Consultant
From Wikipractice
What is a consultant ?
In the field of the management generally, the consultant is a person who possesses the qualifications and the experience to resolve a problem in the domains of the marketing, the production, the computer systems, the human resources, the finance and the management.
Professional
It is the professional who offers an objective advisory service on a subject of often complex nature with the aim of assisting the executives and the staff of companies in the management of their operations.
High quality service
To supply a service of high quality, the consultant in management has to possess a set of exceptional qualities, a very good training and a robust experience in the field of the management and consulting.
Trust
To win the trust of the staff of the studied company and to obtain and keep his collaboration and his support, the consultant has to demonstrate that he acquired a detailed knowledge of the problem, that he indeed understands the causes and that he can develop suitable solutions.
Skill
It is evident that a consultant must be technically competent in his domain. However, the technical competence is not sufficient to insure the success of a project. Also important and maybe more, is the skill to consider the human aspect in the implementation of a project.
Open mind
The consultant thus has to approach every situation with open mind. The consultant must know how to listen to, be capable of reading between lines, being attentive to attitudes and to feelings which are situated behind the ideas and the expressed words. He must, furthermore, be capable of thinking quickly. He does not have to get lost in a mass of insignificant details but has to concentrate on the main part. He has to have an ease, deep and extended analysis skill. This ease of analysis has to be conjugated, if necessary, with a certain intuitive sense to perceive what is not measurable.
Balance
The consultant has to keep a good balance between the theory and the practice. The capacity to abstract and to use common elements in diverse situations is a big help in the work of a consultant. However, while the theory is important and useful, in the final analysis, the theory must be translated and applied to the solution of a concrete problem. He has to become used to think in a original and creative way. He must be capable of tolerating a lack of structure and of being comfortable in non repetitive activities. Furthermore, he has to be capable of thinking in a independent way while agreeing to take into account the contribution of the others and to use it.
Effective communication
He has to try hard to communicate his ideas effectively to the customer, because the key of a good communication is the simplicity. Of the useless verbosity tends rather to darken that to clarify. He must be sensitive so as to meet the needs of the customer without having an excessive sensibility. The consultant often meets of resistance, hostility or refusal. He must be capable of working with these reactions in a positive way without taking them for personal insults. The consultant has to be capable of maintaining control of his feelings and his emotion.
Personality
Finally, the consultant has to have a personality compatible with those of the leaders of the company with the aim of establishing a relation of trust in the success of his intervention and possessing a high code of ethics. He is in a position where his action can influence the work of the other persons in a significant way. He has to accept this responsibility with the highest level of professional behavior.
Why to use a consultant ?
There are several reasons to motivate leaders of companies to engage a consultant.
Need of expertise
Generally, the manager of a company resorts to the services of a consultant when he needs a specialized expertise and when he does not have required resources inside his company. These cases concern the new technologies or the new methods of management.
Urgent need
On the other hand, a consultant can be asked when an urgent need appears and when the internal resources are not available. A consultant can quickly answer a precise problem, because it is led to act quickly and he is often already familiar with several aspects of the problem to have revealed, observed them and analyzed somewhere else.
Objective point of view
Other reasons can motivate a leader of company. Indeed, this one can wish to obtain an objective point of view on a complex situation which implies several persons inside the company.
Impartiality
Even the most qualified person inside a company risks, in the analysis of a problem and the definition of practical solutions, to be influenced by its personal involvements, its customs and its ways of seeing things. Because he is independent from the company, the consultant can be impartial in situations where he is difficult for people of the inside of the company of the being.
Confidentiality
Sometimes, the leader of a company wishes to make a study and to keep it confidential. A consultant can be very useful for this kind of studies which concern is market studies, studies of acquisition of companies, etc.
Support of a decision
Finally, a consultant can be asked to present a report with the aim of supporting a decision which was taken by a manager of company. A manage) can know exactly what he wants and which decision set but prefers to refer to a consultant to obtain the necessary support in the realization of its project.
What are the services offeredby a consultant ?
The services offered by a consultant or consultants' firm are as numerous as aspects and multiple sectors which we find in companies. Now, we are not without knowing that, in companies, appear ceaselessly problems of all kinds, continual improvements.
The services offered include, among others, diagnostic studies, strategic planning, management of human resources, management of financial resources, information systems, information and communication technologies, marketing, production, research and development of new products and services, reengineering and optimization of processes, ISO projects, analysis of organizational environment, setting-up of performance indicators, organizational restructuring, evaluation of customers and employees satisfaction, management and facilitation of change.
How to define consultation project needs ?
A consultant should be asked only when we perceive a enough need for its services. The decision must not be based on the emotion. It must be reflected. There is even a correlation between effort dedicated by the customer to plan how to use the services of a consultant and profits which he can gain from it.
It is important to explain to the consultant the sectors which require his intervention, and to involve the persons of the inside the company. When the internal resources participate in the preparation of the intervention program, this one can be defined with more precision, the participants can be more motivated to realize it and the chances of success are increased.
The customer has to describe the activities to be developed
At first, the customer has to define as exactly as possible the work to carry out by describing the activities which must be developed by the consultant, and the objectives to achieve by clarifying the conditions and the reasons which motivate the commitment of the consultant, by identifying the possible problems, by determining the available internal resources and by fixing the constraints of time and money.
The consultant has to define his work plan
From his part, the consultant will have to define his understanding of the problem and the work plan which he suspects.
This work plan has to include the pursued objectives, the foreseen methodology, the calendar of the activities, the professional resources used and the budget of consultation.
The goals
The objectives of the study must be clear, precise and expressed in an operational language. They must be formulated in term of expected results and define the work to be carried out.
The methodology
The methodology clarifies the means which will be used during the study to reach the fixed objectives. We shall define the stages to be crossed, documents to be consulted, the persons to meet and the methods of work to be used.
The calendar
The calendar distributes in the time the activities to be carried out. In the section professional resources, we shall indicate which consultant will realize the project and on which aspects in particular he will concentrate.
The budget
The budget translates in money the days of planned consultating to realize the work plan, including transportation and hotel costs.
The scope and limits
Finally, in the service, it is important to clarify the area and the limits of intervention of the consultant, the level of detail of the work to be carried out and profits foreseen for the customer.
How to choose a consultant ?
There are several types of consultants' firms. Every firm offers various services according to its size. For example, certain national firms arrange staff in certain markets keys with the aim of offering a better service to their customers. Several important accountants' firms offer a staff in management assistance in their regional offices. Certain firms offer a complete service of consultation to answer any sorts of demands. Certain consultants can act as general practitioners or specialists for certain problems.
To estimate and choose consultants' firm, the customer has to consider the skill of the staff and the specific knowledge relative to the problem in the study. In fact, the important is to engage a consultant who will bring an additional value to the company.
To facilitate the evaluation process and the choice of the most qualified firm, consultants' firms were grouped together according to three categories:
National or international firms
These firms offer a large variety of services and arrange numerous competent consultants. However, as they can face a movement of staff at the level of the execution of the projects, it is important for the customer to know the consultants who will have to realize the work.
Average regional firms
These firms group together generally from ten to fifty consultants, often very competent, with a lower rate of movement than national firms. These firms specialize in certain sectors of the company and their fixing of a price scale is generally less brought up than in the national firms.
Independent consultant
In the last category, we find the independent consultant who acts is as specialist or as general practitioner. The consultant specialist concentrates in a sector such, for example, training, computing, or in an industry as transport, communications, etc.
The non-specialized consultant, as for him, with a very good education and training and a many years' experience in the industry or in the consultation, can offer a very valid expertise. He presents the advantage to offer a continuity with certain customers with whom he works on a long period of time. The relation of long-term trust which he develops is generally superior to that of the other categories of consultants. And his rates can be lesser, not having to support of high administration expenses.
What are the criteria to choose a consultant ?
Generally, five criteria can guide in the choice of a consultant or consultants' firm.
Integrity
The consultation being an intangibleservice, the customer must be absolutely sure of the person or the firm with whom he will have to work. The definition of the work and the measure of the return being two variables difficult to encircle in a accurateway, the trust in the consultant or the firm turns necessary out and the customer has to make sure of the foundation of this trust.
The customer must be able to verify the integrity of the consultant, i.e. the honesty to recognize his capacity to carry out the planned work and to produce tangible results. The best means to verify the integrity of a consultant or a firm is to inquire of the value of their previous realizations with other companies having already had appeal to the services of the consultant or the firm.
Responsibility
Consultants' firm has to be a responsible firm, i.e. which accepts the mandates which she can perform adequately with the financial, human and physical resources which she has. It is not everything to sell a project, it is more necessary to have the means of it to realize it. The prospective customer has to make sure of available resources in consultants' firm by asking that we supply him all the required information, including the qualifications and the previous realizations of the consultants assigned to the project.
Technical capacity
The capacity of the consultant or the firm constitutes a very important factor to consider.
First of all, the intelligence is required so that the consultant is capable of perceiving quickly, not only the desires of the customer, but also his real needs, understanding those who work inside the company and the impact which the changes will have on the company.
Furthermore, the consultant must be imaginative and creative in such way as he can develop recommendations adapted to the needs of the customer instead of solutions used by other companies.
Another important quality to look for lies in the experience of both the consultant and the firm. The experience on these two areas is essential, because a firm can hold a vast experience to carry out a given kind of work but, because of the high turnower of his staff, not have the qualified personnel to make it at the precise moment. In large-scale projects, the customers ask that we supply them the summaries of professional experience of the consultants who will work on it with the aim of being able to judge the relative value of the diverse firms as for the education and for the experience of the consultants in the sector of the study in cause. Often this factor becomes a critic in the selection of consultants' firm with regard to the other one.
Personality
The personality of a consultant can be compared to the ice of a cake. He can heighten a good product but he cannot save a bad from it. Nevertheless, if you have the choice between two qualified consultants, it is completely natural to choose the one among which the personality or the style is similar to yours. Personalities' good assortment between the consultant and the customer can contribute to the improvement of the wished results. This compatibility of the personalities is more important than we can believe it.
The commitment of a consultant begins a relation in two directions and a conflict of personality or the discords concerning the techniques of investigation of the consultant or the interpretation of the facts can come to damage this relation. The perspicacity of a consultant with people is a key indicator of its skill. A consultant who listens attentively what people say to him will obtain not only the information which he needs, but also the cooperation wished to use this information in the setting-up of the necessary changes to resolve the problems of the customer.
A customer can also judge a consultant on the basis of his conferences and articles. These can be valid indicators of the understanding of a consultant which govern her skill to develop solutions to remedy the problems of the customer.
Cost
Certain prospects would wish to buy cinsulting services in the same way as they would buy some product - the lowest price answering the specifications. Unfortunately, consulting services do not confront the same precision as a product or goods. In the consultation, as in the other domains, the customer obtains according to his investment. Nevertheless, it is not necessary to accept, without questioning, the fees subjected by a consultant.
Several measures exist to estimate the fees. The first one is the time required by the consultant to make the work. Is the delay reasonable with regard to the work to be carried out? Is the foreseen time to collect the information, analyze it, develop solutions, implant them, sufficient ? The second measure, are the hourly rates. Are they reasonable, considering the expertise and the experience of the consultants who will be implied?
The customer can ask the following question: are the requested fees compatible with the expected profits? If not, the work should not be begun. If they are, the assurance of a quality work is more important than the lowest price.
How much cost the services of a consultant ?
In the consulting industry, there are several methods to determine the fees and a large variety exists among consultants' firms.
Several reasons explain this variation in the costs. The most important firms and the consultants endowed with a vaster experience or with a unique capacity, can require a higher compensation for their services. On the other hand, it is practically impossible to codify consulting services so as to establish scales of standard fees. Thus let us examine, at first, the modes of payment.
Fixed fees
The consultant enters a commitment of fixed fees when he has an actual control of the project and can estimate the number of man-days with a high degree of certainty. This applies to the studies which present no unusual complexity. Even if the work can require an extensive investigation, the facts tend to follow a logical approach, what allows the consultant of having enough time to analyze the problem and make recommendations. The customer is protected by the fixed amount and any additional work is absorbed by the consultant. This method allows the customer to compare the submissions of several firms and it can budget its expenses.
Maximum amount
This arrangement differs from the precedent in the sense that the cost cannot exceed the fixed amount but can be lesser. This method is used when the consultant is not certain about the exact extent of the work but agrees to fix a limit of cost. This situation arises when a customer asks for a submission without giving enough delay for estimating the scale of the work to be made.
Per diem
The per diem is generally used when the project is of short duration or when a customer wishes to use a very specialized consultant for a restricted mandate. The danger of this method, for the customer, is to grant a contract without limit of time. To counter this disadvantage, it is preferable that the consultant supplies a periodic invoice of the fees.
Periodic fees
Sometimes, a customer prefers to engage a consultant on a continuous base. With this kind of agreement, the customer makes sure a continuity of services and the consultant benefits from a regular income. Generally, the periodic fees are less brought up than a per diem. Certain consultants seek only customers on a base of periodic fees and distribute their services to three or five companies, on a continuous base.
Contract
A contract is prepared when the customer wishes a compulsory commitment between the consultant and himself. This practice meets especially in the governmental bodies. Several important companies also prefer the formality of a contract. The contract can be used to clarify that all the information is confidential, that any innovation is the property of the customer, etc.
Project value
In certain circumstances, a work can have an intrinsic value beyond the number of man ddays realized. For example, a strategic plan for a company can cost more than the time required to prepare it. If a consultant supplies a service except the common which is measurable, the customer can grant him an additional compensation. However, amounts must be specified before beginning the study and quantified in precise terms.
Percentage on profits
Some consultants prefer to benefit from a compensation based on profits. This method is used in profits improvement programs and industrial engineering studies. The difficulty of application of this method lies in the fact that the objectives of the consultant and those of the customer can be different. The consultant can be interested in short-term profits while the customer can be him in the long-term profits. Frictions and discords can result from it.
Contingent payment
The method of contingent payment is used when it is clear the payment will be made when results will have been obtained. Most of the consultants will not accept contingent arrangements because they cannot completely control the results of a program. This practice is more often used in the field of the sales where sales targets can be measured in quantitative terms.
Deferred payment
The method of the deferred payment is used to spread the cost of the consultation over a period of time so that the obtained profits can pay the due fees. This method is occasionally used with the companies which are incapable to pay the total amount of the fees at the end of the commitment of the consultant. It can be also used when the company is in a difficult financial situation. Because this kind of arrangement is more speculative, the consultant can charge a larger amount to compensate risks.
Fees more bonus
Sometimes a customer wishes to add a factor of motivation to the basic agreement by offering acceptable fees more a bonus. This method is used in profits improvement programs, when tangible results are obtained.
As a matter of fact, there are several methods of payment and it is a question of choosing the method of compensation which corresponds most to needs and to profits of both parties, customer and consultant.
As for the costs, these vary according to consultants' firms, according to extent and complexity of a project and according to the mode of realization of the project.
How to measure the return on a consultant ?
A consultant is mainly engaged because he has certain skills required by the customer. His work should be estimated in terms of capacity to apply its talent to the needs of the customer. Three methods can be used to measure his performance.
Work specifications
The first method consists in comparing the performance of the consultant with the specifications of the work presented in the contract service. This method implies a review item by item of the service to verify if the consultant carried out all the activities and if he respected his commitments. The evaluation must be objective and serves for determining the quality level of the accomplished work. The approach must be substantial with the other contracts granted to the same firm or to the other firms. Also, the considered criteria must be substantial with those used to estimate the performance of the persons inside the company customer.
Short-term profits
The second method is to measure the contribution of the consultant concerning the of the company financial position improvement. Normally, there is a cause and effect relationship between the work of the consultant and the certain direct profits. Because the consultant was expressly hired to make certain changes, the impact of its work should normally be reflected in the state of the financial results. Although certain projects are difficult to measure, each should add a value to the company. However, it is normal to assign a lapse of time between the end of the intervention of the consultant and the identification of profits. The evaluation should be made on a quantitative base as much as possible, for example, sales increased further to a program of sales improvement ? Did the profits improvement program reduce the costs of direct manpower? Etc.
Long-term profits
The third method and maybe the most important are the contribution of the consultant in the long-term profits of the company. In the realization of his work, the consultant should contribute to heighten the level of competence of the staff of the company by passing on the maximum of his knowledge. He should lead and develop the staff in his speciality, in his methodology and in his approach to resolve problems. The consultant should provoke better attitudes and an increased morale by creating an interest and a desire to the staff of the company to go farther and to accelerate the growth rate of the company. The consultant should be the catalyst to allow the changes to come true and to reorganize the sectors of the company in a constructive direction.
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Related articles
- Choosing a Consultant
- Definition of a consultant
- Evaluation of the work of a consultant
- Payment methods for a consultant
- Potential dangers in consulting
- Professional ethics
- Services offered by a consultant
