When a new research project starts to gather momentum, the pressure to deliver can build quickly. Timelines move fast, and there’s often a long list of deliverables - events to organise, budgets to track, team members to coordinate, stakeholders and advisory board members to keep updated – with the responsibility often falling to the Principal Investigator, unless additional research support is in place. That’s where a great Project Officer makes all the difference.

As the year draws to a close and things start to slow down (at least a little), it feels like a good moment to pause and reflect. Not just on what’s been achieved, but on what’s been learned along the way — about the business, about growth, and about how we want to work.

If you’ve ever started researching productivity tools, you’ll know how overwhelming the choice can be — hundreds of platforms claiming to save you time, automate your day, or “transform” the way you work. But in reality, most teams stick to just a handful of tools that genuinely make life easier. Here’s a look at the tools our clients actually rely on — and the ones we’ve quietly stopped recommending.

If you’re running your own consultancy, you’ll know the tension between wanting to grow and not wanting to lose control. You’ve built a business around your expertise, relationships and personal reputation, so how do you decide what to outsource, and what to keep close?