Undocumented know-how
The expertise exists, but nothing is written down. Every handover depends on people's memory and availability.
Organisational consulting · Action learning · In-person & remote
An organisation you can read, run and hand over.
I help companies, institutions and regulated professions bring structure to the way they actually work: diagnosing real practices, clarifying roles and workflows, documenting processes, building management tools and transferring know-how to the teams themselves.
- Organisational diagnostics
- Processes & procedures
- Management tools
- Continuity & handover
Typical situations
When the way things really work becomes hard to explain, hand over or steer.
Many organisations run on habit, word of mouth and a few key people. It holds — until a departure, an absence, a reorganisation or a surge in workload. My role is to make that way of working visible and maintainable, without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
Unclear workflows
Who decides, who approves, who executes? Roles, responsibilities and sign-off paths have accumulated over time rather than been designed.
Key-person dependency
The activity rests on two or three people. Their absence disrupts operations; their departure puts continuity at risk.
Unreliable documentation
Existing documents are scattered, outdated or unusable under real conditions. No one knows which version is authoritative.
Scattered tools
Multiple spreadsheets, duplicate data entry, parallel trackers: reporting consumes more energy than it provides.
Growth or transition
Hiring, replacement, reorganisation, scaling up: the existing structure no longer keeps pace with the activity.
What I bring
From diagnosis to handover, deliverables your teams will actually use.
Diagnosis
Establishing the facts about operational weak points — from the field, not from a textbook model.
Structuring
Clarifying scopes, roles, responsibilities and decision paths.
Improvement
Simplifying workflows, removing duplicate work, resolving recurring friction points.
Documentation
Producing processes, procedures and work instructions proportionate to the real need.
Steering
Building dashboards and tracking tools that teams genuinely adopt.
Handover
Making teams self-sufficient: business continuity, transitions, action learning.
Types of assignment
Well-scoped engagements, with a deliverable defined from the start.
- Organisational diagnostics — establishing the weak points and setting priorities.
- Process mapping — making flows, dependencies and failure points visible.
- Roles and responsibilities — scopes, decision rights, approval paths.
- Procedure documentation — maintainable procedures, work instructions, quick-reference guides.
- Structuring a role or support function — scope, tools, steering routines.
- Tracking and reporting tools — dashboards, registers, management supports.
- Internal workflow improvement — simplification, smoother handoffs, friction removal.
- Business continuity and handover — continuity kits, transition preparation.
- Operational documentation — a structured knowledge base with maintenance rules.
- Action learning — transferring methods through the teams' own real cases.
- Light digitalisation support — making a workflow reliable before automating it.
- Complex assignments in a reinforced setup — with senior partner consultants.
Method
Eight steps, from observed reality to stabilised practice.
I don't start from an abstract framework — I start from what teams actually do. Each step draws on proven professional methods, used when they serve the work, never for their own sake.
- 01
Understand
Semi-structured interviews, field observation, review of existing material.
- 02
Diagnose
Friction mapping, root-cause analysis (5 Whys, Ishikawa, Pareto).
- 03
Map
Process maps, flowcharts, swimlanes, SIPOC, light BPMN.
- 04
Prioritise
Impact/effort matrix, a sequenced and realistic action plan.
- 05
Document
Procedures, work instructions, quick-reference guides, RACI/RASCI matrices.
- 06
Equip
Dashboards, tracking tools, a structured document base.
- 07
Transfer
Action learning, adoption materials, business-continuity kit.
- 08
Stabilise
Continuous improvement (PDCA), documentation maintenance rules.
Engagement models
A setup proportionate to what is at stake.
I work independently within a scope I fully command, and I know how to assemble the right setup when an assignment calls for it. That is a mark of rigour, not a limitation.
A — Independent delivery
Well-scoped assignments
Short diagnostics, process mapping, role clarification, documentation, tracking tools, action learning. I run the assignment end to end and own the deliverables.
B — External review
More demanding scopes
Where the context calls for methodological assurance or an occasional senior perspective, the assignment includes an external review. Delivery and project ownership remain mine.
C — Reinforced setup
Complex assignments
Digitalisation, automation, operational transformation, solution architecture or complex programme steering: I work in tandem or within a project team alongside senior partner consultants, contributing the analysis, structuring, documentation and knowledge transfer.
Reference
A capability proven in a demanding international environment.
Structuring an Office Manager function
In a multi-site environment, the function needed to become easier to read: a scope to clarify, practices to document, tracking tools to stabilise, continuity to secure.
- mapping of 27 tasks, flows and responsibilities;
- documentation of 7 operational procedures;
- tracking tools: planning, budget, inventory, suppliers;
- a complete business-continuity kit;
- transfer of a method for writing procedures autonomously.
Action learning
Training built on real situations, not a catalogue.
My training work is an extension of the consulting: it starts from observed practice, documents what needs to be passed on, then trains teams on their own cases. The goal is not the session — it is the autonomy that remains afterwards.
Observe & document
Identify what needs to be transferred from the actual work, then turn it into useful materials: procedures, quick-reference guides, role handbooks.
Train in context
Sessions built on the teams' own concrete cases, with immediate practice on their own tools and workflows.
Build autonomy
Transfer the method itself, so teams can maintain and evolve their materials without outside dependency.
Programmes falling under French professional-training regulations can be delivered in partnership with a Qualiopi-certified training organisation.
Who it's for
Organisations that need to secure, document or hand over the way they work.
- Companies
- Institutions
- Regulated professions
- Training organisations
- Support functions
- Internal departments
- Growing structures
- Teams in transition
About
A culture of rigour, formed in regulated environments.
My background was built in direct contact with documentary and operational practice, notably in a regulated legal environment: confidentiality, traceability, recurring formalities, approval workflows. It left me with one simple conviction: useful structure is built from what teams actually do — not from a model imposed on them.
An independent consultant and trainer based in Paris, I work on structuring, securing, improving and transferring operational practice. My approach is understated, concrete and methodical — with deliverables that remain usable long after I've left.
Organisational consulting & action learning
Contact
A first conversation to identify your weak points.
Thirty minutes to understand your two or three main operational vulnerabilities — and an honest view on whether an engagement would be useful.
pierre@pierreconfolens.fr
+33 1 84 20 14 22
LinkedIn
Based in Paris — in-person or remote assignments.