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 & The Decision 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 (  Block, Peter. (2000) Flawless Consulting: A guide to getting your expertise used (2 nd Ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Pfeiffer.  Harvey, D. & Brown, D.R. (2006) An experimental approach to organization development (7 th 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