A Senior Living Operator

Team Discovery · Operating Model · Project Platform Audit

THE SITUATION

A senior living operator runs 50+ communities across multiple states. Its marketing and communications team supports all of them, and the people on it were talented and stretched thin. Work arrived through several different doors with no single front door, and nobody could see the whole picture. Leadership already knew something needed to change. What was missing was someone to see it clearly and design the way out.

THE WORK

I started by listening. I held a one-on-one conversation with every member of the team and wrote each one up so the person could correct it. A team experience survey gave people another way to be honest. Alongside that, I audited how work moved through the project platform, as it was really used.

The pattern was consistent across every conversation. This was not a people problem. It was a systems problem: unclear scope, unclear priorities, and no view of what was coming.

From there I designed a complete operating model. Every request goes through one strategic front door before it enters the workflow. Each discipline has an owner who defines how their work gets done. Project coordination supports the team and does not manage it. Shared support work runs from a pull-based queue. The workflows that cross disciplines are documented, every lead has a named backup, and there is a clear route for raising problems.

I also wrote four SOPs, a step-by-step plan for restructuring the platform, and a phased implementation plan with 30- and 60-day checkpoints. One SOP was built in the platform itself. And I gave an honest read on which tool would carry the design best.

WHAT IT BECAME

A complete blueprint the team can build from: the operating model, the SOPs, the restructuring plan, and the implementation plan. Discovery and design are done.

The engagement paused at the point where activation needed the team's time to review and test, and that time was not available. The work is documented and ready for the moment the team has room to build it.

Entry point: Growing businesses → Diagnose · Build