About
Frequently asked Questions
Practical answers about working with Aspyre, our programs, and what to expect from an engagement.
Working with Aspyre
Aspyre helps growth-stage technology businesses improve delivery flow and productivity. We diagnose bottlenecks, implement targeted improvements, and leave you with a roadmap your team can sustain — without mandating a full process overhaul or cultural transformation program. Our areas of expertise are predominately project delivery, and internal business operations
Typically small to medium technology companies where delivery has not kept pace with growth, and leaders who want evidence-based insight rather than generic advice. See our Who we work with page for a fuller picture of fit — and when we are not the right partner.
Yes. Aspyre is a new consultancy founded by Daniel Tucker. We are upfront about that. What we bring is deep experience in delivery leadership, program recovery, and practical operational improvement from defence, consulting, technology, manufacturing and global software delivery roles.
You work directly with an experienced operator, not a rotating team of juniors. Engagements are tailored, lightweight, and biased toward minimal disruption — pinpoint bottlenecks and practical changes rather than selling a proprietary framework or months of slide production. We are laser-focussed on finding pragmatic and innovative improvements to the work you do. We believe in the law of disproportionate return (a phrase coined by our founder, to the best of our knowledge) which is, in short that the value gained by someone you help usually far outweighs the cost or effort you need to invest to provide that help.
No catch. We're providing this offer for two main reasons. The first is that we acknowledge we are new, and despite our experience we understand there is an element of risk associated with working with a company that has no track record to speak of, so we seek to "share" much of that risk by providing the first week of our services for free, during which time we expect to convince you that we are worth keeping around. The second is that we are so confident in our experience, knowledge, approach and the value we can provide, we believe that if we are given the chance to demonstrate this value there is little chance you won't want to continue the engagement.
We charge an hourly rate of $214.47 for any billable hours. Hours worked in excess of 38 hours per week, per consultant will not be billable. Furthermore if you benefit from our 'first week free' offer, then any hours worked in the first week are also not billable.
Not if we want to demonstrate our value in the hopes you'll keep us around for subsequent weeks when the hours become billable.
Absolutely. Confidentiality is foundational to client trust, which is vital to our business success. For this reason, even without an NDA we will keep detials of things we learn, confidential. We have a NDA template available which we can use, but are just as happy to sign your own if you prefer.
The 4-week program
A focused, hands-on engagement to map your current reality, validate root causes, implement and validate high-leverage improvements, and hand over a prioritised roadmap — typically within 28 working days. Each week has a clear objective and tangible deliverables. In addition, the four weeks of this program can be delivered consecutively, or spread out over a longer period. This may depend either on your schedule and preferences, or the requirements of the engagement (for example, we may need to leave time before commencing the 4th week, in order to collect data sufficient data to validate the effectiveness of the changes.
Firstly, to help alleviate any concerns you may have about the value we deliver, and secondly because we are confident in the value we deliver and want you to judge direction before committing further. The first week is genuinely free: if you are not convinced with where the engagement is heading, you can walk away with no obligation to pay for subsequent weeks.
We work embedded with your teams — interviews, observation, and access to how work actually happens. We actively try to minimise disruptions to your ongoing work by observing things like meetings and work in the moment, but reserving questions for times when they will be least disruptive. The exact load varies, but leadership should expect regular check-ins, timely responses to questions, and support removing blockers when they arise.
A verified picture of current and desired future reality, implemented improvements where feasible within the window, early signal metrics, and a prioritised roadmap for remaining changes — whether you continue with Aspyre or run it internally.
Engagements & services
Beyond the 4-week intensive program, we can continue to work with your organisation to continue to implement agreed improvements identified within the roadmap. We also have deep knowledge and experience in project delivery, and are very skilled at identifying harmful habits and practices in project managers and teams. We can apply this to either recover a project that is going off the rails, or improve your project management practice generally.
Both, depending on what will deliver value fastest. Some improvements are behavioural or coordination changes; others may include lightweight tools or process adjustments. The goal is practical, actionable, sustainable outcomes, not a report that sits on a shelf.
Yes. The four-week program can run consecutively or be spread over a longer period if that suits your organisation — the important part is maintaining enough momentum to deliver meaningful value.
Absolutely. Confidentiality is foundational to client trust, which is vital to our business success. For this reason, even without an NDA we will keep detials of things we learn, confidential. We have a NDA template available which we can use, but are just as happy to sign your own if you prefer.
Fit & prerequisites
Executive sponsorship - I need to get information from direct sources, and return my findings and recommendations to those empowered to enact them. Transparency into how work really flows - we can't add value if we're not dealing with the real, 'warts-and-all- problems. An internal mandate to your oragnisation - ensuring teams are aware of our engagement and prepared to cooperate with us. Authority to adjust - i.e. if leadeship endorses a recommendation, then I must be given the authority required to make the necessary changes. Decisive response velocity - 4 weeks is not a lot of time, and I will not be able to deliver value rapidly if I am constantly waiting for information or action. An overall agreement that you want the truth, even if it is ugly - I'm focussed on finding real improvements, but sometimes the root causes of problems may be things that are difficult to accept and we need to be in agreement that regardless of how ugly the truth is, you want me to give it (noting I am generally good at doing this in a respectful way). Our prerequisites page lists the full set of expectations — they exist because short engagements stand a much higher chance of failure without them.
If you want a large-scale Agile or SAFe rollout as the primary deliverable, need a permanent embedded delivery manager indefinitely, or leadership cannot engage with findings in a meaningful way. In these cases, we would rather decline than waste your time.
On-site engagements are much preferred to remote work. Our engagements require both the establishment of trust, and the ability to take the investigation where it needs to go. We can be significantly more effective at these things when in-person with your teams than we can remotely or over video calls. We may be prepared to travel for up to one week at a time for engagements outside of the Sydney region, but this will be subject to availability and cost. If you are absolutely unable to work with us in-person, then we can work remotely with access to your tools and video calls with your people, but this is far from the preferred way of working. There may be elements of the work which are focussed on interrogating data or systems, and it is possible that some of this work could be done remotely, but this will depend on the specific situation and context.
Book a short discovery call via the contact page. We will discuss your context, pain points, and what type of engagement makes the most sense. I am also happy to meet in-person to discuss your situation and how I would seek to start the engagement. If you want to proceed, we can set a date for the first day of the engagement and sign any NDAs and agreements required. After that, anything you can do to expedite my access to your offices and systems will significantly help me hit the ground running. On the first day of our you can expect to see me on site in the morning, at which point I hope to hold an initial meeting with your key leaders and decision makers to discuss the enagement, your current situation, and how we will proceed.
What a combative way to ask that question, imaginary strawman I just made up! In truth, I don't know you or what you know, but I do know that I have an extensive professional career spanning over 25 years, in a range of industries and roles in which my consistent theme and passion has been finding innovative ways to make work easier, better, faster and of a higher quality. Over the last year I have taken the time to teach myself to work with AI tools to further elevate this skillset. I have seen what works in technology teams, and I have seen what doens't work (and I have seen the things that don't work masquerading as things that do). This is backed up by knowledge and learning of project management and productivity principles gained from world-leading organisations and mentors. If that's not enough, then consider that sometimes, all it takes is someone with a new or different perspective to look at a problem a different way, or ask the 'stupid' questions that unlock new insights. Still not convinced? Bring me along for that first week and let's see if I can convince you that Aspyre is the right fit for your organisation.
Still have questions?
Book a short call and we can talk through your situation — no obligation.