Consulting Tips and Tools

Washington goes to work three hours earlier than does California. Although I live in California, I work for Federal customers whose budgets are set in Washington.

And so this morning, as on many mornings, I review Federal agency headlines. I look for agencies that I know and for events that may impact their needs and resources. There are many hints and omens in the news. Today, an influential political figure is retiring. Tomorrow budgets will be trimmed as new Performance Management positions are established. Congress is, as always, concerned…

What do the news reports mean to the agencies I work for and those they serve? What could the news mean for our business? The answer is not written in headlines. It is found, instead, in the vision of the reader.

If you are a consultant, your vision may be about what is possible in organizations. When you are able to enliven this possibility through effective consulting partnerships, your practice is the beginning of a new story.

On some mornings, writing this story requires the discipline to set aside headlines and take the next step to connect with and serve customers you may not yet know.

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Susan

© Aligned for Results, LLC

Consultants are often thought of as experts, or those with considerable experience in a field, who are asked by a client to assist them or their organization in that area.

In our experience, it is helpful to both the consultant and client to define consulting in a larger frame.

For example, Elaine Block has said that “Consulting is the process by which an individual or a firm assists a client to achieve a stated outcome.”  Notice the important distinction of consultancy aimed at aiding in the achievement of a pre-defined result.

Peter Block has written that “A consultant is a person in a position to have influence over an individual, group, or organization but who has no direct power to make changes or implement programs.”  Here we have the important distinction that consultants typically must accomplish their work through the art and practice of influence as opposed to direct authority.

Beverly Scott has offered this:  “A consultant uses expertise, influence, and personal skills to facilitate a client-requested change without formal authority to implement recommended actions.  Success as a consultant is based on the ability to leverage expertise with honed consulting skills.”

In this case we see that an end result is accomplished via expertise, personal skills (including those of influence) leveraged through the particular skill set of consulting.

Our consulting work has led us to settle on the following:  “A consultant engages, advises, and partners with leaders, customers, or colleagues to identify and achieve what they want.”

Consulting as a practical matter does require the ability to engage, establish and maintain relationships (through which influence acts) to define and achieve a customer’s goal in partnership.

Engagement occurs partly and powerfully through the assistance provided by the consultant in discovering the specifics of the customer’s desired result.

Partnership generally refers to coordinated or collaborative action on the part of customer and consultant to fulfill agreed responsibilities on the path to achievement of the result.

The result statement normally carries additional specifications of the partnership’s terms –  for example, a due date, a specific target to be achieved, and possibly other success criteria.   Specifications on the manner of achievement of the result by the partners may also be included along with the result in a written agreement to proceed.

Randy and Susan

© Aligned for Results, LLC

Welcome to Consulting Tips and Tools, a resource for those who want to build an effective and mutually rewarding consulting practice. We will share powerful tools that reliably produce results and satisfaction for our customers and for us. Your observations, thoughts, and feedback are most welcome.

You can learn more about us and what we do by visiting http://www.aligned4results.com .