You may never know until the end of the project, providing you
did not have to part company midway, whether you have engaged the
right management consultant. This can be quickly assessed by the
simple question - "If I had another project of similar characteristics
- would I hire this consultant or these management consultants again?"
Hindsight may be too late but you can stack the odds for project
success and best consultant match in your favour by using qualified
selection criteria.
If you are interviewing several management consultants then weight
these starter set of checklist items according to their importance
to you and the project.
1. Professionalism – assess the quality of their proposal
and presentation, as well as their personal presentation.
2. Skills and experience – assess the full team in terms
of :
a. Industry depth - although not critical it can significantly
reduce their learning curve.
b. Functional depth - will they provide an independent perspective
based on experience, or rely on external research alone?
c. Research capabilities – are they experienced in a
range of research techniques and are they aware of the appropriate
sources?
d. Analytical skills – can they cite examples of detailed
analytical work and provide references?
3. Compatibility with you and your staff – assess chemistry
and ask yourself whether you believe that you will be able to
communicate effectively and constructively.
4. Style, eg, directive, consultative, decisive, or thoughtful
-do they have the right balance needed for this project?
5. Innovation, creativity and the ability to provide a tailored
approach- assess this by questioning their approach and methodology
on other projects.
6. Willingness and ability to provide one-on-one knowledge transfer
– do they have a coaching style or directive style ?
7. Enthusiasm for your project – assess this by observing
their interest, energy level and extent to which they are “engaged”
by your problem.
8. Collaboration – will they work effectively in a team?
9. Availability – ensure that the whole team will be onboard
as and when required.
10. Fees – is there a clear link between the price and
the value to you, eg, progress payments, deliverable based payments,
effort based, etc.?
To evaluate the above you will need to ask targeted questions to assess
whether the consultant is the right management consultant for you.
This article suggests 10 selection criteria to find the right
management consultant for you. It is a short extract from Chapter
6 - 10 questions you must ask your management consultants before
they start work on your project from the ebook -"Corporate
Mercenaries: Manage your consultants or.. they will manage you"
by Desne Doman and Donna Vaughan.
** Attention Ezine editors/Site Owners ** Feel free to reprint
this article in its entirety in your ezine or on your site so long
as you leave all links in place, do not modify the content and include
a resource box as listed above. It would be nice to get a note from
you telling me where you are publishing it. Many thanks. Donna and
Desne
