Well now, it’s a Friday afternoon and I’m composing my first ever blog! I went on a Blogging for Business seminar this week and found out lots of things about linking blogs to Twitter and Linked In etc. Hmm!
I’d like to ask readers what they feel about business advisers and consultants. It’s the business I’m in and in these times of economic difficulty, the engagement of an adviser or consultant seems to be one of the earliest things a business owner will forego. Why is this? Poor experience in the past? No spare cash to invest in such a thing? Maybe both of these and probably lots more! I do invite you to share your thoughts on this question.
Any worthwhile consultant should be able to offer you as a business owner or manager the following:
- A snapshot analysis of the state of the business at a particular time
- The opportunity to discuss confidentially any pressing issues
- The opportunity to reflect with an independent party any imminent changes proposed to the business
- The opportunity to increase bottom line performance
From my perspective, business consultants are like every other group of workers. There are great ones, good ones, average ones and downright poor ones. So if you are thinking about engaging some kind of adviser, what are the qualities you should look for?
Industry experience?
Unless the business is so specialised and niche that it has unique issues, then probably not. Most companies experience broadly similar issues and concerns – in their particular context, of course. Your consultant should be able to bring to bear previous experience gained in many different sectors.
Expert knowledge?
There are broadly two categories of consultants. Some are very clearly specialists in their own fields e g Finance but may not claim to know a great deal about HR or Marketing, say. These people operate vertically, drilling down into great detail. The second category might describe themselves as Generalists, i e they operate horizontally, knowing sufficient about most parts of business to be able to offer good and proper solutions. However, if there is a need for specialist intervention, the generalist must be prepared to bring one to the consulting relationship.
Ethics.
Any consultant you contract with must agree complete client confidentiality and to operate within the bounds of his/her competence. This is where the introduction of specialists can be so important.
Dear Andy, well done on your first blog. I have no experience in the business field and wouldnt want to think about giving you any detail or advice about consultation. The nearest experience I have had to consultation is with those wonderful people from OFSTED. Some were very good, were unobtrusive, had empathy with what we were trying to do and were aware of the problems I had to deal with. Others were noisy, condescending and had little empathy or understanding of what I faced everyday. This resulted in instant loss of respect, indignation and the thought that they were interfering and obstructing what I was trying to do. It was very hard for me to be honest and open with these and the whole relationship was based on mistrust. Those who knew their stuff and had understanding had a great effect. You could be open, relaxed and honest with each other and these proved to be really helpful and an open exchange of views and opinions were forthcoming. Under these circumstances I found it to be a positive and enlightening experience. However a pompous, know it all was an horrendous experience and very difficult to deal with, the shutters tended to come down
There were also people who were terrified of any outside intervention whether they were good at their job or otherwise. They just resented any outside interference and couldnt get to grips with anyone who came and looked at what they were doing ,and may have crticised them. They saw it as a negative experience before it started.
When consulting you need to have knowledge, empathy and understanding, be able to listen and have the ability to suggest change in a constructive but firm manner. People may resent it, but if it is done ethically and honestly it will be appreciated in the long term and you will be able to slleep easy.
As for cost and ability to pay, il leave that to the experts though the recession must be hitting many people hard.
Dear Andy,
I forgot, anyone who walked into our unit without any experience in our specialised field and tried to inspect us was laughed at and very much resented