Occasionally a company I reach out to says they are “over-consulted” or they have worked with consultants in the past and it hasn’t helped. What does this say about the state of the company and the nature of the consultant relationship?
Every consultant has their own specialty: finance, sales, process improvements, operational organization, manufacturing, etc. What you are essentially getting from a consultant is access to that area of expertise. The same holds true if you were to take business classes. Would you stop at the accounting class, or would you also take classes in finance, management, and operations? By putting together a strong team of consultants and leveraging their specialties, you gain a much wider knowledge base and understanding of the interconnectedness of the different departments and systems within your organization. This is one of the areas in which I specialize, seeing how things fit together and integrating them into a single system. I also have a fantastic network of people who are experts in their fields and we work really well together – the whole really can be greater than the sum of its parts.
Some other concerns about working with consultants:
Cost: Consultants can be expensive; if your company is working with several it’s important to make sure they are well integrated and working in harmony with each other. The cost of consultants is offset in two ways: 1) the amount of time it would take your management team to learn and create the expertise your consulting team already has, and 2) the return on investment once the recommendations are implemented.
Indecisiveness: There’s a concern that if a business manager relies too heavily on consultants, they may become used to having the consultants tell them what to do and this will impair their ability to be decisive and act independently. As part of the coaching process, I teach change management, prioritization, and decision making. It’s not about doing the work for you; it’s about teaching you about the tools and how to use them. Just like in school, going to the classes isn’t enough; there is work to be done as well…
Creativity and innovation: I’ve read that some feel consulting can stifle the creativity process. Consultants offer recommendations and fresh perspectives because the management team has reached a point where they are so focused on the day to day running of the business that they don’t have time to step back and view to whole operation. Consultants can be great at brainstorming new ideas – through a process called “red teaming” I offer possible challenges and obstacles and encourage the management team to devise creative solutions.
While Jack Tar Consulting is a bit different in that we offer our “Fractional Management” solutions, I still provide help through access to education and guidance that comes from the wide range of experience gained by working for many different companies in different markets. The best educational experiences I have had were the ones that encouraged me to use a multidisciplinary approach across different classes. Don’t fear being over consulted; use your consulting team the same way.
Jack Tar Consulting 