Executive Project & Delivery Advisory
Four ways to get a high-stakes project back under control.
I work with directors, VPs, and executives who are accountable for delivery and no longer trust the story the dashboard is telling. Every engagement starts with the same thing: establishing what is actually true.
How the work is structured
Diagnose, stabilize, strengthen, advise
These are four modes of the same practice, not a services catalogue. Most leaders enter at the diagnosis and stop there, because the diagnosis is often enough.
01 Ā· Diagnose
Executive Project Reality Checkā¢
A 90-minute working session for the accountable leader, followed within 48 hours by a written Executive Control Mapā¢ you can act on.
- Establishes what is actually true, separate from the reported status
- Names the single problem that matters most this week
- Gives you three moves, with owners and dates
CA$3,500 + applicable tax
See the Reality Check02 Ā· Stabilize
Project Recovery
For an initiative that has already drifted. Narrow, not wide: the real story in hours, the problem in one sentence, three moves that change this week, then owners and a locked plan.
- Independent read on status, risk, and capability
- A stabilization plan the team can actually execute
- Escalation and decision points made explicit
Scoped after the diagnosis
Discuss a recovery03 Ā· Strengthen
Governance & Delivery Advisory
Strengthen how decisions, escalation, and sponsorship actually work, so the same drift does not reappear on the next initiative.
- Governance that produces decisions, not status theatre
- Delivery cadence and reporting leaders can trust
- Sponsor and steering-committee roles made real
Scoped after the diagnosis
Discuss advisory work04 Ā· Advise
Executive On-Call
Ongoing independent advice for the accountable leader. A standing second opinion on delivery risk, decisions, and sponsorship.
- Direct access when a decision cannot wait for a steering meeting
- A candid outside view before you commit to a course
- Continuity, so context does not have to be rebuilt each time
Monthly retainer, scoped to your portfolio
Discuss on-call supportWhere to start
The honest sequence
Nothing is proposed unless the findings justify it. That is the whole point of starting small.
Start free
The Playbook and the Scorecard
Eight questions that expose whether your project is genuinely under control, and what to do in the 48 hours after you find out. Ten minutes, on your own.
Get both toolsThen talk
A 15-minute fit conversation
No pitch. We establish whether this is the right work for your situation, and I say so if it is not.
Book the conversationThen decide
The Reality Check, then whatever the findings justify
Sometimes clarity is enough. Where the diagnosis shows intervention is needed, we scope it then, and not before.
See the Reality CheckThis is a fit when
- You are accountable for an initiative with real consequence, and you have the authority to act on what a review finds.
- The reported status is reassuring and your confidence is not.
- You want an independent read, not a vendor pitching a delivery team.
This is not a fit when
- You want a project manager placed on your team.
- You need the review to confirm a conclusion you have already reached.
- You want ongoing coaching rather than an independent review. I coach a small number of clients separately, so ask in the fit conversation.
Twenty years of being the person brought in when delivery matters
Nigel Thomas is an executive project and delivery advisor with more than 20 years leading and advising complex initiatives, inside Fortune 500 organizations and as the vendor accountable for delivering to them, including recovery and turnaround situations.
20+ years
Leading and advising complex projects, programs, and portfolios.
Both sides
Fortune 500 client and vendor environments, including turnarounds.
48 hours
From working session to a written Executive Control Mapā¢.
The next step
Do not wait for the dashboard to turn red.
Fifteen minutes, no pitch. We establish whether this is the right work for your situation.
Book a 15-Minute Fit Conversation