Copyright © 2006 The National Learning Institute

As a manager many years ago when faced with my first challenge of selecting an external consultant, I found myself all at sea.  Fortunately for me, I intuitively hit two of the three selection targets.  The project was to produce a communication video, so it was relatively easy to see and compare what each consultant had previously produced.  I had a number of consultants to choose from, but finally chose the one that I felt most comfortable with and whose work impressed me most.  The project was succesful and in the process, I learned a lot.

Since that time, I have had to employ a number of consultants, I have been a consultant myself for almost 20 years, and I have worked with many other consultancies both large and small.  The following suggestions for selecting a consultant are based on my experience as a manager and in the consultancy field.

What are the three targets that one must hit to successfully select a consultant?  (Note; I am using the term “consultant” to refer to either one person or a consultancy firm).  Firstly and most obviously, the consultant must be able to actually do the work.  Secondly, the consultant must be able to fit in with the people in your organisation and particularly those who will be working on this project.  Finally, if the consultant is good, you should always improve your own knowledge as a result of the project.

1. Can the consultant do the work?  Seems obvious, but there are some traps.  For instance, I remember when starting out as a consultant in partnership with another (who was also new to the role), submitting a tender for a fairly large job and being selected in the final few for interview.  Individually, we’d had some experience in the type of work, but not as a partnership, nor had we worked in the prospective client’s industry.  We won the job.  Why?  The client saw in us some creativity and freshness that was not evident in our competitors.  However, this was an unusual client.  Normally, I would not suggest taking on a consultant (like us) who has not had the depth nor breadth of experience in the project.  So, unless one of your criteria is “freshness”, in terms of selecting for experience here are some tips:

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Copyright 2006 Melissa Galt

One of the most common challenges for any small business is
determining what their worth is. This is different than
establishing their value as value is dependent on the
marketplace, competition, skill set, and exclusivity. These
elements are external to the business and can be measured
objectively. Worth, on the other hand, is an internal
measurement and subjective in nature. Worth has more to do
with innate talent, confidence (belief in one’s abilities),
core ethics, and other less well defined and measurable
benefits.

Too often it seems, small business owners struggle with
their worth versus their value. They can easily put a price
on their service or product based on value but less readily
incorporate their true worth in that price. It is the worth
factor that determines if a caterer charges $20 per person
or $55 per person for a menu, not necessarily the cost of
ingredients. The ingredient that is most important is the
worth of the creative talent. Just as in interior design it
is the worth of the designer that establishes whether to
charge $65/hour or $200/hour in the same marketplace. It
often has little to do with education and training and much
more to do with a subjective valuation of talent and
confidence.

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Copyright 2006 Tim Link

In the first article on fierce conversations, we examined
the fact that doing business is essentially an extended
series of conversations.  We also talked about the fact
that ongoing business success is dependent upon the ability
to regularly engage in conversations that are robust,
thought provoking and passionate.  These are what we refer
to as fierce conversations.  This concept is so elegantly
simple, yet so very critical, that we are devoting a series
of three newsletters to the concept.

This is the second of three articles on the subject of
fierce conversations and in this issue, we focus on
listening.  Why it is so important, why few of us are
consistently effective listeners and what can be done to
improve listening skills.  We also address the use of
silence which is one of the most powerful, yet
underutilized tools for effective conversation.

Are you listening?

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