Ego expectations are perhaps easiest to meet. They reflect a need to look good either in front of peers, and (more often) immediate or more indirect superiors. The best consultants recognise that at least part of their role is to help the buyer demonstrate clearly and succinctly why hiring them was such a good idea! Superego expectations are more sophisticated and harder to recognise or identify. They are the additional things that consultants are expected to do above those expressed in the engagement letter. When these are easily identifiable (and therefore chargeable) there is no problem. Challenges can arise, however, when lines are blurred and where there is an expectation gap. When does helpful feedback to an internal co-facilitator turn into coaching – or even train the trainer? Good consultants will know about this gap and explore it. The best will make this as small as possible. Understanding clients’ political expectations is also a vital consultant skill. These typically require the consultant to put themselves fully into the mindset and position of their client and understand their relationships with others within the client organisation. Have they been engaged simply to make the client look good (see ego expectations) or – in a more complex way – to make them look good in comparison to others?
Clarifying the psychological expectations Recognising the existence of these expectations is one thing – clarifying and understanding them is quite another. Most of the time we are unaware of what we are not telling our consultants, and we leave them to improvise, make assumptions or just plain guess. In some cases we even then complain about how poor their assumptions are! Whilst it does remain the prerogative of the client to have your cake and eat it, it’s often a more pleasurable experience if you have at least been clear what sort of cake you like… So how do you identify a consultant that
will not only deliver on technical capability but will also stand a good chance of meeting your psychological expectations? We are going to consider three key areas: leadership, followership and working in partnership.
Leadership As we saw above, at least part of the reason for hiring a consultant is that you believe they can do something you cannot. They need to demonstrate technical capability and an ability to meet your psychological expectations as closely as possible. To that end you need to choose a consultant who will demonstrate true leadership skills. They are
Challenges can arise, however, when lines are blurred and where there is an expectation gap
able to provide you with the answer to four key questions: • Why are they here – the big picture vision • What that means for them – what it is they need to do to deliver the vision
• How they are doing – they ask you for and provide you with feedback on progress
• How they can help you to raise the bar even higher – continuous improvement
Followership In the HBR Robert Kelley explored the role of followers in organisational success5
. He identified
that active, critical-thinking followers – what he termed ‘effective followers’ – were crucial to the success of any enterprise. We believe that the same analysis can be applied to consultants, meaning that an effective consultant will: • Exercise control and independence to work without close supervision – at their level of competence. Good consultants will admit when they are outside their regular remit
• Openly – but constructively – challenge and disagree with you. One of the reasons for employing a consultant is that they have experience that you don’t. You need to accept that this challenge is positive and not personal
• Show commitment to the project and the organisation, not just to you as an individual
• Recognise that committed incompetence is still incompetence – and actively seek opportunities to remedy that. Good consultants (and good consultancies) are constantly working to improve themselves and their offering
• Take on extra work – helping meet your superego expectations – but remain focused on doing a superb job in their core area of responsibility. After all, that is why they were hired in the first place
• Actively seek and act upon feedback from colleagues and clients – and demonstrate to you that they have done so
• Be willing to admit to mistakes. Good consultants ask for forgiveness, not permission, and are willing to hold their hands up if the decision turns out to be the wrong one
www.trainingjournal.com September 2015 43 References
1 Kubr, M. (2002), Manage- ment
Consulting: A Guide to the Profession, Internation- al Labour Office, Geneva
2 Merron, K. (2005), “Masterful Consulting” Consulting to Manage- ment Vol. 16, No. 2 pp. 5 – 8
3 Handley, K., Sturdy, A., Clark, T. and Fincham, R. (2006), “The Type of Relation- ship Clients Really Want with Their Consul- tancies”, People Manage- ment, vol. 12, no. 10, p. 52.
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