Consulting Skills Kecia Stevenson Rome September 26, 2007.

Consulting Skills

Kecia Stevenson Rome

September 26, 2007

Teaching Objectives

To provide class with an overview of key consulting skills, the basic model of the consulting process, and exposure to the following:

• Ethical issues in consulting

• Career opportunities in consulting

What is a Consultant?

Someone who provides his or her unique expertise to an organization or to someone else.

Internal Consultant

A professional who is employed full-time by an organization and who reports to a general manager or other senior management. He/she works exclusively within the domain of the employing organization and at the request of the manager to whom he/she reports.

External Consultant

A professional who does not work within a parent.host company. A professional who has an expertise in a specific area and offers his/her services to the public and/or private sector.

Consultant’s Objectives

To establish a collaborative relationship

To solve problems so they stay solved

To ensure attention is given to both the technical/business problem and the relationships

Key Consulting Skills Technical

– Time management– Team work– Software application

Interpersonal– Open minded– Support– Respect

Consulting– Listening– Building Trust– Balancing Directness

Practical Applications

Bain & Company seek applicants who possess:

– Big picture thinking– Problem solving logic– Focus on value– Depth and breadth- business intuition– Results orientation

Consulting Process

Entry & Contracting

Discover & Data Collection

Feedback & Decision to Act

Engagement & Implementation

Recycle, Extension, & Terminate

Entry & Contracting

Negotiating Coping with mixed

motivation Exposure and

control Contracting

– Triangular

– Rectangular

Discovery & Data Collection

Layers of analysis Political climate Resistance to share

information Interview as a joint

learning event

Feedback & TheDecision To Act

Funneling data Presenting data Managing the

feedback meeting Focus on here and

now Don’t take it

personally

Block’s 10 Step Feedback

Restate original contract

Structure of meeting

Present findings Present

recommendations Ask for client’s

reaction

Ask client did they get what they wanted

Decision to proceed Test for client

concerns-control/ commitment

Did consultant get what they wanted?

Give support

Engagement & Implementation

Bet on engagement over mandate and persuasion

Design more participation then presentation

Encourage difficult public exchange

Change the conversation

Recycle, Extension, Termination

Evaluate what happened in “Engagement and Implementation”

Decide on next step– Recycle– Extension – Termination

APIE Change Model

Assess the need for change

Plan the change

Implement the change

Evaluate the change process and results

Consultant Roles

Expert

Service

Collaborative

Expert Role

Class: Describe what behaviors are exhibited by the client and the consultant?

Client: Inactive participation

Consultant: Determines need, gathers data, make decisions, plans and implements change

Service Role

Class: Describe what behaviors are exhibited by the client and the consultant?

Client: Determines need, gathers data, make decisions, plans and implements change

Consultant: Inactive participation

Collaborative Role

Class: Describe what behaviors are exhibited by the client and the consultant?

Client and Consultant: Actively participate to determine needs, gather data, make decisions, plan and implement change

Consulting Styles

Stabilizer

Cheerleader

Analyzer

Persuader

Pathfinder

Ethical Issues

Boundaries of competence

Conflicts between ethics and company demands

Explaining assessment results

References Bain & Company (www.bain.com) Block, Peter. (2000) Flawless Consulting: A guide to getting

your expertise used (2nd Ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Pfeiffer.

Harvey, D. & Brown, D.R. (2006) An experimental approach to organization development (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ. Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Nelson, B. & Economy, P. (1997) Consulting for dummies. Foster City, CA: IDG Books.

Schein, Edgar H. (1988) Process Consultation, vol.1: It’s role in organization development . Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley.

Q & A