Lambing, Leadership, and Driving Change: Meet Lisa, Our Senior Business Change Consultant

We may be a little biased, but we truly believe our team is made up of extraordinary individuals. One of them is Lisa, a Senior Business Change Consultant at Hart Square, who has been guiding organisations through transformation for nearly a decade.

By day, Lisa helps non-profits navigate complex digital projects, ensuring they drive meaningful change. But outside of work, she trades project plans for pastures, volunteering on a farm—lambing season and all!

Read on to discover more about Lisa and the two key factors every organisation should consider before starting a digital project.

Q. Could you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your role here at Hart Square?

I’m Lisa a Senior Business Change Consultant at Hart Square, where I’ve been for the past nine years. At its core, my role focuses on helping clients achieve their objectives and project goals by delivering the services and guidance they need to drive meaningful change.

Within this, my role involves working on a wide range of projects, from developing business cases to business process reviews, requirements gathering, partner selection implementation, all the way to some post go live support.

Lisa Wetlesen
Senior Business Change Consultant
Hart Square

Beyond that, I also take on a sponsorship role, which means I provide support and guidance to other consultants in our team, on their projects. I provide advice and quality assurance to ensure that the work we deliver meets the highest standards and truly supports our clients’ needs.

Q. How did you get into your role?

I started my career as a Business Analyst in the finance sector, working for a large insurance company and gaining experience in a highly corporate and structured environment. From there, I transitioned into project management.

During this time, one of my former directors moved into the non-profit sector and invited me to lead the PMO for a membership organisation. They had no existing project management structure, so I set up processes, implemented governance, and led a range of projects.

After nearly three years in that role, I had the opportunity to collaborate with a technology organisation. Through that work, they recommended me for a role at Hart Square. After researching more about Hart Square, I saw it as a well-respected consultancy with the chance to work on a variety of projects across different sectors. The diversity of clients, from charities to membership organisations and even local councils at the time, really appealed to me, as did the structured yet flexible nature of the work. That’s how I made the move to Hart Square.

Q: What do you enjoy most about your role, and what do you enjoy about working in the non-profit sector?

I’m enjoy working with the non-profit sector because there’s a strong sense of purpose behind it. The organisations we work with provide invaluable services that many people rely on. For me, it’s a privilege to be part of that journey, to support organisations in making meaningful changes that positively affect people’s lives. I can’t imagine leaving the sector now because of that. Enabling positive change within organisations that do good is a huge motivator for me.

As for what I enjoy most about my role, I’d say the variety. I get to work with a wide range of clients. No two projects are ever the same, each with its own challenges and nuances. While the structure, governance, and even the technology we implement are often similar, the people and the way we work with them make each experience unique.

I also like that we’re constantly evolving our services to meet client needs. While we have core offerings, we’re always identifying gaps and looking for ways to provide additional value. That keeps things exciting, as we’re always innovating and developing new services from scratch.

Lastly, I think our team is a huge part of what makes this role so enjoyable. We have an amazing team of talented and experienced individuals which I really enjoy working with. We all have different backgrounds and experiences and help support and challenge each other. Our clients benefit from the value of our collective experience and our collabortaion as we continuously share best practices, refine our approaches, and adapt to different client needs. That combination of collaboration, flexibility, and structured methodology is what makes us strong as a consultancy.

Q. Now we’ve got to know your professionally, do you have a personal fact to share – something that might surprise your colleagues to know about you?

Something that might surprise my colleagues is that in my spare time, I volunteer on a farm. It started as something I did occasionally and I’ve always had friends who work on farms. On the farm I do a range of things from lambing, which is messy but incredibly rewarding, to working with cattle and even doing practical tasks like fencing. It’s a completely different environment from my day job, and I love the balance it gives me. After spending time in the city for work, getting out in the fresh air, rolling up my sleeves, and getting muddy is a great way to decompress. Plus, being part of such a close farming community is something I really value.

Q: What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to an organisation considering a digital project?

The two most important things are clarity of objectives and keeping it simple.

First, be very clear on what you’re trying to achieve. What are the specific benefits you want? What impact should the project have? Without a well-defined objective, projects can lose focus and become overwhelming.

Second, keep it simple. While it’s tempting to aim for all the bells and whistles, too much change at once can be overwhelming for staff. If the transition is too complex, the impact on employees is often underestimated, and that can lead to resistance and one of the biggest reasons digital projects fail is that users aren’t fully on board. You can implement the best technology, but if people don’t adapt to new ways of working, the project won’t succeed. That’s why change management is critical, it’s not just about the tech, it’s about making sure employees feel supported and have the time to adjust.

It’s also important to have strong leadership that clearly communicates objectives, prioritises the project, and helps staff understand how the changes will benefit them personally. People will naturally think about how a project affects the wider organisation, but they also need to know, “How will this make my day-to-day job easier?” Getting that buy-in from staff is crucial.

Finally, empower your staff. If they’re involved in delivering the project, they need the authority to make decisions and feel recognised for the impact they’re making. Projects succeed when employees feel invested in the process and can take ownership of the transformation.

Q: What value have you seen Hart Square provide to it’s clients?

I think one of the biggest values we bring is best practice. As a consultancy, we have a wealth of experience across different organisations, which allows us to bring together proven approaches and insights. This helps us maximise value for our clients and ensure they get the best possible outcomes.

A key aspect of the value we provide is delivering change. We don’t just advise; we enable organisations to achieve what they set out to do. The only time projects don’t fully succeed is when internal decisions don’t align with the plan. But even in those situations, we act as a critical friend, an objective third party that can provide a different perspective and challenge them to think strategically. This outside viewpoint is really valuable.

Finally, I think our long-term relationships with clients speak volumes about the value we bring. Many organisations return to us for future projects, and we receive a lot of referrals from past clients. That trust and ongoing collaboration demonstrate the lasting impact of our work.