APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1

THE CLIENT’S TEN COMMANDMENTS

(CHOOSING AND USING CONSULTANTS)

If you are a user of management consulting services, or a potential user, this appendix is for you. The Ten Commandments summarize, in telegraphic form, the critical points of which you need to be aware. If you are a consultant, the Ten Commandments can help you to understand better your client’s approach and main concerns. Remember: consulting produces good results if consultants are competent in serving clients and clients in using consultants.

1.Learn about consulting and consultants

2.Define your problem and look for opportunities

3.Define your purpose

4.Choose the right consultant

5.Develop a joint programme

6.Cooperate actively with your consultant

7.Involve the consultant in implementation

8.Monitor progress

9.Evaluate the results and the consultant

10.Beware of dependence on consultants

Now, let us look at the meaning of each Commandment.

1.Learn about consulting and consultants

Management consulting is a young, dynamic and rapidly developing profession. It has changed considerably with the advent of the Internet and e-business. You can be sure that you will find a consultant for any business or management problem you face. But who are these consultants? How do they work? Are they really as good as one often hears? You want to get replies to these questions. Don’t wait until the last moment before recruiting a consultant. Find out about consulting and consultants, and try to become a well-informed client who knows the management and business consulting scene.

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●This book can give you a lot of information. It describes how consultants operate, market their services, charge for services and assure quality. Of course, there are other publications and sources of information on consulting. A great amount of relevant information is available through the Web (see Appendix 3).

●There are publications specifically on choosing and using consultants. The ILO has published a companion volume to this book under the title How to select and use consultants: A client’s guide. Brief guides to selecting consultants are available from many consultants’ associations.

●Reading a book or retrieving information from Web sites is not enough. Speak with business friends, screen management and business periodicals, attend meetings of management or consultants’associations and ask for information, be alert to news on developments in consulting and other professional services to management.

●Criticizing consultants is very fashionable. Make sure that you are informed about such criticism and the flaws that do occur in consulting (and other professional services), but don’t judge the value of consulting on the basis of sensational press articles or books.

●It is essential to know who is who. Try to collect information on consultants (firms and individuals) who may interest you. What is their speciality and approach? For whom have they worked? How do they share know-how with clients? What is their reputation? Are their fees within your reach?

2.Define your problem and look for opportunities

The purpose of consulting is to help clients to solve their management and business problems. If you have no problem, you do not need a consultant. Therefore you should be convinced that your organization has a problem that warrants a consulting assignment.

●Define your problem as precisely as possible. What is or could go wrong? What do you want to improve? Why do you need a consultant? Are you sure that you and your own people cannot solve the problem?

●Look for new opportunities. Rather than correcting past shortcomings and errors, a consultant may help you to develop new business, tackle new markets, exploit new technologies, mobilize new resources and increase your competitive edge.

●If the idea of using a consultant comes from members of your staff who seek your approval, ask them to be explicit and precise in defining the problem and the reasons. Do not accept superficial and vague justification.

●Keep the definition of your problem open. The consultant will in any case make his or her own diagnosis, and may show that your original definition was biased, narrow or incomplete. The final definition of the problem must be agreed by both the client and the consultant.

3.Define your purpose

The task of the consultancy will be to help in solving your problem, but you should look at your problem from a wider perspective. What will be the purpose of

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resolving the problem? What do you want to achieve? What will your organization gain? Where do you want to get to and what effort are you prepared to make?

Your purposes should be formulated as specific objectives of the consultancy: action (operational) objectives and learning objectives.

●Remember that consultants can intervene in various ways. Consider what you want from the consultant in planning and implementing changes in your organization. Information that you lack? Expert advice on your decisions? A new information system? An improved organizational climate? Increased production and sales? Higher profitability? Each of these choices will require a different intervention method and a different volume of consulting services. Your action objectives will reflect your choice.

●Your learning objectives are equally if not more important. It has been said many times that effective consulting helps clients to learn from their own and the consultant’s experience. Define what you want to learn and how you would like to learn during the assignment. This will be your learning objective.

●Write your objectives down, trying to be as precise as possible. Be flexible and be prepared to redefine these objectives after having spoken with your consultant or received his or her proposals, and even after the work has started. Your consultant may help to redefine your objectives in your own interest.

4.Choose the right consultant

To choose the right consultant is essential, but it is not an easy matter. It requires information, an effective selection procedure, skill in assessing consultants, and patience. Some risk is always involved, but a proper approach to selection will minimize this risk. Your aim is to get the right consultant for your organization and the kind of problem you have. You and the consultant will have to understand and trust each other, and enjoy working together. Remember: it is you who is choosing the consultant, not the consultant who is choosing you.

●Take the choice of a consultant very seriously. Never recruit “someone who just happens to be around” and is easily available, or who has just sent you a flattering letter or an elegant publicity brochure, unless you are sure that he or she is the ideal choice.

●Use shortlists of consultants, carefully screen candidates to be put on the shortlist, get information on their capabilities, clients and past assignments, check leads and references given to you by business associates, colleagues, consultants’ and management associations, friends, and any other source.

●Be cautious in using consultants who claim that they can do anything and are vague and evasive when asked about their approach, clients and work performed. A true professional would never pretend to be an expert in all fields.

●Try to apply a rigorous (though not rigid and bureaucratic) selection procedure, including rating, comparing and evaluating consultants’ proposals and qualifications. Make the choice as objective as possible to try to minimize the risk of errors. Improve the procedure on the basis of experience.

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●Never give a major assignment to an unknown consultant. If possible, test new consultants on small and short jobs. Do not pay an unknown consultant an advance for future work.

●Be sure that you choose not only the consulting firm, but also the individual consultants employed by the firm (who may not be the people who came to propose the assignment to you). The consultants have to have personalities and technical skills that match your organization.

●Make sure that the consultant of your choice is fully up to date, versed in IT developments, aware of existing legislative frameworks and business cultures, informed about key sources of information and expertise, connected with professional networks in consulting and other business services, and able to view your specific problems and concerns from a wider economic and social perspective.

●If your consultant is to be sponsored by a technical assistance project or fund, make sure that you have a final say in selection. The consultant will work for you, not for the sponsor, and the sponsor will hold you responsible for the outcome. A free consulting service may turn out to cost you a lot if you are not in charge.

●If a consultant has deserved and earned your trust, do not hesitate to use him or her again. Not only will selection be easier and less risky, but you may get new ideas, information, inspiration, counsel and help beyond your expectations and beyond the terms of any formal contract.

5.Develop a joint programme

The consultant you have chosen may be the best one, but he or she is not your employee, and his or her presence and intervention will create an unusual situation in your organization. Careful planning and preparation of the assignment are essential.

●Review the proposals received in detail with the consultant, ask questions, suggest improvements in the approach and the workplan.

●Clarify the consultant’s role and your own, the style of consulting to be used, and responsibilities for all phases of the assignment. Who will do what? How will you and your staff cooperate with the consultant? Are you sure that the consultant will not do work that your people can do (this can reduce cost and speed up execution)?

●Reach an agreement on the programme of work to be implemented, the timetable and deadlines to be observed, measurable and controllable results to be attained, reports to be submitted to you and control sessions to be held at critical points of the assignment.

●Settle the financial side clearly and unambiguously: the fee formula and level, the reimbursable expenses, the conditions, form and frequency of payments.

●Sign a contract with the consultant in a form that is customary in your business environment. Use a written contract and make sure that it complies fully with legislation. Confine the use of verbal agreements to small jobs and to consultants whom you know well and trust totally.

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6.Cooperate actively with your consultant

The modern concept of management consulting emphasizes the client’s active participation at all stages of the assignment. Both the consultant’s and the client’s best brains are needed to make the assignment a success. And you can only learn by working with the consultant, not by reading reports and reviewing the results of the consultant’s work. But your involvement will not happen automatically – a real effort is required, especially since a consulting assignment is an additional job to the normal work of your organization.

●Tell your staff about the consultant’s presence; introduce the consultant to everyone who should meet him or her.

●Make the right people available at the right time. You will gain nothing by assigning second-rate staff to work with a first-rate adviser.

●Provide readily all information related to the assignment and needed by the consultant (confidential information not required for the assignment does not have to be shared).

●Look for ways of improving the design of the assignment, increasing your participation and enhancing the consultant’s efficiency – he or she is working for you and the ultimate benefit will be yours.

●Cooperating in the assignment does not mean irritating the consultant, holding his hand, always looking over his shoulder, delaying decisions on his proposals and not letting him proceed with the job. If this is your attitude, do not use consultants.

7.Involve the consultant in implementation

A universal problem faced by consultants and clients alike is that too many assignments end before implementation. The report looks fine – but can it be implemented? Can the new scheme work? Are you able to make it work? Will the purpose be achieved? Certain consultants are only too happy to leave the client without implementing the proposals. The true professionals do care about implementation and are sorry if they cannot participate and learn from it.

Remember that modern consulting tends to be results-oriented and consultant remuneration more and more results-based. This is not possible if the consultant does not participate in implementation.

●Make it a principle that your consultant will be involved in implementation.

●Choose a degree and form of the consultant’s involvement that suit your organization. Several alternatives will be available in most cases.

●If cost is what worries you, choose a light involvement: you implement, but the consultant helps to debug the new scheme and is available if problems arise.

●In any event, avoid implementation by the consultant without the active participation of your staff.

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8.Monitor progress

There are many reasons why the course of a consulting assignment may deviate from the path originally agreed. Because it is your assignment, and you are keen to get results, it is in your interest to monitor progress closely and take corrective measures before it is too late.

●Your monitoring will reveal whether the consultant:

–understands your organization;

–is taking the right technical direction;

–is observing the timetable;

–is behaving as a real professional (with integrity, tact, commitment, efficiency);

–is providing inputs of the right quality and quantity;

–is sharing information and facilitating learning;

–is not facing unexpected obstacles;

–has no friction or conflict with your staff;

–is likely to accomplish the agreed objectives.

●Monitor your own performance:

–are you respecting your commitments?

–can you keep pace with the consultant?

–are your staff helping the consultant, ignoring him or her, or making difficulties?

●Pay special attention to the collaborative spirit in which the assignment should be taking place.

●Do not underestimate the financial aspects of delivery:

–is the consultant billing you regularly?

–are the bills clear and correct?

–are you paying without delay?

–will the assignment remain within agreed financial limits?

Conclusions from monitoring should be reviewed with the consultant and decisions promptly taken on needed adjustments. If the time frame of the assignment cannot be extended, slow and superficial monitoring may lead to situations where nothing can be improved any more.

9.Evaluate the results and the consultant

Many assignments end in a bizarre way. The consultant leaves the organization, a report is submitted and accepted, bills are paid and everyone seems to be happy. Yet the client cannot really say whether the assignment was worth while, or whether the benefits obtained justified the costs. No lessons are drawn for future assignments, or for the possibility of using the same consultant again.

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●It is in your interest to evaluate every assignment on the basis of facts and figures, not of superficial impressions and hearsay (“the consultant was a very nice and really helpful guy, everyone around here liked him”).

●Evaluate the results obtained. What has changed? Will the changes be lasting? How much will they cost us? What problems remain unsolved? What opportunities have been missed?

●Evaluate the consultant. Has she delivered as promised? What could we learn from her? Was working with her an exciting experience? Would we use her again?

●Write your evaluation down. The consultant may contact you again and other people in your organization will want to know how he or she performed when working with you. Such information should be available to your colleagues and successors.

●Evaluate your own approach. Have you done well in this assignment? What have you and your colleagues learned? Have you become more skilful in working with consultants? Are you making effective use of them? Where do you need to improve?

10. Beware of dependence on consultants

You and your staff may have appreciated and enjoyed the presence of a professional consultant in your organization. Yet the purpose of consulting reaches beyond making professional expertise available to your organization for dealing with current problems. Every assignment should increase your abilities and your independence in dealing with future problems. Dependence on consultants would be a symptom of a very unhealthy state of affairs.

●Do not delegate to consultants any decisions that are your responsibility and that you have to take.

●Do not get used to always having a consultant around to whom you hand over every complicated matter. Conversely, it may be useful to have a long-term relationship with a consultant who could be your special adviser, sounding-board, source of new ideas and contacts, or personal counsellor.

●Do not turn to consultants with the same task again: you and your staff should have learned how to tackle it.

●Develop internal consulting capabilities for dealing with issues for which an external expert is not necessary or which require an intimate inside knowledge of your organization.

●Do not put all your eggs in one basket – diversify your sources of external expertise. But stay in touch with consultants whose performance was excellent and who have earned your trust.

** *

The Ten Commandments are not intended to teach you how to use consultants, but they do stress critical points to bear in mind when choosing consultants and working with them. If you want to learn more about consulting, read about it and speak with people who have used consultants. Try to get objective and balanced

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information. And then try it out, first on a small assignment, but one dealing with a real problem.

When you and your organization become experts in working with consultants, you may find it useful to define your own policy for using management consultants and other professional services. The Ten Commandments provide some guidance on this, but you should establish a policy that reflects your unique needs and experience.

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APPENDIX 2

ASSOCIATIONS OF MANAGEMENT

CONSULTANTS1

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APPENDIX 3

INFORMATION AND LEARNING SOURCES

FOR CONSULTANTS

This appendix lists selected information and learning sources of particular interest to consultants.1 It concentrates on basic and common issues of consulting, such as methodology and style, general trends, change management, the professional approach, firm management, selection and use of consultants, the consulting industry and related professions. It does not aim to cover specific business sectors or management functions and techniques.

1.Handbooks, guides and monographs

Consulting practice and methodology

Block, P.: Flawless consulting: A guide to getting your expertise used (San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2nd ed., 2000).

Kawase, T.: Human centred problem solving (Tokyo, Asian Productivity Organization, 2001).

Nadler, G.; Hibino, S.: Breakthrough thinking: The seven principles of creative problem solving (Rocklin, CA, Prima Publishing, 1994).

Nadler, G.; Hibino, S.; Farrell J.: Creative solution finding: The triumph of full-spec- trum creativity over conventional thinking (Rocklin, CA, Prima Publishing, 1995).

Sadler, P. (ed.): Management consultancy: A handbook for best practice (London, Kogan Page, 1998).

Schein, E.: Process consultation revisited: Building the helping relationship

(Reading, MA, Addison-Wesley, 1999).

Weinberg, G.: The secrets of consulting: A guide to giving and getting advice successfully (New York, Dorset House, 1985).

Weiss, A.: The ultimate consultant: Powerful techniques for the successful practitioner (San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass, 2001).

1 All Web sites visited on 4 Apr. 2002.

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Selection and use of consultants

Kennedy Information: A buyer’s guide to management consulting services, 2000 edition (Fitzwilliam, NH, Kennedy Information, 2000).

Kubr, M.: How to select and use consultants: A client’s guide, Management Development Series, No. 31 (Geneva, ILO, 1993).

Professional approach

Bellman, G. M.: Getting things done when you are not in charge (San Francisco, CA, Berrett-Koehler, 1992).

Bellman, G. M.: The consultant’s calling: Bringing what you are to what you do

(San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass, 1990).

Dawson, R.: Developing knowledge-based client relationships: The future of professional services (Woburn, MA, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2000).

Maister, D.: Managing the professional service firm (New York, The Free Press, 1993).

Maister, D.: True professionalism (New York, The Free Press, 1997).

Maister, D.; Green, C. H.; Galford, R.: The trusted advisor (New York, The Free Press, 2000).

McKenna, P.; Maister, D.: First among equals: How to manage a group of professionals (New York, The Free Press, 2002).

Change and culture

Beckhard, R.: Agent of change: My life, my practice (San Francisco, CA, JosseyBass, 1997).

Hamel, G.: Leading the revolution (Boston, MA, HBS Press, 2000).

Hofstede, G.: Culture and organizations: Software of the mind (London, HarperCollins, 1994).

Kotter, J.: Leading change (Boston, MA, HBS Press, 1996).

Senge, P. et al.: The dance of change: The challenges to sustaining momentum in learning organizations (New York, Doubleday, 1999).

Trompenaars, F.; Hampden-Turner, C.: Riding the waves of culture: Understanding cultural diversity in business (London, Nicholas Brealey, 2nd ed., 1997).

Human resources, training and development

Craig, R. L.: The ASTD training and development handbook: A guide to human resource development (New York, McGraw-Hill, 4th ed., 1996).

Pedler, M.; Burgoyne, J.; Boydell, T.: The learning company: A strategy for sustainable development (London, McGraw-Hill, 2nd ed., 1997).

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Prokopenko, J. (ed.): Management development: A guide for the profession

(Geneva, ILO, 1998).

Senge, P.: The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization

(New York, Doubleday, 1990).

Shaw, P.; Phillips, K.: A consultancy approach for trainers and developers

(Aldershot, Gower, 1998).

2.Consulting industry surveys and critiques

Czerniawska, F.: Management consultancy in the 21st century (Basingstoke, Macmillan, 1999).

E-business consulting: After the shakeout (Fitzwilliam, NH, Kennedy Information, 2001).

E-business realities and their implications for consultants (Fitzwilliam, NH, Kennedy Information, 2001).

E-consulting: Winning strategies for the new economy, a sector survey report by Fiona Czierniawska (Lafferty Publications, 2000; www.lafferty.com).

The global consulting marketplace: Key data, forecasts and trends, 2002 edition, and a number of other comprehensive studies of the consulting industry and its trends (Fitzwilliam, NH, Kennedy Information).

The Harvard Business School Guide to Careers in Management Consulting, 2001 Edition (Boston, MA, HBS Press, 2000).

Micklethwait, J.; Wooldridge, A.: The witch doctors: What the management gurus are saying, why it matters and how to make sense of it (London, Heinemann, 1996).

O’Shea, J.; Madigan, C.: Dangerous company: The consulting powerhouses and the businesses they save and ruin (London, Nicholas Brealey, 1997).

Pinault, L.: Consulting demons: Inside the unscrupulous world of global corporate consulting (New York, Harper Business, 2000).

Regional and country reports on consulting services; reports on consulting in Europe, United States, Japan and China (ALPHA Publications).

Shapiro, E.: Fad surfing in the boardroom: Reclaiming the courage to manage in the age of instant answers (Reading, MA, Addison-Wesley, 1995).

Survey of the European management consultancy market, regularly updated (FEACO).

Vault guide to the top 50 consulting firms (www.vault.com).

3.Periodicals and newsletters

Consultants’ Advisory (PMP Group); IT report for consultants and systems integrators.

Consultants News (Kennedy Information); monthly newsletter of the consulting industry.

Consulting Magazine (Kennedy Information); monthly magazine.

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Consulting: Le mensuel international du conseil (Groupe Mm); monthly trade bulletin (in French).

Consulting to Management; quarterly journal of the profession, former Journal of Management Consulting (www.C2M.com).

Global IT Consulting Report (Kennedy Information).

International Consultants’ Guide (PMP Group); guide for consultants, system integrators and analysts.

International Consultants’ News (PMP Group); international news report.

IT Consultant (Penton Technology Media); monthly professional magazine.

Management Berater (Management Berater Verlag); consulting journal (in German).

Management Consultancy (VNU Publications); monthly trade journal with focus on IT.

Management Consultants’News (PMP Group); monthly news report with focus on IT.

Management Consultant International (Kennedy Information).

The Marcus Letter; www.marcusletter.com; focus on marketing of professional services.

Professional Consultancy; magazine of the Institute of Management Consultancy, United Kingdom.

The Rodenhauser Report (Consulting Information Services); regular electronic briefing service, includes a weekly email column “Inside Consulting”.

What’s Working in Consulting (Kennedy Information); monthly guide providing practical tips and suggestions.

4.Directories of consultants

Consulting 2001: Le guide professionnel des sociétés de conseil (Groupe Mm).

The Directory of Management Consultants 2002 (Kennedy Information).

The European Directory of Management Consultants 1997/98 (FEACO).

5.Information services, agencies and Web sites

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Most leading management and IT consulting firms also provide useful information through their Web sites.

6.Associations of consultants

Associations and institutes of management consultants are listed in Appendix 2. Most of these membership organizations provide information not only to members, but also to other consultants and the wider public. An overview of available information services and sources can be found at their respective Web pages, some of which also provide links to other sources.

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