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HOST Policy Research: Working With Us

Supporting Clients

HOST believes that client needs for policy research and evaluation are best met through a customised and systematic approach to project management, and which embeds standard quality assurance processes in these arrangements. With over 24 years’ experience, HOST recognises that such clients (and their partners and/or stakeholders) have very different arrangements, capacity and expectations of project organisation and communication, and that these are best served by a systematic but flexible approach factored into project management very early in the delivery arrangements. The effectiveness of these arrangements in consistently meeting client information and timing needs, and responding to unplanned disturbance or any changing requirements from clients, has been demonstrated in our past contracts.

More specifically, HOST’s approach to this involves a tried and tested project management framework which provides for robust standards, discretionary approaches and options covering all aspects of project management, organisation and HOST-client communications. This centres on HOST providing a customized, project-specific, project management and quality assurance framework, discussed at the project inception stage and providing for a dedicated ‘essential project management’ schedule to complement the methodology and delivery. The project management schedule is focused, project-specific, and enables the client to define, for example, the level of engagement they are seeking in the organisation of the project, review arrangements, key milestones, and the focus and frequency for HOST-client communications. Any client specific quality benchmarks (ie beyond those that would be normally embedded in these schedules) are agreed at that stage, and set out against specific inputs in the schedule.

Schedules typically involve agreeing each individual client’s needs for:

• Project integration with client (and/or partner) decision-making processes.
• Steering of the project, including content, frequency and ‘best-fit’ of meetings.
• Any needs for preliminary (formative) information sharing or feedback.
• An assessment of client requirements for the diversity dimension of fieldwork.
• In-project progress review and reporting beyond steering arrangements, and including risk assessment and management.
• Agreeing content of the research/evaluation tools and clearance processes.
• Structure or formatting of project reports, and any help with wider dissemination.

The approach ensures consistent and appropriate standards of project management, with the added advantage of ensuring focus and delivery, but with minimised in-project disturbance to the client. HOST believes that the way projects and embedded quality assurance are managed across teams, and with clients, is as important to delivery as the systems employed.

If you would like further information on how HOST can support you and your organisation, please contact Sue Sibley or Dorothy Berry-Lound on 01403 211440.