Status reports describe what the people writing them believe is safe to say. A Program Health Assessment describes what is actually happening. We review the program independently of the teams reporting on it, and where the reporting and the reality have diverged, we say so plainly.
When this fits
- The status is green and leadership privately doubts it.
- Dates have moved in small increments that no one can account for in total.
- A major milestone or go-live is approaching and confidence is lower than the plan suggests.
- New leadership has inherited a program and needs an honest baseline.
What we do
- Review status, schedule, and scope against the evidence underneath them rather than the summary above them.
- Assess governance: whether decisions are being made, by whom, and how quickly.
- Evaluate delivery capacity: what the team can actually carry, as distinct from its headcount.
- Map dependencies and risk, including those that are known but not reported.
- Test the plan against the date: whether the current approach can produce what is being promised.
What you receive
A current-state assessment, a prioritized path forward, and a candid read on whether the plan in place can produce the date being promised.
Timeline
Discover phase, typically 30 to 90 days.
Often followed by
Program Recovery & Stabilization, when the assessment finds a program that needs more than course correction.
Questions
How is this different from an audit?
An audit tests compliance with a standard. A Program Health Assessment answers a delivery question: will this program produce what it has promised, and if not, what would change that. The output is a path forward, not a list of findings.
What if the assessment finds the program is in trouble?
We say so, with the evidence. Some programs need course correction; some need recovery. The assessment is complete on its own, and you are not committed to anything beyond it.
All engagements