How a consulting engagement begins is a key factor in assuring a beneficial outcome. Your situation should have been defined carefully, and you should have a clear agreement with the consultant regarding deliverables, fees, and responsibilities. Moreover, keeping in close touch with your consultant helps to assure the project's success. You should be able to discuss anything the consulting engagement reveals in an open and candid fashion with your consultant.

The following guidelines will help you get the most value from the engagement.

What if the fee seems too high?

You may be able to reduce a high fee by narrowing the scope of the assignment, providing more leeway in scheduling the work, or having your own people assume some of the tasks of the project. Turning the assignment into phases of activity can also spread the payments.

Research, results and feedback

After the start date is set, the management consultant will probably meet with you, your key associates, and anyone else who will be involved with the assignment. Your consultant will use this meeting to introduce the consulting staff and describe the plan of action. After this meeting he or she will begin the process of generating as much information as possible in a limited period of time. This could entail:

• One or more methods of data collection and review
• Analysis of the findings
• Testing of assumptions
• Development of alternative solutions
• More testing of viability and practicality
• Drawing conclusions

Throughout this process your consultant should provide you with continuous, informal feedback so that you understand what is being done and why. You also should receive and review the findings and conclusions before the consultant delivers the recommendations. Once the recommendations are in your hands, he or she should provide you with clear guidance on how to proceed, either with or without assistance.

Once the assignment is underway

After you've informed employees about the consulting engagement, focus on establishing an effective working relationship with your consultant. Be straightforward in relating your concerns, expectations and working style, and identify the liaison on the project. The liaison may be you or someone on your staff. Make sure this individual understands the consultant's work plan so that he or she can provide any needed introductions or resources.

When the consultant reports his or her interim findings, listen carefully even if you don't like what you hear. If any conclusion is not well founded, direct the consultant to an internal source who may provide additional information.

In getting to the heart of a problem, your consultant may uncover other issues that need to be resolved. Some may be prerequisites to resolving the issue at hand, but many will not. It is tempting to add these new issues to the project, but if meeting your original schedule and budget is important, do not ask the consultant to include them in the current assignment.

When it is necessary to expand the scope of an assignment be sure the consultant tells you what impact this will have on the project's schedule and fee.

How to evaluate the consultant's advice

When the consultant presents his or her recommendations, ask yourself these questions:

• Has the consultant delivered what was promised in the agreement?
• Have the real issues been addressed?
• Are the recommendations logical, and will they work in my organization?
• Do I understand the steps to take?
• If there are potential savings involved, do I know how to achieve them?
• Have our employees learned how to find and solve problems on their own?
• Will our company be stronger as a result?
• When will the consultant return to check on the success of the project?

If you are not satisfied with the answers to any of these questions, ask the consultant to give you the additional information you need. A good consultant would rather put in additional effort than leave a client unsatisfied.

Act immediately on the recommendations

To make sure you get maximum benefit from the efforts of your organization and the consultant, implement the consultant's recommendations before they are lost in the organizational inertia of your company. Tell your staff to report in once a month on the progress they are making, and call for regular reports until the work has been completed. You can expect the consultant to take an equal interest in seeing that his or her recommendations result in benefits.

Published with permission of the Institute of Management Consultants, USA, copyright, 2004.