Five Basic Consulting Steps - ADFIR

I identified five steps for our consulting practice at eSolia, which include Agreement, Discovery, Feedback, Implementation and Recycling. If the consultant takes care to complete each step diligently, he or she will find that the consulting process goes more smoothly, and overall it is better for business.

Agreement: The first step in the consulting process allows us to come to a clear understanding with the client as to what each party wishes to achieve, and how they are going to approach the engagement, working up an equitable engagement agreement document to act as a touch-point throughout the engagement. I think the agreement is best kept simple but thorough enough.

Discovery: Discovery is the bulk of the consulting engagement, where the key dialogue occurs that allows us to act as a catalyst to convince our clients to take action. Here, we identify the problem clearly focussing on both the presenting and root challenges, select problem dimensions to study, pick engagement team members, decide data collection methods, and then collect, filter and summarize the data. Finally, an analysis of the data is performed to prepare for the next step - feeding back to the client. Our job in discovery is to collect then cut.

Feedback: Feedback is the step in which we take the results of the Discovery process, and assertively feed back our recommendations to our client. Here, we create a focused feedback report from our findings, condensing them into relevant actions against challenges our client can control. Our primary goal in Feedback is to work with our client to come to a decision about which actions to take. There are some key phrases here - "assertively feed back", "changes the client can control". I think we should pick a path and feed it back assertively, without flinching, but, the changes you are recommending have to be something the client can do something about.

Implementation: The Implementation step is where we assist our clients in implementing the plans everyone has had a hand in creating. eSolia professionals recognize that this process is not just technical step-by-step execution, but also requires acknowledgement of relationship and commitment changes during the process. To this end, we attempt to create an atmosphere of trust where team members can express their opinions or reservations fully, and in which listening and presenting occur in equal measure.

Recycle: The final step is to perform a "post-mortem" on the engagement to decide if there is anything else that needs solved, whether to extend, recycle or terminate. At this stage, we feel a certain success if our client can solve related problems independently, the next time around.

Happy Consulting!

Client Wants vs. Practicality

I had a discussion about an Important Concept the other day with my German IT colleagues from a client. During their visit to Japan, we were discussing that for good user support, it should not be "I want application X" but rather "I want software that does function X". There's a big difference, and it's important for various situations, and not merely in the context of user support.

Let me give you some background: corporate Information Technology departments usually have to provide support for a fairly large number of applications (I worked with a large one that had over 500 packages to cover), without even considering the possible version-driven variations. Some companies simply decide "whatever the users want, they get" and more so if those users happen to be the lifeblood of the company's profits - for example big-name traders in securities firms or top sales professionals for instance. In my experience though, IT departments have to balance user demands with practicality, and limit the number of applications supported. A firm stance is required within the IT department, and should be presented consistently to the company's users, so that when a user asks for a specific and non-standard application, IT staffers or consultants will automatically begin a process of instead considering, with the user, what function that user needs.

If you're an IT support staffer or consultant with enough experience, you'll probably agree that few of your customers likely have the time, experience or patience to understand the depth to which a solution should be examined prior to implementation. However, looking at it from the receiving end, the fact that users or clients want to dictate their solutions to IT consultants is natural. A CFO somewhere might say - "I want an Sleek!Base database that will let everyone in the corporation to do their expenses." The CFO has diligently researched the issues, and as far as she is aware, Sleek!Base is THE answer.

Assuming you have the backing of the department and a mandate to do so, instead of jumping to the conclusion that "Sleek!Base is the right platform for the job of allowing 40,000 users to do their expenses", there are some important initial actions that the IT staffer or consultant should take:

• If you don't have management backing for this sort of strategy, get it before you enter into negotiations, even ad hoc.
• Leaving any trace of arrogance at the door, explain what the standards are if they exist. IT group standards should be rolled out in a transparent and accessible way, before you can easily make such an argument. "Because I said so" does not work.
• If there are no standards that match the request, be prepared with an business-oriented, non-technical explanation of what actions are normally required. How it will be paid for is a matter which will change for every site.
• Allow the requester's resistance to be voiced, and listen carefully. Address the resistance specifically, and simply allow the debate or argument to occur.

At last, it's important to maintain momentum by following up thoroughly (don't skip steps) with either a standard solution, or a custom one, based on what is agreed.

Thanks for reading.