camgraham.com - Consulting Overview

camgraham.com executing strategy

CONSULTING FOR BREAKTHROUGH RESULTS

hiring a consultant

Specialized talent is a critical ingredient for organizational success, whether on the payroll or on a contract basis. Hiring a consultant can be a daunting decision—Do we need help? What help do we need? How do we decide? Can we afford it? Will we get the results we need? Is it really true that, "A consultant is someone who will borrow your watch, and then charge you to tell you what time it is?"

5 things to consider as you get started:

1. Can we free up enough of our people's time to plan and execute this change?

2. Has anyone on our team successfully done this type of thing before?

3. How much value will be created by delivering results faster than we would on our own?

4. Ask prospective consultants to help you address these questions in their proposal.

5. If you do not believe a consultant will truly help you deliver breakthrough results, don't hire them.

Most consulting approaches are designed to help clients answer 4 basic questions:

1. What needs to change?

2. What do we want to change to?

3. How will we change?

4. How will we sustain the change?

Consultants are typically hired on a short-term contract basis and paid to produce results. This gives them an incentive to work quickly, be organized and produce high quality work. Since consultants have an independent working relationship with your organization, they are able to talk freely and openly with people at all levels, collect and pull together good ideas, and provide objective insights, recommendations and support. more about consulting from CMC-Canada >>

resources on leading change

Fast Forward ― Ivey School of Business download here >>

Leading Change ― John Kotter HBR Classic Article purchase at HBR >>

Lead Change Successfully ― HBR OnPoint Article purchase at HBR >>