Consulting Tips and Tools

As an individual, and in a consulting role, I have noticed the importance of keeping my focus on desired results to travel the most productive and pleasant path to success.  When challenges arise, I want to access the widest range of ideas, perspectives, and resources available to me.

When faced with a meaningful challenge to something we have planned or already invested in, it can be all too easy to slip into extended focus on avoiding what is not wanted.  Depending on the potential consequences of the challenge, deeper concerns or fears may be triggered, with their associated emotions.  This is a relatively unresourceful starting point for thinking and action.

How can you stay resourceful in these situations?   Drawing on Neuro-Linguistic Programming modeling tools, Susan and I have identified one “how-to” strategy.  I outline it below both to share it with you and to stimulate comments on strategies that work best for others.

When a challenge or an unexpected event that could throw us off track must be addressed, or when I notice some degree of tension or lack of creativity when considering how to proceed, I have used the following sequence with success:

(1) Imagine as vividly as possible in minds-eye what is wanted, the (more…)

The research phase of consulting, commonly called assessment, is usually designed to reveal organizational trends, patterns of behavior or opinion, and points where action could be taken to make a productive difference in desired results.  With a little advance planning, research can also promote buy-in among the people who will later be called upon to ‘be the change.’  Engaging key stakeholders in participatory research can reduce resistance and promote collaboration in planning and practicing new ways of doing business.

Here are three research methods that can help you build participant buy-in:
(more…)

After you have determined what your consulting customer wants and you have an agreement to work together, you can turn your attention to discovering what is needed to achieve their desired outcome.  This phase of consulting may be referred to as “assessment”.

A trap at this point is to begin observing and collecting information without first getting clear on key questions to be answered in order to prepare a solid set of recommendations for the client.  Another trap is to limit assessment to description of existing problems or needs.  A third trap is to miss obtaining buy-in from key stakeholders.

The key in our experience is to focus on an assessment endpoint which produces:

a)  a draft of one or more SMART supporting results that together enable the customer to obtain their outcome, and
b)  a set of resources and action options to most efficiently achieve those results.

To conduct assessment in this way, we recommend asking and answering the 3 sets of questions below:

1)  Results Alignment:

Relative to achieving your customer’s desired outcome, what are the wants or needs of key stakeholders who may be impacted by this outcome, or upon whom the customer’s outcome may depend?

These stakeholders could be employees, family members, customers served, suppliers, investors, or others who have significant importance or influence related to your consulting customer’s outcome.

What specific results would fulfill these needs, and how can these results support achievement of your customer’s outcome? (You are looking for high alignment between stakeholder results and client outcome.)

Which of these results would have the highest leverage in realizing your client’s outcome?

2)  Current situation:

Relative to each of these key results, what is the current situation or state of affairs?

3)  Actions to Get from A to B:

Given the answers to questions in #1 and #2 above, and your knowledge of what the client wants, what are the actions or resources needed to realize the customer’s desired outcome?  Which of these resources are available to the client now, and which need to be added?  Which of the latter could you provide?

Answering these questions will help you understand and describe what results and actions are needed to most efficiently move the client and associated stakeholders from their current situation to the desired outcome.  Assessment is treated in more detail in our workshop “Consulting Tools” at http://www.aligned4results.com/ToolsforConsultingOverview.html .

Randy and Susan

© Aligned for Results, LLC

Celebrating Independence Day, I am reflecting on the great joy it is to have the opportunity to serve others through consulting. To have the freedom to be invited to provide an independent perspective and ideas or resources to a team or organization is a blessing for which I am very grateful.

Providing a valuable independent view or voice also requires a high degree of self-awareness.

How to ensure a balanced and informed perspective as we take in the sights, sounds, and feelings of a team or unit we are asked to work with? A useful question to keep in mind is: “To what degree am I simply observing what is, and to what degree are my own values, beliefs, and experiences filtering what is seen, heard, and felt?”

Certainly your own experiences and values are a resource for your present task. They have opened the door to your contribution as a consultant. At the same time, they may color what you observe to the point that you could miss something important, or misinterpret something observed.

How can you check the impact of your own “filters”? One way is through partnership with your customer or client. As you report your initial observations, ask, in an appropriate and respectful way, for their feedback or impressions of your findings. Ask them to fill you in. Ask those in the organization or team you speak with about what you are observing.

Another way to check your “independent” observations is to work with a consulting partner, so that you can compare observations and interpretations. Confidentiality permitting, it can also be quite helpful to use a sounding board of teammates or associates to check your conclusions or recommendations.

Randy

© Aligned for Results, LLC