Workflow Foundations Sprint
A 6-Week Workflow Foundations Build for Higher Ed Marketing & Communications Divisions
Clarity → workflow foundation → next-step roadmap.
A fast, structured engagement that helps your division identify where work is breaking down, map a clearer way forward, and leave with the foundational assets needed to begin improving intake, approvals, handoffs, and visibility — without committing to a long retainer.
Even strong teams hit a breaking point when:
Requests arrive through too many channels (email, Teams, DMs, hallway asks)
Approvals aren’t clear, so projects stall late-stage
Work lives across multiple tools and folders, so version confusion spreads
Leaders have to chase updates to understand what’s in motion
A project management tool exists, but usage is inconsistent—so reporting isn’t reliable
If any of that feels familiar, it’s not a talent issue. It’s a workflow foundation issue.
What this is
Workflow Foundations Sprint is a 6-week engagement designed to help higher ed marketing and communications teams define the foundational structure for how work should move — across intake, production, review, approvals, and handoffs.
This isn’t a training day or a generic “process workshop.” It’s a focused build. We identify how work is moving today, design the first version of a clearer future-state workflow, and provide a practical roadmap for what your team should implement next.
What you walk away with
In six weeks, your division will have:
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Focused Current-State Snapshot
A clear view of how priority work is currently moving, where requests enter, and where confusion, delays, or rework tend to show up. -
Bottleneck Diagnosis
Identification of the highest-impact breakdowns affecting handoffs, approvals, ownership, and visibility. -
Future-State Workflow Foundation
A simplified future-state workflow that clarifies how work should move, who needs to be involved, and where key decision points belong. -
Ownership + Approval Clarity
Role clarity, decision points, and basic routing guidance for standard requests and items that need additional review. -
Standardized Intake Recommendations
Guidance on what information should be captured at intake so projects begin with clearer expectations, ownership, and readiness. -
Foundational Workflow Asset Set
2–3 focused assets such as an intake outline, handoff checklist, ownership matrix, prioritization guide, or workflow summary. -
30/60/90-Day Implementation Roadmap
A practical sequence for what to implement first, what should come next, and what would require deeper support. -
Leadership Walkthrough + Rollout Guidance
A final walkthrough with your core leadership/project team to review the workflow foundation, clarify next steps, and identify what your team needs to roll out internally.
How it works
Weeks 1–2: Focused Discovery + Workflow Snapshot
We collect inputs, review selected workflow materials, and identify how priority work is currently moving through intake, production, review, approvals, and handoffs.
Week 3: Foundations Working Session (half day)
We align your core team around the future-state workflow foundation, ownership expectations, approval points, readiness needs, and what “done” means for priority work.
Weeks 4–6: Workflow Foundation + Roadmap
We finalize the future-state workflow foundation, develop the agreed-upon foundational assets, and provide a 30/60/90-day roadmap for implementation, adoption, and any deeper support needed.
Tool stance
Workflows first. Tools second.
This sprint is tool-agnostic. We can provide recommendations for how the workflow foundation should be reflected in Hive, Asana, or your current environment. Hands-on tool configuration, workspace buildout, and team training can be scoped separately if needed.
If you are evaluating new tools, we can provide high-level guidance on what platform capabilities would best support your future-state workflow.
Who this is for
This sprint is designed for:
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AVPs/Directors leading cross-functional marketing + communications teams
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Marketing operations and project leaders managing intake, workflow, and delivery
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Teams with inconsistent tool usage and unreliable visibility/reporting
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Divisions preparing for FY planning and needing clear foundational artifacts to support internal buy-in
Investment
Workflow Foundations Sprint (6-Week Workflow Foundations Build): $22,000
A fast-turn engagement to define your workflow foundation, clarify ownership and handoffs, and create a practical roadmap for implementation — without requiring a long-term commitment.
What this is not
This sprint is not:
- A generic training session
- A new tool rollout or workspace buildout
- A full current-state audit across multiple departments
- A full SOP suite or division-wide playbook
- A team-wide adoption and training engagement
- A replacement for a longer implementation retainer
If your team needs broader campus partner workflows, multiple stakeholder interviews, vendor/tool integration, full SOP development, team training, or division-wide governance, that’s where our longer retainer engagements come in.
The Sprint builds the internal foundation. The retainer turns that foundation into a fuller operating model.
Sprint vs. Retainer: Which fit is right?
The Workflow Foundations Sprint is right when your team needs clarity, structure, and a practical starting point.
It helps you identify the core workflow breakdowns, map a clearer future-state foundation, define ownership and handoff points, and leave with a roadmap for what to implement next.
A longer retainer is right when your team needs deeper implementation support.
If the work requires a full SOP suite, team-wide training, tool/workspace buildout, multiple stakeholder groups, broader campus partner workflows, or ongoing adoption support, that moves beyond the sprint and into a longer engagement.
Simple distinction:
The Sprint builds the foundation.
The Retainer helps your team implement, adopt, and sustain the operating model.
Your next steps
If your team is juggling requests across too many channels — and approvals, handoffs, and visibility are slowing execution — this sprint gives you a practical foundation to reset how work begins, moves, and gets reviewed.
Book a consultation to see if the Workflow Foundations Sprint is the right fit for your division.
Or download the Workflow Gaps Checklist to quickly spot where friction is showing up.