The challenge
A key leader within the commercial team became unexpectedly unavailable due to long-term illness. This individual held significant commercial knowledge, much of which sat only with them. Core commercial processes were undocumented, informal, and heavily reliant on the absent leader’s experience and memory.
As a result, the business was exposed to risk. Work slowed, decision-making became more uncertain, and the team lacked confidence in how to pick up and continue critical commercial activities. Errors increased, time was lost, and pressure grew as people attempted to fill gaps without clear guidance.
As this unfolded, it became clear that the issue extended beyond the role and team in question. While the business had grown significantly, many of its most important processes were undocumented, inconsistently applied, or understood differently by different teams or individuals.
What initially appeared to be a commercial vulnerability highlighted a much broader operational risk: reliance on a small number of key individuals across the business, meaning that further absences could disrupt the operation as a whole.
The business needed to stabilise the commercial team immediately, while also putting company-wide processes in place to reduce longer-term risk.
The approach
Support followed a clear two-fold approach.
First, immediate attention was given to stabilising critical commercial activity. The commercial role was reviewed in detail, including responsibilities, decision points and how work flowed day to day. This reduced short-term risk and ensured essential work could continue with greater confidence during the absence.
In addition, interim commercial support was introduced to provide continuity while availability remained uncertain.
At the same time, it became clear that similar risks existed more widely across the business. Rather than treating this as a single-team issue, the focus widened to future-proofing the organisation as a whole. Work began on identifying where knowledge sat with individuals rather than in shared processes, and on creating clear, simple ways of working that could be understood and followed by others.
This phase focused on:
- Mapping key roles, responsibilities and decision-making points
- Identifying processes held in individual knowledge, documenting them clearly and sharing them across relevant teams
- Clarifying how work should flow between teams
- Establishing practical, proven processes that reduced dependency on individuals
The outcome
The immediate risk within the commercial team was stabilised. Clear ways of working were agreed, allowing essential commercial activity to continue and enabling the team to operate with confidence during the period of absence, under the guidance of the interim commercial support.
With stability within the commercial team restored, attention turned to the wider business. The same process framework was extended across other teams, creating safer and more consistent ways of working throughout the organisation.
Once the core processes were agreed, supporting procedures were developed behind them. This ensured responsibilities, handovers and critical tasks were clearly understood and documented, reducing reliance on individual knowledge.
The combination of short-term stabilisation and longer-term process improvement strengthened the organisation’s ability to cope with change, and enabled teams to operate with greater confidence and less uncertainty.
The impact
As a result:
- The commercial team was able to work effectively and confidently again
- Reduced dependency on individual knowledge across key roles
- Clear, shared processes established across the business
- Fewer errors and improved efficiency across teams
- Stronger operational resilience built into day-to-day working
- More empowered teams, supported by a more resilient operating model
By stabilising the immediate risk and then strengthening the wider system, the business moved from a position of vulnerability to one of greater stability. An unexpected absence became a catalyst for creating safer, more resilient ways of working that better protect the organisation over the long term.