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Build A Network Of Supportive Connections.
Surround Yourself With The Right People
An acceptable level of thinking skills and the right technical skills are basically the “price of admission” to getting the job done. At least as important is the ability to create and build positive relationships with customers and co-workers to understand their needs, articulate your needs, and make progress toward achieving common goals.
Work Side-By-Side
Projects traditionally involve a “needs identification” stage, a “proposal”, analysis, recommendations and finally a hand-over to begin “implementation.” Every change of accountability provides another opportunity for confusion, mistakes and loss of focus.
The traditional approach is wrong. Consultants and clients should work together throughout the process sharing responsibility and resources for the best results. Shared effort produces more satisfaction with the end product.
Trust Is The Key
The interaction between the consultant and the client has to be one of mutual respect. The client needs to have trust in the credibility, commitment and candor of the consultant. The consultant needs to be invested in the achievement and well-being of the client.
The essential ingredient is the client’s trust that the consultant has their best interests at heart, and an ability to make their success possible. |
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The Focus, Grow, Relate Approach To Consulting
Have you been involved in a consulting project or business change that just doesn’t get off the ground, or worse still, absorbs a lot of time, money and energy and doesn’t deliver the promised results?
We help our clients focus on the few things that have the most impact, grow their capabilities and outcomes, and build positive relationships to further their business. |
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Focus On The Few Things That Make The Most Impact.
Start With The Expected Results
A commitment is often in terms of “deliverables”, not results. Success should be defined in terms of outcomes, and the change agents should be accountable for results, not activities.
Identify the Appetite For Change
Time, money and energy are limited resources in every organization. Consultants and clients should work together to identify which changes will be acceptable and how many resources can be devoted to the project.
Fast Track Attack
identify the few significant things that will make the most impact with the least cost in the quickest time. If these “fast track attack” items are a priority they can drive the project and serve as a platform from which to launch other changes. |
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Grow Skills And Leverage Resources.
Build The Evaluation In At The Beginning
It follows that if you start with the outcomes, the measures of success are the results for the business. Progress reports, deliverables and project meetings are only useful as far as they keep the project focused on the outcomes.
Measures can be quantitative and qualitative so long as they are objective and meaningful. There should be a clear line-of-sight from every measure to the business result it supports.
Have A Clear Expression Of Value
For the results to happen they have to be connected to the business in a meaningful way. Results should be expressed as time, money or well-being in a way that justifies the investment.
Leverage Resources For The Most Impact
Clients and organizations turn to consultants for one of two reasons. They want to outsource a specific expertise or activity, or they want to grow the expertise or ability themselves. Either way, the best approach is to use the client’s assets wherever it makes sense: grow their capabilities, be economical with their resources and save the consultant’s effort for where it will have the most positive effect.
Measure The Investment And The Outcomes On Value
Charging by the hour or by the activity is a conflict of interest. Clients do not want to pay for activity, only results. Consultants should not make more if they take longer or use more resources than necessary. An appropriate fee should be in proportion to the value the client will get from the project and the market for the solution. A value-based fee puts a cap on the cost of the project, ensures there is never a “meter running”, and motivates the consultant to do whatever work is reasonably necessary to get the job done. |
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“My success, part of it certainly, is that I have focused in on a few things.” |
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“Even in such technical lines as engineering, about 15% of one's financial success is due one's technical knowledge and about 85% is due to skill in human engineering, to personality and the ability to lead people.” Dale Carnegie |
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“We call it infectious impatience. So that things not only get done but get done in double quick time...our fundamental belief is that for us growth is a way of life and we have to grow at all times.” Mukesh Ambani |
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You should definitely read FarrarsFaucet, our newsletter which you can link to above, and The Principled Leader, tips, exercises and guides for being an Effective, Engaging, Ethical Leader. Click here or email us for a free subscription and updates. |
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www.FGRAssociates.com ● ClientService@FGRAssociates.com ● Tel +1 612 423 2723 |