Thinking of using a management consultant

Promoting good practice

in management consultancy and training

with arts housing and voluntary organisations in the UK

What’s new!!!

Getting the most from Management Consultants

1. Thinking of using a management consultant?

4. Starting the consultancy: the brief

8. If you are dissatisfied …..

This article has been drawn up by experienced management consultants who work in not-for-profit organisations (charities, campaigning associations, housing associations, arts organizations, community groups and other not for-profit organizations). We hope it will help you develop the best possible relationship with your consultant and get the best value for your organisation and the people it serves.

1. Thinking of using a management consultant?

There are many reasons why you might consider bringing in a management consultant:

· to help clarify the organisation’s ‘mission’ and objectives; to help draw up a strategic plan or business plan; to help in an organisatiorial or staff restructuring;

· to help strengthen the governing body;

· to sort out communication problems within the staff, or between the staff and governing body;

· to help people work more effectively as a team; to help draw up personnel, equal opportunities, operational or other policies and procedures;

· to deal with a specific management problem or task that no one has the time, energy and/or expertise to deal with;

· to provide training on management topics;

· to act as a mentor or ‘sounding board’ for the chief executive or other senior staff;

· to serve as a temporary director or chief executive.

and that’s just for starters...

2. Types of consultancy

A management consultant is an independent person or firm brought in to help deal with a specific problem or task. The consultancy will be most effective if the organisation has given careful thought beforehand to what it wants the work to achieve, why it wants to use someone from outside, when the work has to be done and what it can afford to pay.

The many types of management consultancy are described in different ways. Some of the distinctions are illustrated by the following questions.

· Do you want the consultant to do a specific task, for example draw up a business plan, introduce new technology, draw up personnel procedures or help to restructure a department or the whole organisation? This is sometimes called task-based consultancy.

· Do you want the consultant to help people in the organisation think and talk through what needs to he done about a particular task — then leave it to the organisation, rather than the consultant, to complete the task? This may be called process consultancy or facilitation.

· Do you want the consultant to help improve the way people communicate with and relate to each other? This is sometimes called process consultancy or teambuilding.

· Do you want the consultant to help resolve a conflict within the organisation? This is sometimes called mediation.

· Do you want training, where the consultant helps people learn specific skills or increases their awareness of particular issues?

In practice these overlap in most consultancy projects. But the type of work you want done will affect the sort of consultant you should look for and what you can realistically expect from the consultant.

3. Finding a consultant

Consultants range from individuals to international firms with large consultancy departments. You can get names of management consultants who specialise in work with not-for-profit organisations from:

· Management Development Network (0171 232 0726);

· National Council for Voluntary Organisations (0171 232 6161);

· Councils for voluntary service and other local development agencies;

· Umbrella or support bodies for organisations involved in your type of work;

· Other organisations involved in your type of work.

You can also get names of consultants who do not necessarily specialise in the not-for-profit sector from the Institute of Management Consultancy (0171 242 2140).

Before contacting potential consultants, start to think through what you want them to achieve [see ‘Starting the consultancy’]. This will help to clarify the skills and experience you require from consultants.

You may know the consultant you want to hire or may want to see proposals from a number of consultants.

For larger pieces of work you may want to have a competitive tendering process. This usually involves some research to find consultants who have the skills and experience to do the job. You can then ask the two or three that seem to best fit your requirements to prepare a tender. Avoid asking more than this to tender because they will put less effort into your tender.

For smaller pieces of work a formal tendering process may he unnecessarily cumbersome but you may want to talk to two or three potential consultants by phone, and probably meet them, before choosing.

4. Starting the consultancy: the brief

There are two essential stages to starting a consultancy:

· Defining the brief

· Preparing a shortlist of suitable consultants

Depending on the nature of the work, the brief might range from one page to an extensive document. It is important to describe the situation in detail so the consultants can cost the work accurately—especially if you are asking potential consultants to bid for the work.

The brief should include:

· a short description of the organisation: what it does, when it was set up, how it is structured;

· a description of the problem or situation which has led the organisation to want a consultant;

· an outline of what the consultancy is expected to achieve;

· the starting date, and how long the work is expected to take;

· any thoughts the organisation has already had about how the consultancy might be done, who might be involved etc.

The brief might state what the organisation intends to pay, and ask the consultants to indicate what they could do within that fee. Another approach is to ask the consultants to describe what they would do and what it would cost. In this case, remember that the cheapest bid is not necessarily the best.

Even if potential consultants are to be approached by phone it is important to have a good brief. A consultancy can go wrong if the organisation has not clarified what it wants, or if different people within the organisation have different ideas of what is wanted.

Potential consultants may need more information. The brief should make clear who can provide such information. It should also make clear when and to whom a proposal or bid should be submitted, and when a decision will he made.

5. Quality consultants

Consultants work in very different ways, and what is right for one organisation or one piece of work may be inappropriate for another. However, you should at the very least expect from your consultant:

· a commitment to the not-for-profit sector, and an understanding of the sector in general and the particular part of the sector in which your organisation operates;

· a commitment to working with individuals, teams and organisations to help them achieve high levels of effectiveness;

· a commitment to equality of opportunity in the consultant’s own practice and within the organisations the consultant works with;

· a willingness to learn about and work within the values and culture of your organisation;

· a commitment to continuously updating his or her own skills and knowledge.

It is reasonable to ask consultants to provide:

· information about similar work they have undertaken, and similar organisations they have worked with;

· information about their relevant skills, knowledge and experience; evidence of their commitment to equality of opportunity;

· an outline of how they would undertake the work you want, how they would involve people in the process and what they would provide; an explanation of how they set their fee;

· a copy of a code of practice for their own work; details of how they monitor and evaluate their performance.

6. Expectations of each other

To protect both the organisation and the consultant it is important to have an agreement setting out each party’s obligations. This might be drawn up by your organisation, by the consultant, or jointly. It might be in the form of a letter, or might be a more formal document. Whatever its form, it should at the very least include:

· the parties to the agreement (the individual consultant or consultancy firm, and your organisation);

· a description of the work, in sufficient detail to ensure both parties are clear what is to be done;

· details of when the work is to start, dates when specific parts of the work are to be started and finished and, if appropriate, the finishing date;

· if the work is to last more than a few days, a procedure for the consultant and organisation to review the work, ensure it is proceeding satisfactorily, deal with any problems and agree any changes in the nature of the work;

· how much will be charged for the work, and whether this is on an hourly, daily, weekly or monthly basis, or on the basis of a fixed fee for the job as a whole;

· whether there is a maximum fee (so you do not pay for more time than was anticipated);

· whether VAT is to be charged, and if so whether it is included in the stated fee or is additional;

· whether expenses such as travel, phone, postage, materials etc are included in the fee, and if not, how they are charged; whether payment(s) will he made in advance, in stages during the work, or only on completion;

· how soon payment is due after the consultant submits invoices.

You or the consultant might want to include some or all of the following points iii the agreement, or at least agree them verbally:

· the written information you are expected to provide to the consultant, or your obligation to provide all reasonable information requested by the consultant;

· who the consultant has access to, and who has access to the consultant; the consultant’s commitment to maintain the highest standards of confidentiality and not to disclose any information given or obtained in confidence without your organisation’s prior consent;

· how the consultant will incorporate equality of opportunity into the work; if the consultant is expected to make recommendations, with whom those recommendations need to be discussed before they are formally made; if the consultant is expected to write reports during or at the end of the consultancy, to whom the draft should be submitted, and the organisation’s commitment to provide comments on such drafts within an agreed time;

· the organisation’s commitment to the consultancy;

· when implementation of recommendations is not part of the brief, the consultant’s commitment to help the organisation follow up and assist with implernentation;

· a procedure for evaluating the work after its completion; a procedure for resolving major disagreements about the work.

7. During the consultancy

Because consultancies are so hugely varied, it is not possible to generalise about how they should proceed. But some or all of the following questions are likely to he relevant, and you should think about them while the work is under way.

· ‘Do we know what the consultant is doing?’ When consultants work on their own one person or a small steering group should keep in regular contact with the consultant. It should be clear from the beginning how often the consultant should report to them, and whether this should be verbally or in writing.

· ‘Is the consultant doing what we thought they would be doing?’ Misunderstandings can occur, especially about processes as complex as management consultancy. Often the nature of the work has to change, but any change should be jointly agreed. If the consultant seems to be doing something other than what you thought was agreed, it is important to sort this out quickly.

· ‘Are we satisfied with the work so far?’ For a consultancy lasting over time, there should be a regular procedure for assessing the work. This is more than just a report on what the consultant bias done; it is an opportunity to look at whether the work is going well or badly and to put right any problems. Even if this review process was not built into the original agreement, you should ask for it. After all, you are paying for the work, and if you are not satisfied it is in everyone’s interest to put it right as quickly as possible.

· ‘Is there a need to change the brief?’ Situations change; the consultancy may uncover problems or issues which have to be dealt with before the specified work can be done. Both the organisation and the consultant should be flexible enough to adapt the work if this is nieces sary.

8. If you are dissatisfied …..

Most management consultancies achieve what the organisation wanted, and often much more besides. But if there is dissatisfaction, either during the consultancy or afterwards, it is important to be clear whether this arises from:

· dissatisfaction with the quality of the work, where the work has been done but the organisation does not think it has been done well enough;

· dislike of the proposals made by the consultant, for example where a consultant recommends unpopular new procedures or a restructuring;

· a breach of the agreement, for example the consultant not doing what was supposed to be done or not doing it on time (without having agreed an extension), or the organisation not keeping to its side of the agreement.

If you are not satisfied with the quality of the work, you should raise your concerns with the consultant or with a more senior person in a firm at the earliest opportunity. Dissatisfaction sometimes results from misjudgments about the process of a consultancy rather than the substance of the work itself If the organisation does not like the recommendations or outcome of the work, it important to understand why the consultant took a particular view. Consultancy does sometimes point to difficult decisions and changes that need to be made.

Disputes arising from non-compliance with the agreement should if possible be resolved informally. If this is not possible, independent mediators can be contacted through the Centre for Dispute Resolution (0171 430 1842), the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (0171 713 6161) and Mediation UK (0117 924 1234).

9. Finishing the consultancy

Every consultancy, whether long or short, should have a clear ending. This ensures that the organisation does not become dependent on the consultant.

The contract might specify that the consultancy will end on a fixed date, or when a defined piece of work is completed. Some consultancies are open ended. These should he regularly reviewed to ensure they are still meeting the organisation’s needs.

For in-depth consultancies, one or two follow-up sessions might be included in the assignment. Sometimes a completely new consultancy is needed—with the same or a different consultant—to implement the consultancy recommendations.

But even without formal follow-up, you can reasonably expect a consultant to give telephone advice to help you think through how to deal with issues arising from the consultancy.

Most consultants ask for feedback a short time after the consultancy. This might be a simple telephone call or questionnaire asking whether the work met the organisation’s objectives, whether the organisation was satisfied and whether any changes were implemented as a result of the consultancy. For more complex consultancies there might be a formal evaluation process. Consultants use this feedback and evaluation to improve their own practice.

10. Finding out more

You can find out more about management consultancy and management consultants who work with not-for-profit organisations from:

ACT

Email: act-assn@dircon.co.uk

The association of management consultants and trainers working with not-for-profit organisations;

Management Development Network

c/o 39 Gabriel House

Odessa Street

London SE16 IHQ

Telephone: 0171 232 0726

Email: mdn@sandy-a.dircon.co.uk

A network of freelance management trainers and consultants who work primarily with voluntary organisations;

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations

8 All Saints Street

London NI 9RL

Telephone: 0171 713 6161

Email: mailto:enquiries@ncvo-vol.org.uk

Web site: http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk

Which has a list of management consultants who have been approved by NCVO.

Getting the most from Management Consultants

1. Thinking of using a management consultant?

2. Types of consultancy

3. Finding a consultant

4. Starting the consultancy: the brief

5. Quality consultants

6. Expectations of each other

7. During the consultancy

8. If you are dissatisfied …..

9. Finishing the consultancy

10. Finding out more

Wales Council for Voluntary Action