Chapter 10.    

CONSULTING CONSULTANTS

Assuming that, as a management team, you have decided that you really do need to make a change, the next stage is to start some serious thinking about what, why, how, when, where, etc. You need to develop a mission, strategy and plans. Next, you will need to create and build your support systems (for example: education, recognition and corrective action). Then comes control and monitoring systems and then cyclic implementation. At any of these stages you may feel that you need help from external consultants.

Consultants are not cheap (I should know, I am one) and so it is essential that you get the best value you can from them. To help you do this; the following notes tell you a bit about these people.

Firstly, we need to understand what a consultant is. We need a definition. Like the definition of quality, there are a number of widely used ones. Here are three.

The Institute of Management Consultants defines a consultant as:

“An independent and qualified person who provides a professional service to clients by:

• Identifying and investigating problems

• Formulating recommendations for action by investigation and analysis, with due regard for broader management and business implications

• Discussing and agreeing with the client the most appropriate course of action

• Providing assistance where required by the client to implement the recommendations made.”

Another respected definition is:

“The rendering of independent advice and assistance about management issues. This typically includes:

• Identifying and investigating problems and/or opportunities

• Recommending appropriate action

• Helping to implement recommendations.”

These are the types of formal definitions consultants like you to know about. The third definition, while widely used inside the industry, is one that few consultants tell clients about – even if this is the one they actually use themselves!

“A Management Consultant, more often than not, is someone brought in to find out what has gone wrong by the people who made it go wrong, in the comfortable belief that s/he will not bite off the hand that feeds him/her by placing the blame where it belongs.”

The point about these definitions is that to get the best value from consultants requires that you have a very clear idea about what you want - before you call them in.

Any programme of change you wish to make happen in your business belongs to you – not a consultant. Sure, a minority of sharp consultants will be only too happy to adopt ownership of your partially thought-out programme and then design something that meets your all-too-vague brief. They will be delighted to do this, in many cases, because they will simply trot out the solution that they developed for a previous client. They will take a long time over it and charge you fees accordingly, and you will end up with something that no one owns. So, after the consultant leaves, you will blame every problem on him and he will account for the failure as your organisation not running things properly.

The golden rule with consultants is to be specific about what you want.

Hang on a minute. That’s a rule. Throughout the book I have been saying that there are no rules.

This “rule” is no exception. Yes you should be specific in briefing a consultant but your requirements should be flexible enough for you to modify your plans to accommodate any good ideas the consultant may have. The point is that you decide which ideas are good - not the consultant. Never fall into the trap of relinquishing ownership of the programme.

To help you be precise, it is helpful to recognise that a consultant operates in four general roles. By thinking about the role that you want the consultant to fill, you will be able to scope the assignment more effectively. The roles are:

The majority of good professional consultants much prefer to work under specific terms of reference and will encourage you to be precise. In such conditions the consultant can work to ensure that s/he is really delivering high value and is securing your loyalty. His business, after all, is just as much driven by a need for continuous improvement, customer care and business excellence as yours is.

He may even go so far as to offer you consultancy to define the requirements for a consultant. This is not usually a cheap trick to earn a few more days of fees; it is good process management to ensure clear and agreed requirements.

However, consultancy is an unregulated industry and so some are better than others. You being specific will help you judge the likely value you are being offered.

A good consultant will want to work with you, not for you. He will want to form a long lasting relationship and so will stay in touch. He will want to learn your business, to enable him to serve you better. He will want to win your trust and confidence, to enable him to add value to your ideas. He will want access to your people, because he knows that staff often tell consultants things they wouldn’t tell managers, he can then offer higher value advice.

A good consultant may (or may not) charge a relatively high fee per day, but he will always strive to ensure that: his fee earning days deliver value, and that he only earns fees when there is need for him to do so.

Most consultants are professional, but there are some sharks amongst them. Those with a ready-made recipe should set your antennae trembling. As should those who know all the answers, or talk “consulting-speak”, or appear to relish revolution.

Keep alert and keep specific, and you should be able to sort the wheat from the chaff.