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Digg it UP - Consultants: How To Choose, Use, And Not Abuse Them
Section 1: An OverviewIf you want a great logo, versus a mediocre one, you need to acquire a general understanding of what's involved in the process of designing one. You also need to know a thing or two about whom you're trying to sell to. Finally, you need to be able to trust your designer's instincts.First, some basic terminology: Icon: a symbol or brandmark. Thi
8. Can you confidently expect a solution that will be yours not theirs?
9. Ask for references. Call them.
10. Ask who is not on the reference list and why not. Learn what they think causes a project to be unsuccessful. And which list will you be on when this is over?
11. Ask for fee rates and a work plan
Yarns are threads produced by drawing and twisting together of fibres. They are the basic material used for making various apparels and fabrics. Yarns are made up of any number of plies, each ply being a single spun yarn. These single ply of yarn are twisted in the opposite direction together to make a thicker yarn. Depending on the direction of this final twist, the yarn will be known as s-tw
Here are some ideas that may help you with your consultants (and your lawyers, accountants and other professionals):
1. Before you introduce consultants to the process, be sure you need what you want and want what you need. Beware of consultants that agree to do whatever you want, whether you need it or not.
2. Look internally to confirm the three "C's" of consulting project readiness: Capacity in budget, time and resources; Commitment of management and staff affected by the process; and Capability to support the project and implement the conclusions.
3. One more "C" – Compatibility. Select your consultants from an organisation that is compatible with yours - are you a corporate multinational or a local entrepreneurial business?
4. Recognize whether your consulting needs are strategic - requiring outside expertise to inspire and facilitate your business planning process; or operational - bringing knowledge, skills and experience that are not available internally.
5. Meet the operating consultant. It may not be the same charming, talented person that sold you the work. And at those fee rates you don't want to train a recent MBA, who started last week and studied your industry yesterday.
6. Test – whether the consultant arrives with questions, not answers; will operate as neither boss nor employee; and will win the hearts and minds of your staff. Successful consultants will listen, understand, empathize, analyze, strategize, and persuade better than normal people.
7. Remember you are hiring a consultant to challenge and push you. You are not renting a friend to remind you how smart you are.
8. Can you confidently expect a solution that will be yours not theirs?
9. Ask for references. Call them.
10. Ask who is not on the reference list and why not. Learn what they think causes a project to be unsuccessful. And which list will you be on when this is over?
11. Ask for fee rates and a work plan
How many times have you felt extremely frustrated at work? Maybe you feel that everything that you do is worthless, or perhaps you meet obstacles with any kind of initiatives or ideas that you may bring to the table. This article explores these issues and may help in some ways.In any job there are going to be frustrating times, what we need to do is try and analyze what the problem is.
2. Look internally to confirm the three "C's" of consulting project readiness: Capacity in budget, time and resources; Commitment of management and staff affected by the process; and Capability to support the project and implement the conclusions.
3. One more "C" – Compatibility. Select your consultants from an organisation that is compatible with yours - are you a corporate multinational or a local entrepreneurial business?
4. Recognize whether your consulting needs are strategic - requiring outside expertise to inspire and facilitate your business planning process; or operational - bringing knowledge, skills and experience that are not available internally.
5. Meet the operating consultant. It may not be the same charming, talented person that sold you the work. And at those fee rates you don't want to train a recent MBA, who started last week and studied your industry yesterday.
6. Test – whether the consultant arrives with questions, not answers; will operate as neither boss nor employee; and will win the hearts and minds of your staff. Successful consultants will listen, understand, empathize, analyze, strategize, and persuade better than normal people.
7. Remember you are hiring a consultant to challenge and push you. You are not renting a friend to remind you how smart you are.
8. Can you confidently expect a solution that will be yours not theirs?
9. Ask for references. Call them.
10. Ask who is not on the reference list and why not. Learn what they think causes a project to be unsuccessful. And which list will you be on when this is over?
11. Ask for fee rates and a work plan
Motivational humorous speakers can help to motivate meeting attendees at your next event. Motivation has been defined as the deployment of physical, mental and emotional energy toward a specific task or goal. In pure psychological terms motivation is often referred to initiation, intensity and persistence of a specific behavior and by employing a motivational humorous speaker you can tap into
4. Recognize whether your consulting needs are strategic - requiring outside expertise to inspire and facilitate your business planning process; or operational - bringing knowledge, skills and experience that are not available internally.
5. Meet the operating consultant. It may not be the same charming, talented person that sold you the work. And at those fee rates you don't want to train a recent MBA, who started last week and studied your industry yesterday.
6. Test – whether the consultant arrives with questions, not answers; will operate as neither boss nor employee; and will win the hearts and minds of your staff. Successful consultants will listen, understand, empathize, analyze, strategize, and persuade better than normal people.
7. Remember you are hiring a consultant to challenge and push you. You are not renting a friend to remind you how smart you are.
8. Can you confidently expect a solution that will be yours not theirs?
9. Ask for references. Call them.
10. Ask who is not on the reference list and why not. Learn what they think causes a project to be unsuccessful. And which list will you be on when this is over?
11. Ask for fee rates and a work plan
Have you ever wondered just how all the retailers who have a shop at your local shopping centre, sorted out who’d go where? If you imagined that they didn’t really care – think again.The adage in real estate; location, location is just as relevant in the shopping centre placement game.Firstly some useful terms to clarify the language used:Anchor tenant – A major retailer s
6. Test – whether the consultant arrives with questions, not answers; will operate as neither boss nor employee; and will win the hearts and minds of your staff. Successful consultants will listen, understand, empathize, analyze, strategize, and persuade better than normal people.
7. Remember you are hiring a consultant to challenge and push you. You are not renting a friend to remind you how smart you are.
8. Can you confidently expect a solution that will be yours not theirs?
9. Ask for references. Call them.
10. Ask who is not on the reference list and why not. Learn what they think causes a project to be unsuccessful. And which list will you be on when this is over?
11. Ask for fee rates and a work plan
I know I want to change… Yet, every time I set a goal and decide to change, I seem to get sidetracked or lose sight of the end point. It never seems to work out as I planned. How can you effectively make a change? You know how to set goals. You even have a framework for this: SMART – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Tangible. So you set up your goals using thi
8. Can you confidently expect a solution that will be yours not theirs?
9. Ask for references. Call them.
10. Ask who is not on the reference list and why not. Learn what they think causes a project to be unsuccessful. And which list will you be on when this is over?
11. Ask for fee rates and a work plan with estimated hours. Then agree on a fixed fee for agreed deliverables - dates, documents, milestones.
12. Don't let progress reports interfere with progress. Get what you need, not what they need for "CYA" requirements.
13. Check who else is billing time to your project. Sometimes there is a very expensive partner back at the office who needs to keep his billing rate up. Your budget can be quickly consumed while he "supervises" from a distance.
14. Avoid surprises. Ask about additional expenses - travel, telephone, printing. Terms of payment? Satisfaction guarantee?
15. Get it in writing, read it before signing it.
16. Watch for signs of trouble: selling more work before the work is done; long delays between on-site visits; too much time spent "back at the office" and billed to you.
17. And finally, remember consultants are people too. They want to boast about good work and satisfied clients. You can help them help you. Don't be difficult.
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