The Institute of Consulting, worked with a group of organisations which regularly buy significant amounts of consultancy to develop a range of behavioural requirements for successful consultancy projects.

The client themselves should:

• Have taken the project through the organisations procedures for approval including having an authorised business case that takes account of the whole lifecycle spend and identifies funding.
• Be clear and explicit about the need for the work and that the desired outcomes have clear benefits and smart objectives.
• Work with their internal sourcing/procurement procedures and policies (and department where there is one).  This will properly use internal skills.
• Use a fast track procurement process when appropriate and available.
• Keep an open mind on which suppliers to consider.
• Define clear rules of engagement to govern the procurement process and communicate these to all parties.
• Have a mechanism for allowing key influencers to engage with consultants during the procurement process.
• Ensure the consultants know about internal political barriers and whether addressing these are part of their brief.  Consultants talk about “hidden agendas” they knew nothing about before they started the project.  The consultants would have changed the approach had they known.
• Identify and make available internal resource required to deliver the assignment successfully.  This is often underestimated.  The late delivery of items from the client is most often the cause for delay.
• Take a holistic approach to assignments to assist economies of scale.  For example, is it best to address the whole organisation at once or one location at a time.
• Consider a variety of resourcing and remuneration options to obtain best value.   It could be that a payment on results is the best way forward.  A significant part of the consultancy market uses this style.
• Be clear with the consultant about the true state of knowledge and understanding of the problem.  Do reveal any hidden issues.  They could cause delay or abandonment.  Do not worry experienced consultants are used to tangled webs.
• Be open to alternative ways of looking at the problem and be prepared to change views.  The reason you are using outsiders could be you have not found a solution inside the company so a different approach could be the solution.
• Give honest feedback.  If there are any issues with any of the team or the approach, or you do not know or understand the approach or progress, this needs to be addressed.  The consultants should welcome this as it aids a successful outcome for both parties.

The nature of the consultant’s engagement with the client will change over time as priorities are refined and projects develop.  This normal process should be managed well to keep the project focused and stop it becoming an open-ended arrangement.

It is therefore essential that the client retains a clear recollection of the initial purpose of the consultancy. It is important that subsequent changes in goals and directions are subject to an assessment at least as rigorous as the initial decision to contract for consultancy.

A consultancy assignment may contain some or all of these elements simultaneously.  In other cases there may be a clear sequence, essentially a serial consultancy, working from the strategic, through the tactical, to the purely operational.  This may well mean changing consultancies, or adding other practices to the team:  The practice best placed to advise on, for example the strategic implications of business-to-consumer e-commerce across European markets, is unlikely to be the most competent or cost-effective when advising on the consequential re-organisation of a particular warehouse.

The benefits of using consultants should include:

• •     unique solutions reflecting the particular circumstances and aspirations of the client.
• •     speed of action (because the consultancy team, unlike the in-house management, is not being constantly distracted by other tasks).
• •     knowledge of ‘best practice’ and effective solutions from within the client’s own industrial/commercial sector.
• •     exposure to expertise derived from other industries and sectors, or indeed other countries.
• •     provision of specific technical skills that are either non-existent or in short supply in-house, and often the transfer of such skills to in-house staff.
• •     change management skills, enhanced by the consultant’s position as independent, objective and ‘above the fray’.

This should all lead to ‘value for money’ from the consultancy assignment, demonstrated through improved performance by the client.

The client can increase the likelihood of a good outcome from the assignment by establishing with the consultant what the final report will include and how it will be written and presented.  They also need to have a clear understanding of the time commitment of the consultancy and who will be carrying out the work.

It is also important to have a clear agreement about knowledge transfer from the consultant to the client’s organisation and to ensure that the organisation is well briefed about the project to preclude obstruction or lack of commitment within it.