Going solo

Promoting good practice

in management consultancy and training

with arts housing and voluntary organisations in the UK

What’s new!!!

A chance to be your own boss

In this article, which appeared in Professional Social Work in January 2001, Richard Woolrych describes the pros and cons of being a freelance consultant and explains how a professional Code of Ethics can come in handy when arranging contracts with local authorities

If an organisation needs a piece of work doing but lacks the capacity, experience or expertise to undertake this, one solution is to find someone with the necessary skills from the growing ranks of self employed, freelance practitioners. Here the relationship between consultant and client is crucial and as in other areas of social work it needs to be built on trust as well as clear, explicit and mutually agreed expectations.

As BASW members, it is important to consider how practice will be governed by our Code of Ethics and what collectively we can do to deliver and assure good practice - see BASW’s excellent Web site www.basw.org.uk and a new online directory www.search4socialworkers.com makes it easier to find independent social workers with the skills and experience required. It provides valuable search facilities - a very general term like ‘review’ produces 52 listings, 32 for ‘complaints’, but only 4 for ‘policy’ – and enables independent practitioners to list what they offer. At the time of writing 170 practitioners were listed.

I am amazed at the diversity of work and variety of roles I have undertaken since leaving social services. Former local authority colleagues tell me how well I look and I respond by telling them how hard I have to work now and how difficult a task master the boss is. When one is one’s own boss and one’s home is also one’s office, there only oneself to blame for stress and boundary issues between work and play.

Calculating time and cost

I have chosen to go for project based assignments, where I need to clarify the brief, agree the tasks to be undertaken and provide a quote based upon the number of consultant days required. Every time I quote for a piece of work I have to remind myself that the ratio between my chargeable time and unpaid time is not unlike the visible part of an iceberg – there is far more below the water than the customer sees and this has to be reflected in the daily charge. In return however, those engaging consultants are enabled to bring in expertise at the right time without the overheads and delay of directly employing staff.

Managing work and time can be difficult since one has little control over work flow and there is always a temptation not to turn away work, because one can never predict where the next contract may come from. Those in the acting profession say ‘resting’ between roles can be harder than appearing on stage and this applies to consultancy, since there is a constant need to keep abreast of what is happening in one’s specialist field and to keep in contact with colleagues – fellow consultants as well as service workers. Continuous professional development becomes crucial if one is to remain at the leading edge in one’s chosen field but also is good way of keeping in tune with the needs of those who may require one’s services in the future.

Keeping in touch

In my specialism of supported living and housing based alternatives to residential care, I keep abreast with at least half a dozen journals and numerous web sites. In addition, one develops new interests, for instance, in a survey of tenant satisfaction of people with learning difficulties in supported housing, the use of photography by led to the discovery of ‘Photovoice’ as a way of empowering people who use services to re-present their world. In this way, one can become drawn into research in unexpected new directions. For instance, the photograph[1] of me accompanying this article was taken by a tenant with learning disabilities while she was being interviewed by other tenants about her experiences. Photovoice enables their own words and images to be combined in ‘photostories’ on key issues and themes in their lives. Putting users in charge of the images and words is really good way of enabling people, who otherwise might merely respond in the way that they expect you want to hear, to engage in critical dialogue.

Consultants’ daily rates may seem high compared with remuneration for colleagues in services and universities if you simply look above the water line but, as with the iceberg, the major part is submerged. The non visible proportion includes: research and development; voluntary and community work; business planning and accountancy; networking and office expenses. The biggest investment required is not a computer (although since experiencing technical problems half way through an assignment, I now have two computers and two printers) but time. Time to develop and refine one’s skills; also the time required to maintain an office and to be self sufficient; time to complete funding proposals for research; time to respond to invitations to tender.

All of this can be frustrating and isolating at times and sole operators need to find ways of linking with each other, whether through strategic alliances, informal networks, team businesses or sharing information, knowledge and resources and BASW’s forthcoming conference (10^th March 2001) ‘Independent Social Work and Consultancy’ is very much to be welcomed.

Relationships and outcomes

BASW’s efforts to encourage networking among independent practitioners is very timely. Through BASW, I believe we can drive up standards and deliver quality. To achieve this we need to make potential clients aware of what we can deliver and how to engage an appropriate independent practitioner. Some authorities inappropriately use competitive tendering with contracts department’s standard conditions: - one required evidence of £5 million indemnity insurance and had the nerve to charge potential applicants £10 for a specification whose weight and thickness was in inverse proportion to the amount of useful information it contained about services, needs and principles. The work represented no more than 6 month’s pay for a salaried worker. I informed the authority of BASW’s Code of Ethics and its £1 million indemnity insurance and suggested they could have secured ‘Best Value’ and saved a lot of time, effort and trees by first talking to someone knowledgeable about consultancy.

I always inform potential clients of my readiness to meet with them on a no cost, no obligation basis and to share with them testimonials from previous clients (I have devised an evaluation sheet which is sent to clients on completion of a piece of work).

Offering assurance to contractors

In related fields there are examples of collaborative practices: for instance ACT www.act-assn.dircon.co.uk publishes a useful ‘Statement of Good Practice’. Combined with BASW’s Code of Ethics this can provide a way for consultants to offer assurance to those who seek to engage their services. The Management Development Network www.mdn.org.uk offers resources and an on line web site listing for members.

People first

To cynics who suggest that consultants will do anything for money, I always emphasise that I do not take on assignments which conflict with BASW’s Code of Ethics for Social Work and that I work in a participative and consultative manner, aiming to build capacity both for organisations and for their most important resources – human beings.

Consultancy can empower staff in an organisation, provide an independent overview and audit, and assist in consultation and external validation through providing the right expertise at the right time. In large organisations individuals are often deflected from achieving desired outcomes by sheer pressure of work and organisational politics. By contrast, consultants working for a fixed fee, aim to deliver on what is promised on time and in budget. This can be stressful but it provides a diversity of experience not generally available in a single organisation. The task focused short term nature of consultancy enables more to be achieved in a shorter time frame and can be a source of much job satisfaction.

Richard Woolrych set up ‘Creative Solutions’ in 1998 when he left Herts Social Services and has since been involved in project work with local authorities, housing associations and other organisations. Your comments will be appreciated and he can be contacted on 01992 552784 or richard.woolrych@virgin.net

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Updated 1^st March 2001