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THE EXTERNAL CONSULTANT


Choosing a consultant


Iain Robertson and David Bowman ask – what do clients really want and need?


M


ore and more UK organisations are relying on external consultants – particularly in learning and development. As budgets get cut and internal


resources diminish, the role of the external consultant has never been more important. The challenge facing organisations is threefold – who to hire, what to expect from them and how to get the best from them.


What do organisations need from a consultant?


Deliver technical capability Clearly organisations need the consultant they hire to be technically able. In broad outline, consultants need to be able to: • improve business performance1 • solve problems2


and


• set objectives, manage projects, deliver to deadlines and deliver results3


.


Unfortunately the market is full of people who can do all of the above therefore how do you choose the first amongst equals? What are the extra skills and knowledge required for a fruitful consulting relationship? When technical capability is a necessary but not sufficient condition for a successful engagement how should you choose?


Manage psychological expectations


Chelliah and Davis identified that a 42 Leadership Followership


significant part of any successful consultant-client relationship lies in the ability of the consultant to meet the non-technical element of their clients’ expectations – those unspoken, unwritten assumptions that go above and beyond the simple and transparent technical requirements4


. These


psychological expectations tend to fall into three broad categories which they call: • ego expectations, • superego expectations and • political expectations.


Partnership


September 2015 www.trainingjournal.com


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