Pro Bono Case Studies
Huw Evans

• Police
• Audit Commission
• Independent consultant
• Developing volunteering roles
• Doctorate - developed an evaluative framework for approaches to and processes for public engagement
• Community OR (COR) & OR in the Third
Sector(ORiTS)

• Connected via The Cranfield Trust and REACH
– http://www.cranfieldtrust.org
– http://www.reachskills.org.uk
• Community OR & ORiTS
– Capacity building
– Participatory approaches
– Adding value

• The link agency provided a project specification and expectations, e.g. time input required
• Expenses paid …..
• The work was open to further interpretation and design in consultation with the client

• Open, transparent
• Capacity building
• Expectations
– their problems remained their property
– did they want to change?
• Whole systems approach
• Develop self-awareness
• Outcome focus
• Learning
• Action orientated
• Adding value

• Strategic planning
– Identifying outcomes
– Gap analysis
– Risk analysis
• Clarifying my role
• Capacity building
• Making tacit knowledge explicit
• Participatory approaches
• Open, transparent, undermining ‘P’(‘p’)olitical agendas
• Flexible / responsive approach to the assignment

Four charities
– 3 are small organisations
– 2 are trying to cope with funding cuts
– 1 planning a big project to refurbish an iconic building and enter into partnership with another charity
– 1 a regional wide agenda around literature coping with recent amalgamation/absorption of other organisations
– 1 with an espoused world wide conservancy agenda
– 1 with a youth and community agenda
– 1 with an advocacy role for minority groups

• Complexity Theory
• Groups
• Systems Theory
• Learning Organisations
• Organisational Learning
• Human Inquiry
• Group Dynamics
• Critical Systems Theory
• Democratic Theory
• Action research, participatory action research, selfreliant participatory action research

• Consultancy seen as too expensive
• Lack of common understanding about the priorities
• Managers & directors working in isolation – knowledge remained tacit
• Failure to draw upon the breadth and depth of human capital available
• ‘P’(‘p’)olitical’ agenda
• Time
• Weak approach to development and capacity building
• Weak outcome and user focus

• Set a theme
• Process
– KISS principle
– Blast - What works well?
– Blast - What doesn’t work so well?
– Group the issues and then prioritise them
• Output
– Develop and agree an action plan – inc risks
– Requires some iteration
• Outcomes
– Self aware with a plan - refocused
– Openness, transparency, undermines closed/political agendas, tacit knowledge made more explicit

• Using an Open Space approach
– Empowers anyone to contribute
– Individual responsibility
– Owen, H. (1997). Open Space Technology (A User's Guide). San Francisco, Berrett-
Koehler
• Future Search timeline
– Past, present, future
– Individual, world, organisational perspective
– Share information
– Makes explicit peoples’ vision for the future
– Weisbord, M. R. and S. Janoff (1995). Future Search - An Action Guide to Finding
Common Ground in Organizations & Communities. San Francisco, Berrett-Koehler

• Small agency – advocacy for BME groups
• Funding had collapsed and were reduced to 1 member of staff
• Unclear agenda, unrealistic expectations & confused priorities by the board
• Developed a risk assessed action plan
• Workshop with the recently redundant staff, manager and board

• World wide conservancy agenda with a zoological exhibition
• Open Space adapted with the Future Search
‘timeline’ with managers, staff, trustees revealed:
– Lack of common understanding
– Poor structure
– Problematic governance
• Further workshop with trustees
– Mindsets challenged – new ideas emerged
– Confidence boosted

• Young people and wider community support agenda
• Refurbishment of iconic premises plus partnership arrangement with an arts charity to share the new building
• Coaching and mentoring the manager
• Blast & prioritise workshop plus survey of users
• New draft plan
• More work emerging – this time for payment!

• Regional literary organisation
• Recently merged with 2 other organisations
• Heavily reliant upon a single funder
• Wanted a new business plan
• Resistant to a whole system approach
– Blast & prioritise workshop with staff and managers
– Workshop with the business planning sub-group of the Board
• Satisfaction with vision, mission, values?
• Blast & prioritise
– Survey of stakeholders
• Several hundred potential but circulated to 7 of whom four responded
• The organisation then felt they were in a better position to write their new plan

Theory Comment
Systems Theory
Learning Organisation
Sometimes reluctant to involve others from outside of their
‘closed system’
Tacit knowledge made explicit
Challenged mindsets
New ideas emerged
Critical Systems Theory
Human Inquiry
Group Dynamics
Approaches that enable people to speak out
Power & control, organisational culture, perceptions of management …
Approaches and processes to minimise effect of the consultant/facilitator
Need to consider when choosing processes in participatory approaches
Democratic Theory Participatory approaches, involving people in decisionmaking – potentially challenges the political status quo
Action Research, PAR, S-PAR Developing individual & organisational capacity and confidence to ‘learn’ & develop themselves

• Interesting, fun, met new people and worked in new areas & I learned a lot
– Issues about power, ego, status
– Small interventions can make a difference
– The approach adopted often exposed the ‘elephant in the room’
– Strategy and operational delivery are inextricably linked in well managed organisations
• Confusion about separating ‘governance’ and ‘management’ from service development
– Organisations can make more use of the breadth and depth of the human capital available
– Risk management is seen as an adjunct to planning and not integral to it
– 3 rd Sector infrastructure organisations may not be meeting the needs of the sector
• Pro bono work is not ‘free’
• Working via other organisations may not raise the profile of OR or the ORS
• Boosts your experience and CV

• Added value
– Knowledge management
– Learning
– People enjoyed being involved
• More self-aware about challenges, priorities
• New ideas emerged
• Boosted capacity and confidence
• “Failing to plan is planning to fail”
(This, or variations, attributed to Benjamin Franklin, Winston Churchill et al)

Dr Huw Evans
Independent consultant
T/A HSE Organisational Development
Tel: 07595 419938
Email: huwdevans@gmail.com
Twitter: @wildkippers
Linked in: http://uk.linkedin.com/in/huwdevans