By embracing diverse perspectives, encouraging new ideas, and challenging the status quo, we create sustainable results for the organizations we serve.
Breakwater Associates is a full-scope management consulting firm that recently celebrated its 13th year in business. Expertly delivering strategic planning, organizational development, organizational effectiveness, leadership development, and training services, we help organizations embrace change that result in improved efficiencies and greater operational effectiveness.
Community Needs Assessments & Environmental Scanning
Breakwater Associates work closely with clients to conduct community needs assessments and environmental scanning as a key part of the strategic planning process. The community needs assessment is a planned and purposeful process of gathering, analyzing, and reporting on current data and information about the key characteristics and needs of a community. The community needs assessment provides a historical view of a community, its economic and political scene, and identifies strengths, challenges, and gaps in a community. Our subject matter experts work closely with clients to identify specific populations and subpopulations, service areas (or communities ) of focus, and data sources that are key to the future of our clients.
Environmental scanning is the process that looks closely at the opportunities and risks to our clients. The process includes the identification of the types of resources that are available in a community to address the specific needs of our clients’ market (e.g., populations and subpopulations of focus). Our subject matter experts are adept at using a variety of modalities including direct observation, questionnaires, consultation, empathic interviews, review of relevant policies, and conducting focus groups.
Facilitation
Breakwater Associates subject matter experts are experts at facilitating meetings, leadership, and board retreats, focus groups, in-depth interviews, S.W.O.T. analysis sessions, electronic surveys, and other fact-gathering exercises deemed necessary to support the development of strategic plans that lead to organizational success.
Some of our facilitation services are provided internally among leadership teams, boards of directors, and staff, while others are conducted externally among stakeholders, partners, constituents, and community leaders. Breakwater Associates’ facilitators synthesize conversations and survey results into clear, measurable goals and objectives that drive strategic change. Our subject matter experts are masterful at getting to the core of the issues under discussion and capturing the essence of an individual’s or a team’s opinions, attitudes, and observations.
Implementation
Breakwater Associates’ subject matter experts work with clients to develop detailed implementation plans that help them realize their goals and objectives and measure operational effectiveness over time. The implementation plans ensure that goals and objectives are feasible and attainable for our clients. Our strategy involves identifying objectives that are Strategic, Measurable, Ambitious, Realistic, Time-bound, Inclusive, and Equitable (SMARTIE). Once these are identified, our subject matter experts work closely with clients to identify manageable activities, integrating performance management with key measurements, and mitigating potential challenges.