Santa Cruz, CA
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Week 1-2: Discovery Phase

We conduct interviews, observe operations, and review documentation. You keep running your business - we work around your schedule.

What Happens

Kickoff Meeting (Day 1, 90 minutes)

We meet with leadership to understand your business model, current pain points, and what success looks like. We identify who to interview and which processes to observe.

Attendees:

Founders/owners, key managers (3-5 people max)

Team Interviews (Days 2-5, 30 min each)

We talk to 5-7 team members across different roles and seniority levels. These are conversational, not interrogations. We ask about daily friction, what slows them down, and what workarounds exist.

Topics we cover:

  • • Where does work get stuck?
  • • What information is hard to find?
  • • Which meetings feel wasteful?
  • • What would make their job easier?

Process Observation (Days 3-7, 3-4 hours)

We shadow your team during normal operations. We watch how work moves, where handoffs happen, where delays occur. This reveals friction that people have stopped noticing.

What we observe:

  • • Meetings and decision-making
  • • Handoffs between team members
  • • How information is shared
  • • How problems get escalated

Documentation Review (Days 5-10)

We review whatever documentation you have: process docs, org charts, templates, SOPs. We assess what exists, what's missing, and what's outdated.

This happens in the background

No time required from your team

Your Time Investment

Leadership

  • • 90-min kickoff
  • • 30-min individual interview
  • • Optional: sit in on observation

Total: ~2 hours

Team Members

  • • 30-min interview
  • • Work normally during observation
  • • No extra prep needed

Total: 30 minutes each

How We Work Around You

Flexible Scheduling

We book interviews at your team's convenience. Early morning, lunch breaks, end of day - whatever works.

Minimal Disruption

Observation happens during normal work. We're flies on the wall, not disruptive consultants asking constant questions.

Async When Possible

Documentation review, analysis, and synthesis happen on our time, not yours.

Remote Options

For remote teams, we do video interviews and observe via screen share or recorded meetings.

What You Get at the End

Discovery feeds directly into your Friction Audit Report and Flow Map. By the end of Week 2, we have everything we need to create your 90-Day Improvement Plan.

You'll see a preview of key findings in Week 2 before the final presentation.

Part of Flow Check Process

Discovery happens during Week 1-2 of The Flow Check engagement.

Learn more about Flow Check