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Tudor Hilcu THG Conseil
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The method, and what you gain from it

Whether you’re after growth, margin or a way out of a crisis, I work in the same order. I chart nothing before I have measured, and I don’t leave before your teams can hold the course on their own. I have applied this method since 2018 to programmes for TotalEnergies, The Walt Disney Company, GRDF and Monoprix, and to my own companies.

Contact me

By phone, WhatsApp or email. A complimentary first conversation by phone, in confidence, within 48 hours.

Key figures

  • 50companies

    supported, approximately: audiovisual, construction, energy, e-commerce, multi-business groups

  • 30 to 140%

    in gains depending on the client: margin, costs, revenue, productivity, savings or efficiency

  • Several hundred thousand to several million euros

    in savings

Most of these companies are not named, for reasons of confidentiality.

From my background

  • 8years

    as PMO, PM and programme director

    2018 to 2026

  • 100teams

    and more, led across four continents: Europe, Africa, the Americas, Asia

    All assignments combined

  • 21teams

    and 5 partners coordinated on an ERP and WMS programme

    The Walt Disney Company, 2024-2025

  • 700sites

    in a network programme I supported

    Monoprix, 2018-2021

  • 4major groups

    energy, gas network, entertainment, retail

    TotalEnergies, GRDF, The Walt Disney Company, Monoprix

See my background

The four stages

  1. Stage 1 of 4

    Measure

    The initial diagnostic.

    What happens
    Interviews with leadership and key managers; reading figures, commitments, contracts and minutes; mapping committees, risks and deadlines; a first committee run in your current format.
    How long
    The first two weeks of a typical six-month engagement (about 5 working days), once I have the documents and meetings I asked for.
    What you receive
    • A written reading
    • The risk map
    • The three decisions to take first
    Checkpoint
    You confirm the reading, or correct it.

  2. Stage 2 of 4

    Chart

    A costed action plan.

    What happens
    Objectives, written assumptions, costed plan, budget, a 13-week cash forecast where needed, scenarios, target governance (which committees, how often, to decide what).
    How long
    Weeks 3 and 4: the plan is approved by day 30.
    What you receive
    • The one-page plan and its detail
    • The roadmap
    • The governance charter
    • The leadership dashboard
    Checkpoint
    You make the calls, and the plan becomes yours.

  3. Stage 3 of 4

    Hold

    A progress review every week.

    What happens
    Routines kept without exception, decisions recorded, actions followed up, variances explained before anyone asks.
    How long
    From the second to the fifth month, with a checkpoint at 90 days.
    What you receive
    • Minutes sent on the day of the committee, or the next working day at the latest
    • The decision log
    • The weekly dashboard
    • The monthly plan review
    Checkpoint
    Every Monday, and every month in committee. This is where most plans are lost, and it is the core of my job.

  4. Stage 4 of 4

    Hand over

    Your teams keep the method after I leave.

    What happens
    Training your teams in the routines, the new process and the software, included in the package; lessons learnt shared with leadership; handover to whoever takes over.
    How long
    The sixth and final month: the routines carry on, run by your teams.
    What you receive
    • The handover file
    • Operating procedures
    • Lessons learnt
    Checkpoint
    Three months after the assignment ends, a one-hour follow-up by phone or video call, free and with no obligation, to see how the plan is going; it is not a new assignment.

Five ways of working

Each service has its own format. If you’re torn between two, a first conversation is enough to settle it.

  • Part-time PMO

    One to two days a week, to hold the schedule, the budget and the decisions.

    Project leadership

  • Initial diagnostic

    A five-day package at a reduced rate: a diagnostic of your situation, then a roadmap.

    Growth

  • Crisis intervention

    A decision point every day.

    Coming through a crisis

  • Coaching

    Regular one-to-one sessions on organisation and leadership.

    Executive coaching

  • Training

    Sessions on your premises, on your own projects. These are in-house courses that do not lead to a certification.

    Team training

See also: See the services, My background, Free documents.

The gains, by type

Six types of gain. For each: where it comes from, what I do, how it is measured, the targets to aim for and what I have delivered.

On my assignments, the gains are financial or operational. Each time, they come from putting something new in place: a process, a tool, a committee, a way of deciding. Depending on the sector and the target, my assignments have produced gains of 30% to 140%, expressed, depending on the client, in margin, costs, revenue, productivity, savings or efficiency. These are past results: they do not predict yours.

I only count a gain if it can be measured: a baseline taken before we start, an indicator, and someone on your side who signs off the figure.

Each entry states its targets, measured in your business from your own baseline. A target is something to aim for, not a promise. The benchmarks come from the studies cited, published by their authors.

Gain 1 of 6

Financial gains

Margin, costs, cash, and what your suppliers owe you.

Read the detail: Financial gains
Where the gain comes from
  • Spend committed without a forecast and discovered at year end.
  • Variances between budget and actuals that nobody explains.
  • Customer invoices paid late, and cash that gets tight.
  • Penalties and refunds written into the contract and never claimed.
What I do
  • I tie the budget to financial control: forecasts, commitments and variances, reviewed on fixed dates.
  • I go through costs line by line, with the people who commit them.
  • I set up a 13-week cash flow plan when the situation calls for it.
  • I reread the contracts and prepare, with your lawyer and your accountant, what they entitle you to claim: penalties, refunds, renegotiation.
How it is measured
  • Baseline: The approved budget, actuals for the last twelve months, today’s cash position.
  • Indicator: Budget against actuals, margin by activity, the 13-week cash forecast, sums recovered from suppliers.
  • Who signs off: Your finance director or your accountant. The figure that counts is theirs.
Targets
  • 30-day target: A 13-week cash flow plan in place, updated every Friday.
  • 90-day target: 3 to 5 fewer days of late customer payment.
  • 12-month target: 5 to 10% savings on the overheads reviewed, signed off by your finance director.
Example

For an SME with turnover of €9,000,000, collecting 4 days earlier frees up about €100,000 of cash (€9,000,000 × 4 ÷ 360 days).

Benchmarks
From my track record
  • GRDF: Spend optimised through cost analysis and supplier negotiation, and a budget projected into the following year with financial control.
  • Monoprix: Weekly budget reporting for the executive committee, and tools to detect overspend risks.
  • The Walt Disney Company: A budget held in direct contact with financial control: forecasts, accruals, payments, contract approvals.
  • On every assignment: Contracts negotiated so that penalties or refunds could be claimed, or a contract exited.
  • Monoprix: Projects costed in three stages (studies, pilots, roll-out), then spend tracked on fixed-price and time-and-materials contracts.
  • TotalEnergies: An internal resourcing budget of several million euros, tracked across more than ten departments and dozens of managers, and reconciled with the official data extracts.
  • TotalEnergies: A delivery budget of several hundred thousand euros, built line by line, contingency included.
Gains per assignment, as an order of magnitude
  • TotalEnergies: Several million euros, as an order of magnitude.
  • The Walt Disney Company: Several million euros, as an order of magnitude.
  • GRDF: Several hundred thousand euros, as an order of magnitude.
  • Monoprix: Several hundred thousand euros, as an order of magnitude.

Savings achieved, penalties or refunds recovered, deadlines met. I give these gains as an order of magnitude; we can go through the detail when we speak.

Going further

Gain 2 of 6

Operational gains

Dates met, go-lives that go through, incidents dealt with, a service that holds.

Read the detail: Operational gains
Where the gain comes from
  • Projects that slip because nobody owns the critical path.
  • Go-lives decided on the day, with no written criteria.
  • Incidents that come back because their cause was never dealt with.
  • Vague service commitments, which cannot be enforced.
What I do
  • I hold the master plan, its dependencies and its critical path.
  • I write the go-live criteria and the rollback plan in advance.
  • I set up a daily committee during cutover, then support after go-live.
  • After a major incident, I hold the remediation plan until it is closed.
How it is measured
  • Baseline: The dates announced, incidents over recent months, the service commitments signed.
  • Indicator: Milestones met on the planned date, major incidents opened and closed, service levels (SLAs) met.
  • Who signs off: The business or operations owner who bears the delay or the incident.
Targets
  • 30-day target: Go or no-go criteria written 48 hours before each go-live.
  • 90-day target: 8 milestones out of 10 met on the announced date.
  • 6-month target: A dated remediation plan within 5 working days of every major incident.
Example

On a project run by 5 people, a one-month delay means 100 days of work (5 × 20 working days). At a cost of €450 per person per day, that is €45,000 more.

Benchmarks
From my track record
  • TotalEnergies: Critical go-lives delivered, with a daily steering committee, criteria written in advance and a rollback plan.
  • The Walt Disney Company: An ERP and a WMS delivered and put live, then stabilised in operation; remediation plans after major incidents.
  • Monoprix: Amazon sites opened and handed over to operations, stores connected to Uber Eats and Deliveroo.
  • GRDF: A portfolio and a budget held throughout the assignment.
  • Monoprix: Project workload assessed every month, to spot schedule risks.
  • TotalEnergies: A schedule of more than a hundred tasks and its detailed version, run for nearly ten groups of contributors.
  • TotalEnergies: An escalation to a bank, with statement corrections obtained the next day.

Going further

Gain 3 of 6

Productivity

Time handed back to your teams: meetings that decide, reporting done once, tasks automated.

Read the detail: Productivity
Where the gain comes from
  • Meetings with no agenda that end with no decision.
  • The same figures retyped from one spreadsheet to the next.
  • One method per team: each redoes what its neighbour has already done.
  • Repetitive tasks still done by hand.
What I do
  • I give each committee an agenda, a decision log and action tracking.
  • I bring reporting down to one page, fed once.
  • I set a common framework: the same templates, the same words, the same indicators from one team to the next.
  • I automate what repeats, with AI-assisted management tools like the ones I have built for my assignments.
How it is measured
  • Baseline: Time spent today in meetings and on reporting, recorded with your teams.
  • Indicator: Hours handed back per week, decisions taken per committee, time taken to produce the reporting.
  • Who signs off: The team leaders concerned: only they know whether the time has come back.
Targets
  • 30-day target: An agenda and a decision log for every committee, sent within 24 hours.
  • 90-day target: 1 to 2 fewer hours of meetings per manager per week.
  • 6-month target: A one-page monthly report, produced in half a day at most.
Example

For 12 managers, 2 fewer hours of meetings a week hand back 1,104 hours a year (12 × 2 × 46 working weeks).

Benchmarks
From my track record
  • TotalEnergies: The committees of a department and its units: decisions recorded and followed through.
  • The Walt Disney Company: A single framework of methods and documentation, adopted by every team.
  • GRDF: Standardised processes across units, and a regular continuous-improvement session.
  • My own tools: Management tools I have built myself, with the help of AI.
  • TotalEnergies: A project status report giving each project its overall status, schedule and budget, across ten to twenty-odd projects per edition.
  • TotalEnergies: Meeting minutes written and circulated almost every week, over several weeks of scoping.

Going further

Gain 4 of 6

Savings on licences and contracts

What you pay for without using it, and what your contracts already entitle you to claim.

Read the detail: Savings on licences and contracts
Where the gain comes from
  • Licences bought for headcounts or uses that have since changed.
  • Two tools paid for to meet the same need.
  • Contracts renewed with no renegotiation.
  • Service levels missed, with nobody making a claim.
What I do
  • I draw up an inventory of licences and contracts: who pays for what, until when, on what terms.
  • I compare actual use with the rights purchased, tool by tool.
  • I identify duplicates and propose what can be stopped.
  • I prepare the renegotiation before each renewal date, on usage and cost figures.
  • To exit a contract, I rely on the SLAs, the quality assurance plan and the security assurance plan, with your lawyer and your accountant.
How it is measured
  • Baseline: The annual bill per vendor and per supplier, and the number of licences actually in use.
  • Indicator: Cost per active user, unused licences, the amount renegotiated or recovered.
  • Who signs off: Your finance director, on the invoices.
Targets
  • 30-day target: 1 table of licences and contracts: annual cost, usage, renewal date.
  • 90-day target: Savings of 10 to 20% identified on the licences reviewed.
  • 12-month target: Every renegotiation prepared 6 months before the contract’s renewal date.
Example

On an estate of 300 licences at €25 a month, 15% unused licences cost €13,500 a year (300 × 15% × €25 × 12 months).

Benchmarks
From my track record
  • On every assignment: Choosing suppliers, negotiating build and run, SLAs, the quality and security assurance plans, all the way to penalties, refunds or exiting a contract.
  • GRDF: Cost analysis and supplier negotiation.
  • The Walt Disney Company: Negotiation of costs and critical milestones with the programme’s partners.
  • Monoprix: Spend tracking on fixed-price and time-and-materials contracts.
  • TotalEnergies: A contribution to analysing the subscription model of a software platform used by thousands of people, across several volume assumptions.
  • TotalEnergies: Tracking the annual order for contract project management services: around ten quotes and purchase orders, in a dashboard (committed, spent, remaining).
  • TotalEnergies: Dozens of change estimates approved, within a written process running from the request to closure after a test payment.

I sell no software and take no commission, discount or benefit from any vendor, supplier or financial institution.

Going further

Gain 5 of 6

Building on each project

What one project leaves for the next: lessons learnt, reused templates, a shared framework.

Read the detail: Building on each project
Where the gain comes from
  • Every project starts again from a blank page.
  • The same mistakes come back from one project to the next.
  • Know-how leaves with the person who leaves the team.
  • Templates exist, but everyone keeps their own.
What I do
  • I hold a lessons-learnt session at the end of each project and keep a few actions from it, each with a name and a date.
  • I file the templates that worked in a shared framework that everyone knows how to find.
  • I write the onboarding and handover paths, so know-how stays when people change.
  • I hold a regular session to share what works from one team to the next.
How it is measured
  • Baseline: The templates and lessons learnt that exist today, and who uses them.
  • Indicator: Projects started with the shared templates, lessons-learnt sessions held, the actions that come out of them and get done.
  • Who signs off: The project managers and their manager: only they know whether a template was used.
Targets
  • 30-day target: 1 hour of lessons learnt after each closed project, and 3 actions at most.
  • 90-day target: A shared framework of 5 to 10 templates, known to every project manager.
  • 12-month target: 8 new projects out of 10 started with the shared templates.
Example

For a company that starts 10 projects a year, 3 fewer days of scoping per project thanks to shared templates hand back 30 working days a year (10 × 3).

Benchmarks
From my track record
  • GRDF: A regular continuous-improvement session, to share practices and clear blockers.
  • Monoprix: Project templates and committee materials.
  • TotalEnergies: The onboarding and offboarding of a department’s project managers.
  • The Walt Disney Company: A single framework of methods and documentation, adopted by all 21 teams on the programme.
  • TotalEnergies: A project manager’s onboarding structured into dozens of actions, from day one to week three, and the handover in the same way.
  • TotalEnergies: A written escalation method: an analysis grid, defined types of action, a reminder after one week without a reply and escalation to management beyond one month.

Going further

Gain 6 of 6

Governance and structuring

Committees that decide, roles in writing, decisions on record.

Read the detail: Governance and structuring
Where the gain comes from
  • The same topics come back from one committee to the next, with no decision.
  • Nobody can say who decides what.
  • Everything goes up to the leader, who decides alone.
  • Decisions that are taken are written down nowhere.
What I do
  • I set up the committees: which ones, how often, with whom, to decide what.
  • For the decisions that recur, I write down who recommends, who agrees, who decides and who carries it out.
  • I keep the decision log and follow each decision through.
  • I give the leader a one-page dashboard, read on fixed dates.
How it is measured
  • Baseline: Today’s committees, how often they meet, and the decisions of the last three months.
  • Indicator: Decisions taken in committee, written down the same day and carried out on the planned date; topics that come back with no decision.
  • Who signs off: The leader and the executive committee.
Targets
  • 30-day target: An executive committee on fixed dates, with its decision log sent within 24 hours.
  • 90-day target: 8 decisions out of 10 carried out on the planned date.
  • 6-month target: The 5 to 10 most recurring decisions, each with a single named decision-maker.
Example

A weekly 2-hour executive committee with 6 people takes up 552 hours a year (2 × 6 × 46 weeks). It should at least decide.

Benchmarks
From my track record
  • TotalEnergies: Organising and running the committees of a department and its units, recording decisions and following them through.
  • GRDF: The unit heads’ committee, and regular reviews with the head of domain on activity and budget.
  • Monoprix: Committee materials and weekly budget reporting for the executive committee.
  • TotalEnergies: Five governance bodies for a department and its units, organised and run, from the minutes to the follow-up of decisions.
  • The Walt Disney Company: Two standing committees chaired on the programme: an operations committee and a steering committee.
  • TotalEnergies: Nearly twenty sets of committee minutes written and circulated in about six months, across several domains and dozens of projects and topics.
  • TotalEnergies: A weekly committee in English, with a standing agenda and an action log running to dozens of lines, each with an owner.
  • TotalEnergies: On the very day of taking over a portfolio of requests, around ten priority cases chased in writing.

Going further

Back to contents

Areas of work

Seven areas of work. For each: when you come to it, what I do, what you gain, the targets to aim for and the real evidence.

Same rules as for the gains: targets, and sourced benchmarks.

Area 1 of 7

Transformation and change management

Putting a process or a tool in place, and making sure teams use it.

Read the detail: Transformation and change management
When you come to it
  • A new tool is delivered, but teams keep their old spreadsheets.
  • Each department has its own way of working, and nobody can compare.
  • A reorganisation is decided, with no plan for the people who will live through it.
What I do
  • I write the target processes with the people who will apply them.
  • I set a single framework: methods, templates, documentation.
  • I plan adoption like a project: who is trained, when, on what, and who answers questions afterwards.
  • I hold a regular session to clear blockers and share what works.
What you gain
  • A process that teams apply.Measured by: the share of teams using it, recorded on fixed dates.
  • The same way of working from one team to the next.Measured by: the templates and indicators shared by every team.
  • Fewer steps backwards after go-live.Measured by: the support requests and fixes that follow.
Targets
  • 30-day target: The target process written on 1 page, with the people who will apply it.
  • 90-day target: 8 teams out of 10 trained and using the new tool or process.
  • 6-month target: Half as many support requests as in month 1.
Example

Training 120 people in groups of 10 takes 12 sessions. At 2 sessions a week, the training fits into 6 weeks (120 ÷ 10 ÷ 2).

Benchmarks
Real evidence
  • The Walt Disney Company: A supply chain transformation, with a single framework of methods and documentation adopted by every team.
  • GRDF: Standardised processes across units, and a regular continuous-improvement session.
  • TotalEnergies: Support for a department’s project managers, and their onboarding.
  • TotalEnergies: The go-live of a SaaS HR tool for several thousand target users, at the end of 2025, led in tandem with the business analyst.

Going further

Area 2 of 7

Development and growth

Growing without losing control: priorities, a budget, tools that keep up.

Read the detail: Development and growth
When you come to it
  • The company is growing faster than its organisation.
  • Projects pile up with no owner and no date.
  • The bank or an investor is waiting for a costed plan.
What I do
  • I set the priorities over twelve months: the projects you keep, an owner and a date for each.
  • I put figures on the plan in three scenarios: cautious, central, ambitious. The model is built with your accountant.
  • I prepare the plan and the figures your bank or investors expect; you present the pack yourself.
  • I set up the leadership dashboard: activity, margin, cash and project progress, on one page.
What you gain
  • Priorities the whole company knows.Measured by: the projects that have an owner and a date.
  • A costed plan, ready for the bank.Measured by: the pack handed over complete, on the date of the meeting.
  • Growth tracked every month.Measured by: plan against actuals, read in committee.
Targets
  • 30-day target: 3 to 5 priorities for the year, each with an owner and a date.
  • 90-day target: A costed plan in 3 scenarios, built with your accountant and ready for your bank.
  • 12-month target: 12 monthly plan reviews held out of 12.
Example

An SME with turnover of €4,000,000 aiming for 5% growth has to find €200,000 of new sales in the year (€4,000,000 × 5%).

Benchmarks
Real evidence
  • Monoprix: Amazon site openings and new sales channels, as project manager.
  • Business owner: Six years running a profitable premium sports club in Paris.
  • My companies: 1, 3 and 5-year plans that I build and keep for my own companies.
  • Monoprix: Four workstreams in more than three years: the network, Amazon site openings, rapid delivery and automated price display.

To be precise: I have supported companies in their development; the 1, 3 and 5-year plans themselves I have so far built only for my own companies.

Going further

Area 3 of 7

Acquisition

New customers, new channels, new markets

Opening a sales channel, a site or a market the way you run a project: costed, dated, tracked.

Read the detail: Acquisition
When you come to it
  • You want to sell through a new channel, and your systems are not ready for it.
  • You are opening a site or a market, with a date already announced.
  • You don’t know what a new customer costs, or when they become profitable.
What I do
  • I cost the channel or the market before opening it: costs, lead times, break-even.
  • I run the opening as a project: systems, logistics, plan, handover to operations.
  • I set up tracking for the channel: what it costs, what it brings in, read every month.
What you gain
  • A channel open on the announced date.Measured by: the opening date, met or not.
  • A known acquisition cost.Measured by: channel spend set against customers won.
Targets
  • 30-day target: 1 page per channel or market before opening it: costs, lead times, break-even.
  • 90-day target: The cost of acquiring a customer known, and reviewed once a month.
  • 12-month target: A channel that covers its direct costs, or a written decision to stop it.
Example

A channel that costs €3,000 a month and brings in 20 new customers has an acquisition cost of €150 per customer (€3,000 ÷ 20). That is the figure to compare with the margin on a customer.

Benchmark
Real evidence
  • Monoprix: New sales channels: rapid delivery with Uber Eats and Deliveroo, connected to the stores.
  • Monoprix: Amazon site openings, as project manager: needs assessment, planning, follow-up, handover to operations.

To be precise: I ran the project side of these openings: systems, plan, budget, handover to operations. Prospecting and selling stay with your sales teams.

Buying a business: the method
  • Before the offer: read the target’s figures, contracts and organisation, and write down what still needs checking.
  • After signing: an integration plan, with an owner and a date for each action.
  • From start to finish: valuation, warranties and legal documents are handled with your lawyer and your accountant.

This is a method: I have not yet led an acquisition for a client.

Going further

Area 4 of 7

Structuring

Governance, committees, portfolio, budget, reporting

Giving the company its committees, its project portfolio, its budget and its reporting.

Read the detail: Structuring
When you come to it
  • Decisions are made in corridors, then get lost.
  • Nobody can say how many projects are open, or which come first.
  • The executive committee receives different figures depending on the source.
What I do
  • I design the committees: which ones, how often, to decide what.
  • I build the portfolio: roadmaps, capacity plan, priorities.
  • I tie each project to its budget, with financial control.
  • I set up one-page reporting, read on fixed dates.
What you gain
  • Decisions written down and followed through.Measured by: decisions taken in committee and carried out on the planned date.
  • A portfolio leadership can read.Measured by: the projects that have an owner, a budget and a date.
  • One set of figures.Measured by: the dashboards still kept in parallel.
Targets
  • 30-day target: Every open project on 1 list, each with an owner, a budget and a date.
  • 90-day target: 1 single set of figures for the executive committee, on 1 page, read on fixed dates.
  • 12-month target: A capacity plan kept month by month, and a budget projected over the following 12 months.
Example

For 20 projects tracked, a one-page sheet updated in 15 minutes per project takes 5 hours a month (20 × 15 ÷ 60).

Benchmarks
Real evidence
  • TotalEnergies: The governance of a department and its units: committees, decisions followed through, the project portfolio.
  • GRDF: The project portfolio and budget envelopes of an IT domain, across several units.
  • Monoprix: Project templates, committee materials and weekly budget reporting for the executive committee.
  • TotalEnergies: The materials for three kinds of strategic review consolidated: IT reviews, business reviews and branch reviews.
  • The Walt Disney Company: 21 teams and five partners coordinated on a single programme.
  • GRDF: More than two years holding the project portfolio and budget envelopes of an IT domain.
  • TotalEnergies: A portfolio of dozens of active projects, tracked alongside a team of more than ten project managers.
  • TotalEnergies: The year’s capacity plan, built with the project managers: more than a thousand days, or several full-time equivalents, by month and by domain.
  • TotalEnergies: Taking charge of a portfolio of several hundred change and service requests.

Going further

Area 5 of 7

Restructuring and coming out of a crisis

Stabilise first, reorganise second, on reliable figures and decisions on record.

Read the detail: Restructuring and coming out of a crisis
When you come to it
  • You discover your cash position at month end instead of forecasting it.
  • The plan shown to the bank no longer holds.
  • An activity, a site or a contract costs more than it brings in.
What I do
  • I set up the crisis cell: a decision point every day, decisions in writing.
  • I set up the 13-week cash flow plan, reviewed every week.
  • I cost each lever of the turnaround plan: receivables, stock, suppliers, costs, activity, funding.
  • I prepare the files with your lawyer and your accountant.
What you gain
  • Cash you can see coming.Measured by: forecast against actuals, week after week.
  • Decisions on record that you can show your bank.Measured by: the decision log, kept up to date.
  • Costed levers, ranked by effect and lead time.Measured by: the observed effect of each lever on cash.
Targets
  • 30-day target: A 13-week cash flow plan kept every Friday from the third week.
  • 30-day target: A crisis cell meeting for 15 minutes every day, with its decision log.
  • 90-day target: The plan’s 6 levers costed and dated, and the files prepared with your lawyer and your accountant.
Example

With €180,000 of cash and €15,000 of net outflows a week, there are 12 weeks left before the low point (€180,000 ÷ €15,000). The 13-week plan shows it from the first week.

Benchmarks
Real evidence
  • The Walt Disney Company: Remediation plans after major incidents, on an ERP and a WMS in live operation.
  • TotalEnergies: Crisis communications and support after critical go-lives, with a daily steering committee.
  • Business owner: The premium sports club I ran: closed in 2020 by government order, it held on.

To be precise: I don’t present myself as a turnaround specialist. Court-appointed mandates stay with the court-appointed officers.

Going further

Area 6 of 7

Analysis and audit

Organisation, projects, contracts, costs, information systems

Knowing where you stand before you decide.

Read the detail: Analysis and audit
When you come to it
  • You have to decide, and opinions differ internally.
  • A project is slipping, and nobody can say since when.
  • You are taking over a department, a portfolio or a contract, and you want a clear picture.
What I do
  • I interview leadership and key managers.
  • I read the figures, commitments, contracts and minutes.
  • I map the committees, risks and deadlines.
  • I deliver a written reading, with the three decisions to take first.
What you gain
  • A picture the whole leadership team shares.Measured by: the reading confirmed, or corrected, by those who decide.
  • Decisions ranked by urgency.Measured by: the decisions taken among those recommended.
Targets
  • 30-day target: A written reading of the situation, with the 3 decisions to take first.
  • 90-day target: 2 of the 3 recommended decisions taken and under way.
Example

14 one-hour interviews make 2 days of listening (14 ÷ 7 hours a day). With 3 days reading the figures, contracts and minutes, the debrief comes after 5 days of work.

Benchmark
Real evidence
  • Monoprix: A needs assessment before each site opening.
  • GRDF: Cost analysis for an IT domain, then negotiation with suppliers.
  • On every assignment: Supplier contracts, from vendor selection to exiting a contract.
  • TotalEnergies: A line-by-line check of the budget reports, with lines to be reassigned or completed flagged; the main one approved within a few days.
  • TotalEnergies: A data-quality review of the tracking tool, with more than a hundred requests to be reassigned flagged, and two alert indicators created to spot requests that have stopped moving.
  • TotalEnergies: A register of around ten assessed risks (likelihood, impact, severity, owner), with a fallback plan for every critical dependency.

To be precise: I look at the organisation, projects, contracts and costs of your IT. Technical audits (code, architecture, security) remain the work of specialists.

Going further

Area 7 of 7

Information systems

ERP and WMS, network, infrastructure, go-lives, build and run contracts

Running an IT project from design through to live operations, contracts included.

Read the detail: Information systems
When you come to it
  • You are changing your ERP, warehouse system or network, with several suppliers.
  • A go-live is approaching, and nobody has written the decision criteria.
  • The project is delivered, but operations cannot keep up.
What I do
  • I frame the need before comparing offers.
  • I negotiate the build and run contracts: SLAs, quality assurance plan, security assurance plan.
  • I hold the plan, the budget and the suppliers through to go-live.
  • I prepare live operations: support, prioritised fixes, trade-offs between maintenance and enhancements.
What you gain
  • A go-live decided on written criteria.Measured by: the criteria met before cutover.
  • Suppliers held to their contract.Measured by: service levels met, and penalties applied when they are not.
  • A stable system after go-live.Measured by: major incidents opened and closed.
Targets
  • 30-day target: The need framed on 1 page before comparing 3 offers.
  • 90-day target: A project split into stages of 3 months at most, each with its date and budget.
  • 6-month target: A go-live decided on written criteria, and reinforced support for the first 4 weeks.
Example

An ERP project planned over 12 months and split into 3-month stages gives 4 checkpoints instead of a single one at the end (12 ÷ 3).

Benchmarks
Real evidence
  • The Walt Disney Company: An ERP and a WMS, from design through to live operations, with some twenty teams and five partners.
  • Monoprix: A network programme covering several hundred sites, and Amazon site openings.
  • TotalEnergies: Critical go-lives, in an infrastructure scope.
  • GRDF: The project portfolio of an IT domain, across several units.
  • Monoprix: A 700-site SD-WAN network programme, whose teams I supported.
  • GRDF: Cross-functional projects coordinated for three departments: HR, Treasury and Communications.
  • TotalEnergies: The roll-out of a treasury platform used by several hundred subsidiaries and thousands of users.
  • TotalEnergies: The scoping of the automation of the interfaces of an HR platform with more than ten thousand users, across several interface families.

To be precise: I don’t write code and I don’t replace your integrator. I steer.

Going further

Back to contents

The methods I use

28 public methods, in seven fields. For each: where it comes from, what it is for, how I use it with a client, and the target it serves.

Alongside my assignments for major groups, I have worked from time to time with business owners and organisations outside IT: advisory work, hands-on support, development, audit, optimisation, crisis management, governance. I use the same toolkit with them. Where my records show a method on a named assignment, its entry says so.

Depending on the sector and the target, my assignments have produced gains of 30% to 140%, expressed, depending on the client, in margin, costs, revenue, productivity, savings or efficiency. These are past results: they do not predict yours. Each method serves one type of gain and carries a target: something to aim for, measured in your business.

These methods are public: each one is cited with its origin and its source.

Field 1 of 7

Advisory work and diagnostics

Framing the question, then reading the organisation, the market and the margin.

Read the detail: Advisory work and diagnostics

  • Pyramid principle and MECE

    Origin
    Formulated by Barbara Minto during her years at McKinsey & Company (1963 to 1973).
    What it is for
    Putting your ideas in order before writing or presenting: the conclusion at the top, then the arguments, then the facts, with no overlap and no gaps.
    How I use it
    This is how I write every note to the leader or the committee: one page, the recommendation on the first line, the reasons below, the detail in an appendix.
    Gain served
    Productivity: 30-day target: every decision note on 1 page, with the recommendation on the first line.

  • 7-S Framework

    Origin
    Introduced at McKinsey & Company in the late 1970s; featured in In Search of Excellence, by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman.
    What it is for
    Looking at an organisation from seven linked angles (strategy, structure, systems, shared values, skills, style, staff) instead of only redrawing the org chart.
    How I use it
    In a diagnostic, I use it as an interview plan with the leader and their managers: one page per angle, what holds, what sticks, and which angles contradict each other.
    Gain served
    Governance and structuring: 30-day target: a 7-page diagnostic, one page per angle, with what holds and what sticks.
    Free to download
    The 12 warning signs

  • Porter’s five forces

    Origin
    Published by Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business School, in 1979.
    What it is for
    Reading the balance of power in a market: new entrants, customer power, supplier power, substitutes, rivalry among competitors.
    How I use it
    Before a growth plan or a renegotiation, I rate each force from weak to strong and look for the one weighing on margin: often one large customer or a sole supplier.
    Gain served
    Financial gains: 30-day target: the 5 forces rated from weak to strong, and the one weighing on margin named.
    Free to download
    The crisis on one page

  • Value chain

    Origin
    Developed by Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business School.
    What it is for
    Breaking the business down into activities, from purchasing to after-sales service, to see where value is created and where cost goes.
    How I use it
    In a margin diagnostic, I list the activities, set their cost against what the customer really pays for, then we choose which to strengthen and which to lighten.
    Gain served
    Financial gains: 90-day target: 2 activities to strengthen and 2 to lighten, chosen on their cost and on what the customer pays for.

Field 2 of 7

Support and change management

Getting a change adopted, team by team, and holding the date.

Read the detail: Support and change management

  • Kotter’s 8-step process

    Origin
    Published by John P. Kotter, Harvard Business School, in 1995.
    What it is for
    Leading a change in order: create urgency, build a core group, give a vision, enlist people, remove obstacles, get early wins, keep up the pace, anchor it.
    How I use it
    I use it as a checklist for a transformation: at each committee, we say which step we are at, and whether one is missing.
    Gain served
    Operational gains: 90-day target: the 8 steps reviewed at every committee, with none skipped.
    Free to download
    The project on one page

  • Prosci ADKAR® Model

    What it is for
    Tracking change person by person, in five steps: awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, reinforcement.
    How I use it
    Before rolling out a tool or a process, I note, team by team, the step where it is stuck, and the effort goes there: explain, train, practise or follow up.
    Gain served
    Operational gains: 90-day target: 8 teams out of 10 past the third step before roll-out.

  • Influence model

    Origin
    Ideas set out in a McKinsey Quarterly article, then brought together as the “influence model” in a 2016 article.
    What it is for
    Changing behaviour through four levers held together: understanding and conviction, reinforcement by rules and targets, the skills required, and leaders who role-model the change.
    How I use it
    For each change asked of the teams, I check the four levers on one page. The missing one usually explains the resistance.
    Gain served
    Operational gains: 30-day target: the 4 levers checked on 1 page for each change asked of the teams.

  • Critical path method (CPM)

    Origin
    Published in 1959 by James E. Kelley Jr. (Remington Rand) and Morgan R. Walker (DuPont).
    What it is for
    Identifying the chain of tasks that sets the end date: any delay on that path pushes the project back.
    How I use it
    I list the tasks and their dependencies, find the longest path, then track those tasks every week and keep slack elsewhere.
    Gain served
    Operational gains: 90-day target: 8 critical-path milestones out of 10 met on the planned date.
    On my assignments
    • TotalEnergies: The schedule for critical go-lives, with its critical path and milestones.
    Free to download
    The project on one page

Field 3 of 7

Development

Choosing where to invest, and tracking what customers say about it.

Read the detail: Development

  • Three horizons of growth

    Origin
    Published in 1999 by Mehrdad Baghai, Stephen Coley and David White, of McKinsey & Company.
    What it is for
    Managing at the same time the business that pays the bills, the growth engines coming up and the bets for later.
    How I use it
    I sort projects and budget into three columns. If everything sits in the first, tomorrow’s growth is not funded; we come back to it once a year with the roadmap.
    Gain served
    Financial gains: 90-day target: projects and budget sorted into 3 columns, with at least 1 growth engine funded.
    Free to download
    A budget you can steer

  • Growth-share matrix (BCG matrix)

    Origin
    Devised at the Boston Consulting Group by Alan Zakon, then published by Bruce Henderson in 1970.
    What it is for
    Sorting offers or businesses by market growth and market share, to decide where to invest, what to maintain and what to stop.
    How I use it
    I place each offer in one of the four boxes, with its revenue and margin, then we decide where the next investment goes.
    Gain served
    Financial gains: 90-day target: every offer placed in one of the 4 boxes, with its revenue and margin.

  • Net Promoter Score (NPS®)

    Origin
    Published in 2003 by Fred Reichheld, of Bain & Company.
    What it is for
    Measuring customer loyalty with a single question: would you recommend the company to a friend or colleague?
    How I use it
    I have the question asked at the end of every job, track the score by quarter, and every unhappy customer gets a quick call back.
    Gain served
    Financial gains: 90-day target: the question asked at the end of every job, and every unhappy customer called back within 7 days.

  • Objectives and Key Results (OKRs)

    Origin
    Created by Andy Grove at Intel, then spread by John Doerr.
    What it is for
    Setting few objectives, each measured by a handful of numerical results, and reviewing them at short intervals.
    How I use it
    Each quarter, I set with the leader a few objectives for the company, measurable key results, and a regular progress review in committee.
    Gain served
    Governance and structuring: 90-day target: 3 objectives at most for the quarter, reviewed every 2 weeks in committee.
    Free to download
    PMO reporting template

Field 4 of 7

Audit

Finding what weighs most, tracing the cause, comparing against a reference.

Read the detail: Audit

  • Pareto principle

    Origin
    An observation by Vilfredo Pareto (1895), turned into a management principle by Joseph Juran in the early 1950s.
    What it is for
    Finding the small number of causes, customers or cost lines that account for most of the result.
    How I use it
    In an audit of costs or delays, I sort by decreasing amount, add up, and we deal first with the few lines that make up the largest share of the total.
    Gain served
    Financial gains: 30-day target: the 10 largest cost or delay lines sorted by amount, and dealt with first.
    Free to download
    Cash under control

  • Five whys

    What it is for
    Tracing an incident back to its root cause by asking “why” several times in a row, instead of fixing the symptom.
    How I use it
    After an incident or a variance, I bring together the people who lived it, we write the chain of whys on one page, and we fix the last cause, not the first.
    Gain served
    Operational gains: 30-day target: 1 page per major incident, with its root cause and the action that deals with it.

  • ITIL® 4

    Origin
    A framework maintained by PeopleCert, in its ITIL 4 version.
    What it is for
    The reference framework for IT service management: incidents, requests, changes, service levels, continual improvement.
    How I use it
    When auditing an IT service or an outsourcing contract, I compare what exists with the framework’s practices and draw a short action plan from it.
    Gain served
    Operational gains: 90-day target: a 10-action plan on incidents, changes and service levels.
    My certification
    ITIL® 4 Foundation (PeopleCert, 2025).

  • PMBOK® Guide

    Origin
    The Project Management Institute’s standard.
    What it is for
    The Project Management Institute’s guide to initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and closing a project.
    How I use it
    In a project audit, I compare what exists with the guide: a written objective, a schedule with milestones, a risk register with responses, stakeholders, decisions on record. The same pieces, in a light version, then serve to run the project.
    Gain served
    Operational gains: 30-day target: 5 items in place on every project: written objective, schedule, risk register, stakeholders, decisions on record.
    My certification
    PMP® (Project Management Institute, 2025).
    Free to download
    The project on one page

Field 5 of 7

Optimisation

Removing what serves no purpose: steps, defects, spend.

Read the detail: Optimisation

  • Continuous improvement (kaizen) and Lean

    Origin
    Born at Toyota, in Japan, with the Toyota Production System.
    What it is for
    Improving in small steps, with the people who do the work, and removing what adds nothing for the customer: waiting, rework, double entry.
    How I use it
    I follow one process end to end (an order, an invoice), measure the waiting, we remove the needless steps, then I hold an improvement session at a fixed rhythm.
    Gain served
    Productivity: 90-day target: 1 process followed end to end, and 2 needless steps removed.
    On my assignments
    • GRDF: A regular continuous-improvement session, and standardised processes across units.

  • Six Sigma and DMAIC

    Origin
    Born at Motorola in 1986.
    What it is for
    Reducing the defects in a process in five stages: define, measure, analyse, improve, control.
    How I use it
    In a light version: we pick a single costly defect (billing errors, returns, delays), I measure it for a few weeks, we deal with the main cause, then the measure stays in place.
    Gain served
    Operational gains: 90-day target: 1 defect chosen, measured for 4 weeks, and its main cause dealt with.

  • Zero-based budgeting (ZBB)

    Origin
    Introduced in 1970 by Peter A. Pyhrr, in a Harvard Business Review article.
    What it is for
    Rebuilding the budget from a blank sheet: every expense is justified by a need, instead of rolling over last year.
    How I use it
    Once a year, on overheads and subscriptions, I list each line with its purpose and its owner. For each: keep, renegotiate or stop.
    Gain served
    Financial gains: 12-month target: 5 to 10% savings on the overheads and subscriptions reviewed.
    Free to download
    A budget you can steer

  • Value analysis

    Origin
    Born at General Electric in the 1940s, with Lawrence Miles and Harry Erlicher.
    What it is for
    For each expense or component, looking for an acceptable substitute that does the same job for less.
    How I use it
    On contracts and licences, I write down the service expected from each line, look for a cheaper equivalent, then we renegotiate or replace.
    Gain served
    Savings on licences and contracts: 90-day target: savings of 10 to 20% identified on the licences and contracts reviewed.

Field 6 of 7

Crisis management

Seeing it coming, deciding every day, learning from what happened.

Read the detail: Crisis management

  • 13-week cash flow forecast

    Origin
    A practice that became standard in corporate restructuring in the United States, with the bankruptcy boom of the 1980s and 1990s; it has no known inventor.
    What it is for
    Seeing week by week, over a quarter, what comes in and what goes out, to spot the low point before it arrives.
    How I use it
    I fill the plan with known receipts and payments, update it every Friday, and we decide early: reminders, rescheduling, funding, with your lawyer and your accountant.
    Gain served
    Financial gains: 30-day target: the 13-week plan kept every Friday from the third week.
    Free to download
    13-week cash flow plan

  • Crisis cell, using Incident Command System principles

    Origin
    The Incident Command System comes from California’s fire services (the FIRESCOPE programme, 1970s); FEMA spread it across the United States.
    What it is for
    Giving a crisis an organisation known in advance: one person in charge who decides, fixed functions (operations, planning, logistics, finance), a single voice to the outside.
    How I use it
    On a calm day, I write with you who decides and their deputy, who speaks to staff, customers and the bank, and the first actions. When the day comes, I run a short daily meeting at a fixed time and keep the decision log.
    Gain served
    Governance and structuring: 30-day target: a 15-minute meeting every day at a fixed time, and 1 decision log.
    Free to download
    The crisis on one page

  • Scenario analysis and stress testing

    Origin
    Scenarios come from Royal Dutch/Shell, where Pierre Wack devised them with Edward Newland (1985 article). Stress tests are framed by the Basel Committee (2018 principles). In asset management, BlackRock lists scenario analysis and stress testing among the functions of its Aladdin Risk tool.
    What it is for
    Preparing two or three plausible futures, then checking that cash and profit hold in the hardest one.
    How I use it
    I build a cautious scenario, a central one and an ambitious one. In the cautious one, I look for the cash low point and the sum to find, and we decide beforehand what we would do.
    Gain served
    Financial gains: 90-day target: 3 costed scenarios, with the cash low point of the hardest one and the sum to find.
    Free to download
    A budget you can steer

  • Lessons learnt (after-action review)

    Origin
    Its best-known form is the US Army’s after-action review.
    What it is for
    Straight after an event: what was planned, what happened, why, and what changes next time.
    How I use it
    I hold a one-hour lessons-learnt session in the week after a crisis or a go-live, with the people who lived it. A few actions come out of it, each with a name and a date.
    Gain served
    Building on each project: 30-day target: 1 hour of lessons learnt in the week that follows, and 3 actions at most, each with a name and a date.
    On my assignments
    • TotalEnergies: Lessons learnt after go-live, with the support team and incident follow-up.
    • The Walt Disney Company: Lessons learnt consolidated for continuous improvement.
    Free to download
    The project on one page

Field 7 of 7

Governance

Saying who decides, at which stage, on which figures.

Read the detail: Governance

  • RAPID®

    Origin
    A tool created by Bain & Company.
    What it is for
    Clarifying who does what in a decision: who recommends, who must agree, who gives input, who decides, who performs.
    How I use it
    For the decisions that recur and drag on (prices, hires, investments), I write down the five roles and a single decision-maker, and restate it at the top of the decision log.
    Gain served
    Governance and structuring: 90-day target: the 5 to 10 recurring decisions, each with its 5 roles and 1 single decision-maker.
    Free to download
    The project on one page

  • Gate reviews with a go or no-go decision

    Origin
    A model published by Robert G. Cooper in 1988, first for new-product launches.
    What it is for
    Cutting a project into stages, with a written decision at each gate: go, kill, hold or recycle.
    How I use it
    I set the criteria for each gate in advance. Before a cutover, we answer the go or no-go questions in writing, and the decision is signed.
    Gain served
    Operational gains: 30-day target: the criteria for each gate written in advance, and the decision signed 48 hours before cutover.
    On my assignments
    • TotalEnergies: Criteria written in advance, a checklist and a rollback plan before each critical go-live.
    Free to download
    Go-live checklist

  • Balanced scorecard

    Origin
    Published by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton in 1992.
    What it is for
    Steering with a few indicators on four perspectives (financial, customer, internal processes, innovation and learning), so as not to look only at the month’s result.
    How I use it
    With the leader, I choose a few indicators per perspective, the whole thing fits on one page, and we read it every month in the executive committee, with one decision per variance.
    Gain served
    Governance and structuring: 90-day target: 1 page, 4 perspectives and 3 indicators per perspective at most, read every month in the executive committee.
    Free to download
    PMO reporting template

  • PRINCE2 Agile®

    Origin
    Launched by AXELOS in 2015, as an agile extension of its project governance method; now maintained by PeopleCert.
    What it is for
    A project governance method: a business case kept up to date, defined roles, management by stages and by exception.
    How I use it
    In an SME, I set up a small project board, short stages and tolerance thresholds on budget and time. The leader is alerted only when a threshold is crossed.
    Gain served
    Governance and structuring: 30-day target: a 3-person project board, and written tolerance thresholds on budget and time.
    My certification
    PRINCE2 Agile® (PeopleCert, 2022).
    Free to download
    The project on one page

Three typical situations, outside the major groups

Typical situations, built from the sectors I work in: the sector and size, what I do, what we aim for. They describe no specific client and no result achieved: a target is something to aim for, not a promise.

  1. Situation 1:
    Sector and size
    A construction SME with a few dozen employees, running several sites at once.
    What I do
    I set up a 13-week cash forecast, a weekly site review and a decision log; I spot progress invoices issued late.
    What we aim for
    90-day target: 3 to 5 fewer days of late customer payment, and a cash forecast updated every Friday.
  2. Situation 2:
    Sector and size
    An e-commerce business of around twenty people, growing fast.
    What I do
    I list the software subscriptions and contracts, compare actual use with the rights purchased, and prepare renegotiations before their renewal dates.
    What we aim for
    90-day target: 10 to 20% savings identified on the licences reviewed.
  3. Situation 3:
    Sector and size
    A mid-sized multi-business group, after a change of management.
    What I do
    I structure the governance: an executive committee on fixed dates, a decision log sent within 24 hours, and a single named decision-maker for each recurring decision.
    What we aim for
    90-day target: 8 decisions out of 10 carried out on the planned date.

Back to contents

What I don’t do

Accounting
stays with your accountant.
Legal documents
stay with your lawyer.
Court-appointed mandates
stay with the court-appointed officers.
Cybersecurity
remains your specialists’ work. I put the security assurance plan into your contracts, nothing more.
Selling software
is not my business: I take no commission, discount or benefit from any vendor, supplier or financial institution.

I work with your advisers.

I prepare the figures and hold the action plan they need, with your lawyer and your accountant.

And where do you stand?

Tell me which area of work is on your desk and what you want to gain from it. We’ll look together at where to start.

Contact me

A complimentary first conversation by phone, in confidence, within 48 hours.

Or call me on +33 6 74 86 88 70, or message me on WhatsApp, or email contact@thgconseil.fr.