Start with a Werkscan

This article was first published as ‘Start with an audit’. That study is now called the Werkscan.

You get in touch because something isn’t running smoothly. A request that gets lost while you’re on site with a client. Client details you copy over again for every quote. Hours and job sheets that still need processing after the working day. The question then often sounds like this: can you build something for that?

Sometimes the answer is yes. Often something simpler fits. A different working agreement, a setting in software you already use, or a single connection between two systems. What works best only becomes clear once you’ve looked properly at how the work runs today.

First, a conversation

It starts with an introductory conversation, without obligation. You tell us how you work and where things get stuck. You don’t need a technical plan. Sometimes it’s already clear after that conversation what needs to happen. Sometimes it’s also clear that Atlas isn’t the right partner. Then we say so.

Then, if needed, the Werkscan

If the cause or the right solution isn’t clear yet, we propose a Werkscan: our work scan. It’s a paid study, with a scope we agree together in advance. The Werkscan takes about two weeks, depending on what we build for you.

During that time we look together at an agreed part of your work. How does a request, a job or an administrative task run now, and who is involved? Where is information copied over, looked up or entered twice? And does a different way of working, an existing setting, a connection, automation or custom work actually make a difference there?

At the end you get a written overview: the bottlenecks we saw, the options there are, and what we would tackle first. We go through it together in a closing meeting. You’re under no obligation to have us build anything afterwards.

What can come out of it

• Building nothing new. Sometimes what you have already works well enough, or a different working agreement is the best solution. That’s a good outcome too.
• One focused improvement. Sometimes there’s one clearly defined point we can solve on its own.
• Bouwen. Sometimes building turns out to be the right step. Then you get a proposal for Bouwen, our build phase, that sets out in advance what we’ll build, what it should deliver and what the planning looks like.

Why we start this way

Building is a serious step, for you and for us. Both sides need to know it’s the right step before we begin. The Werkscan gives that clarity. We don’t have to pretend we already know what needs to happen, and you don’t have to choose based on a hunch.

It’s the same rule we apply everywhere: first understand how the work really runs, then build.

And after building

The route is Conversation, Werkscan, Bouwen, Beheren. Not every step is always needed. Beheren, our ongoing management, means we keep looking after the solution after delivery. We only agree on that when the solution calls for it and we decide it together.

Not sure whether a Werkscan fits your question? We’ll talk about it in the first conversation.

Kaje