To help improve collaboration with our clients and adapt to the complexity of their work schedules, we designed our own kind of consultancy service which we call the ‘Fly on the Wall’ consultancy method. What it involves is a member of our team is contracted to review a particular area of your organisation over a defined period of time, but we do it while we sit in your office.

What makes this different from the same service bigger firms provide is that we only bill our time for when we’re actually writing our recommendations, not just charging you 8 hours a day for an entire week. We’ve done this work for one week to a maximum of twelve weeks. The HutSix employee carries on with their own work that is separate from the clients work, but would progressively work on the defined deliverables as they come up in discussion around the office.

This approach aligns strongly to the Agile methodology, which HutSix currently executes with the software development process. Expanding this Agile mindset and framework in a cost effective manner that encourages group engagement is incredibly beneficial for the end result of the project and our clients back pocket.

You’ve got a problem. You know that there’s technology that will make your life easier, but you’re just not quite sure how to find exactly what you need or how to put in place.

It might be a daunting thought, uprooting your current systems but you know that without ripping the bandaid off you’ll be stuck in this rut forever. So you’ve found us, someone who can create the exact software or digital solution that can be customised for how you work and help move you forward.

The first step is for us to sit down together and work out what needs fixing - what’s the pain point that’s holding you back.

This step helps both us and you figure out if there’s a feasible solution that we can implement, it’s also a bit like our first date - working out if this is a partnership that’s going to work. No one wants to be mates with someone who doesn’t align with their values or who they don’t feel as if they are treated as an equal. We’re going to be working together for some time, so we want to get along.

From this first meeting we want to establish three things:

• a well-defined problem statement is critical for success
• the solution is aligned with your overall strategy
• you achieve the outcomes that matter most

We’ll then have our brief. The brief is where we’ll start and where we’ll keep coming back to as we scope out the project ahead.

Step 2 — Scope it

This is probably the most important stage of the project. It’s creating the blueprints for your product, without it we’d be going in blind. 

Scoping goes deeper into the problem statement to find the best possible solution. We'll spend time with you onsite going through your current processes, talking to your team and any other people who may use the product that comes out of this project. Spending time in your shoes helps give us a full understanding of the problem, it also gives us insight into your working environment, restrictions and how your team (or the end user) may get the best use out of a piece of software.

We find that, working with regionally and remote based organisations, there’s often a lot more to consider than urban based software solutions. We want to make sure we get the full story before we can be confident our solution will work for your exact needs.

The scoping process is where we start to put together the pieces of the puzzle for the upcoming development. After pulling everything apart we will use the scope to start planning the build, turning the solutions we’ve found into actionable development tasks.

To scope out a project usually takes around 3–5 weeks. We like to spend a full week on-site talking to people, observing how you work, what your priorities and limitations are and gathering all the documentation, forms and requirements that need to be considered. From there we will go away and put together our proposed solution, create proposal documentation and create a prototype of how your new software will work, so that you can begin to visualise it. After all, you wouldn’t build a house without seeing the blueprints first, would you?

The process and requirements team will be the ones working with you again in the scoping stage, you’ll be becoming pretty good friends by the end of it! They will also be your main port of call for any features you may want to add on to your product in the future as they will have the inside knowledge of how you work and what you like. One of the main characteristics we look for when hiring our team is a strong sense of empathy and good communication skills, so that you are working most directly with someone who will ultimately feel what you feel.

At the end of the scoping process you will have:

• Full scope document for your organisation
  
• The most suitable change management solution
  
• A finalised list of requirements for the build
  
• A non-functional prototype (scaled depending on complexity of software and budget)
  
• A realistic timeline for engineering
  
• A future roadmap for features and ongoing refinement of your system
  
• An estimation of investment and future outgoings.

Your product will then move into the engineering phase. Whether you choose to proceed with us or take your project to the market is entirely your decision.

If you choose to proceed with us, the next step is where the technical side of things kicks off.

Once we've scoped your project, provided a quote and you've given us the go-ahead, we'll get started. Keep in mind that the plan and timeline are already in place from the scoping phase. We'll begin by sending you a purchase order and project plan that outlines all the stages, meeting frequencies, team members involved, and what we need from you and when.

We'll bring you onboard with our project management software, Jira, to keep things agile and ensure efficient communication throughout the project's lifecycle. Jira will allow you to raise any issues or change requests, test features, and access support.

Our development process is generally done in two-week sprints using an agile framework, with features planned for completion during each sprint. We'll release these features fortnightly for user testing and adjust accordingly.

As the Product Owner on the client side, you'll attend a fortnightly sprint planning session to ensure everyone is up to speed on the current work stage, completed and pending features, and priorities.

This will keep things transparent and communication open, giving you regular updates on the project's progress. These meetings will also help us develop a roadmap for future development, features, and product evolution. As we work with you and test the features, we'll identify additional requirements that could make the app more user-friendly and efficient.

Before release, the client-side team will conduct a soft launch to gauge how intuitively the product is used by external users. We'll continue to release features in iterations as they're tested and ready for implementation.

We don't consider a product 'finished' after its initial release; software is always evolving and can be tailored to suit changing needs. We're here to support you through change management and ensure your ongoing success with the product.

At the end of the day, we're here for you and committed to supporting your social impact journey every step of the way.

At HutSix, we understand that custom software requires a unique approach. Unlike off-the-shelf solutions like Sharepoint, we provide a tailored service that meets your specific needs.

Our Agile methodology means that we take a collaborative approach to managing any issues or requests that arise, ensuring that your software continues to evolve and improve.

Our ongoing support is backed by a retainer and service agreement that's designed to meet the needs of your organisation and your app.

Don’t even know where to start but you know for sure that your organisation is a bit of a dumpster fire? And that your boss will probably combust if you suggest bringing in a consultant as that means big invoices and talks of synergy? 

Well trust us, we’re not like the big guys, and you don’t need to know what solution you’re looking for before you chat with us. Get in touch, and we can see what kind of HutSix touch you might need to put the fire out.