Identifying and agreeing upon the consultancy project
5.6 Completing the consultancy cycle
You may think that up to this point our consultant has not actually done any consulting. In fact with the preparation and agreement of the research brief and the research plan, in some ways perhaps the most important and difficult stages of the consultancy project have been completed. Although not exactly ‘paint-ing by numbers’, at this stage, the consultant can simply get on with the remain-ing stages of the consultancy project. As shown in Figure 5.1 these stages encompass the following steps, each of which will be considered in more detail in subsequent chapters.
● Data collection: Needless to say, this stage involves the consultant or some-one contracted or charged by the consultant to actually collect data and infor-mation to be used to complete the consultancy project. The methods of data
collection will have been planned, specified and agreed upon in the research plan of course, which in turn, remember, stems from the agreed-upon consultancy/research brief.
● Data analysis interpretation and presentation: At this stage both client and con-sultant, often working together must make sense of the data. This requires that the appropriate techniques of analysis be selected and applied and that the information is diagnosed, interpreted and presented such that it is most useful to the client.
● Recommendations, implementation and actions: Although not part of every consul-tancy project, very often the consulconsul-tancy/client contract will be such as to expect the consultant to make recommendations. In some cases the consultant will be expected to take responsibility for implementation and action programmes.
● Control, evaluation and monitoring: disengaging from client/project: The final stages of a consultancy project involve someone assessing how successful, cost effective and so on, the consultancy project has been. Sometimes this will be done by the client, sometimes by the consultant as part of the consultancy brief and sometimes by both parties. Certainly, effective control, evaluation and monitoring of consultancy projects is useful if only in planning the next project. Finally, both consultant and client must decide how, when and on what terms the consultant is to disengage from the client and/or any follow up work that the consultant may be asked or required to do.
5.7 Concluding comments
Effective consultancy and research requires systematic planning and imple-mentation. In this chapter we have looked at the key steps in what constitutes a systematic approach to planning, implementing and completing management consultancy projects. In many ways the effectiveness or otherwise of consul-tancy projects is established very early on in the process of consulting. Failures, for example, to identify the client, to establish an early open and trusting work-ing relationship between client and consultant, and failure to systematically develop and agree upon the research brief and plan condemn most consultancy projects to almost certain failure. In this chapter we have concentrated on these first steps in the consulting cycle, detailing what the steps involve, what needs to be included and how to complete these steps successfully. We are now in a position to move to the implementation of the consultancy brief and plan start-ing with data collection methods.
5.8 References
Belman, G. M. (2001) The Consultants Calling: Bringing Who You Are to What You Do, San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.
Block, P. (1999), Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expterise Used, 2nd edn, San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.
Clark, T. (1995), Managing Consultants: Consultancy as the Management of Impressions, Open University Press.
Cockman, P. Evans, B. and Reynolds, P. (1992) Client Centred Consulting, Mardenhead, McGraw Hill, pp. 9–11.
Cope, M. (2000) The Seven Cs of Consulting: Your Complete Blueprint For Any Consultancy Assignment, Financial Times/Prentice Hall.
Czerniawska, F. (2003) The Intelligent Client: Managing your Management Consultant, Trafalgar Square Books.
Freedman, R. (2000) The IT Consultant: A Commonsense Framework for Managing the Client Relationship, Pfeiffer.
Lee, K. (2003), Consulting into the Future: Key Skills, Trafalgar Square.
Markam, C. (1997) Practical Management Consultancy, The Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Revans, R. W. (1980) Action Learning – New Techniques for Managers, London: Kogan Page.
Salacuze, J. J. (2000) The Wise Adviser: What Every Profeesional Should Know About Consulting and Counselling. Praeger Paperback.
Weiss, A. (2002) How to Establish a Unique Brand in the Consulting Profession: Powerful Techniques for the Successful Practitioner, Pfeiffer.
Weiss, A. (2001) The Ultimate Consultant: Powerful Techniques for the Successful Practitioner, Pfeiffer.
Wilson, J. (1999) Consultancy, Hodder & Stoughton.
5.9 Glossary
client system all those persons or groups who might provide information, care about or be affected by the proposed solutions with regard to a consultancy project.
consultancy/research brief A detailed agreement between consultant and client, preferably written, which encompasses agreement with regard to: research/consultancy objectives, timing and funding, responsibilities and duties, reporting require-ments and constraints and restrictions.
consultancy/research plan A detailed agreement between consultant and client, preferably written, which encompasses agreement with regard to: research/consultancy objectives, data and information requirements, methods of data collection, methods of data analysis, interpretation and presentation.
contract A term used by consultants to denote that point where both client and consultant have agreed to proceed with a consultancy project and where there is an understanding as to what the consultancy project is to be about and will encompass.
gaining entry The term used by many consultants to refer to the initial contact/meeting stage between consultant and client.