be the space between your processes. I help service-based businesses reveal hidden friction, realign their systems, and achieve calm, sustainable performance improvements.