The Art of Consultancy

Opinions are subjective and with all subjective data there is the danger of distortion

Opinions are subjective and with all subjective data there is the danger of distortion — that respondents will slant their response to some particular end — perhaps to please the questioner. A question such as, ‘What do you think of the company’s employment policies?’ could be distorted — for example, if respondents believed a critical answer would be held against them.

METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION
There are essentially only three ways you can collect data:

• From observation;

• From dialogue with people;

• By examining documents or other material.

In consultancy, data is generated using investigative techniques, the most common of which are:

• the interview — a meeting with a single interviewee;

• the discussion group — a meeting with several people;

• the questionnaire — a way of creating documentary information.

Information on each of these, and the pros and cons of each, is given in Chapter 7.

There are also structured data collection tools available. The following analytical techniques are outlined in Chapter 7, together with their advantages and disadvantages and some practical hints for using them:

• Critical incident technique;

• Delphi technique;

• Stakeholder analysis;

• Power mapping;

• Repertory grid technique.

follow a series of iterations:

1. Definition of the project objectives beforehand.

2. Get to know the client.

3. New slants to the issues identified. Possibly project objectives are slightly shifted and initial hypotheses formed.

4. Crude data collection.

5. Items worth exploring identified in more detail.

6. Revise/substantiate hypotheses. … and so on.

process of data collection is in the following sequence:

1. Define the objectives of the project.

2. Determine the data required.

3. Develop and implement a plan for collecting the data.

4. Analyse the data.

5. Draw conclusions and make recommendations.

PLANNING FOR A GOOD CLIENT RELATIONSHIP
As well as achieving the results promised in a proposal, Dick will have the aims of keeping the client happy throughout the work and establishing a good relationship so that TDH will be considered when the next requirement for outside help arises.

To this end, your planning should enable you to do the following:

1. Keep the client informed about progress: the plan should schedule regular progress meetings with the client to report on problems and successes, and future plans. Make sure you do not leave long gaps between reports, particularly at the start of the project and above all avoid unpleasant surprises for your client.

2. Whatever the rank of your client, not only do they have to be assured of the continuing success of your project but they also have to be able to assure their boss, colleagues and subordinates, some of whom may not be as enthusiastic. A well-informed client is able to refute rumour and, of course, will be more convinced that the project is being professionally run.

3. Allow yourself a safety margin in both consultant and calendar time for completing a project. It is embarrassing (and makes for poor client relations) if you have to increase the fees, or fail to meet deadlines.

4. Remember, too, that operating several assignments part-time is less efficient than a single full-time assignment (as encapsulated in the equation 2½ + 2½ = 5½ days/week).

5. Part-time operating has to be more carefully planned and organised than full-time; it wastes time, and it can be frustrating to visit a client and find the people you need to see are away.

6. Within a short time of the project starting, you should demonstrate some ‘quick successes’. A quick success consists of delivering a benefit to the client sooner than expected. In Dick’s case, he might find a way of reducing inventories of finished goods in a few areas. If this can be done very soon after starting, he will have shown his worth.

7. Aim to do a little more than was promised. This can vary from doing more on the project to providing help in other areas of the business. This has to be kept in check however — there are no points for providing so much extra in other areas that the original project falls behind.

8. Schedule your invoicing so that the client has a bill to pay when they have a sense of having received value from you, e.g. after delivering a report rather than before it.

consultancy time spent must be carefully controlled. It is useless waiting until the end of a project of any size to see what time was spent on it. It needs to be monitored at suitable milestones, and feature on the agenda at each progress review.

Expectations will usually be embodied in a proposal, which is the basis of the contract that exists at the conclusion of the selling phase.

Many difficulties on a consulting project arise simply because of a mismatch of expectations rather than any failure in execution.