3 - The consulting process

Summary

Chapter 3 is based on the consulting process and the sequence of typical activities from the beginning of a consulting project to the end. It builds upon the ideas in the previous chapter, particularly how consultants add value and the different types of consulting approach.

The consulting process will resonate with many social researchers, especially those commissioning social research work and people who are contract researchers, as there are many parallels between the life of social research projects and that of consulting projects.

• • Section 1 draws attention to the effectiveness of a consulting process, which is as much about the client as it is about the consultant.

• • Section 2 introduces the ‘consulting cycle’ as an outline structure for the consulting process. Having provided the structure of the consulting cycle, the remainder of the chapter homes in on specific areas of the cycle, and in particular where the consulting perspective might be of use to social researchers.

• • Section 3 talks about assignment intimacy.

• • Section 4 explores the value of logic in the design of consulting projects.

• • Section 5 looks at the role of management models in consulting work.

• • Section 6 looks at the core consulting skill of interviewing.

• • Section 7 builds on social research's understanding of data issues and suggests how data can be developed into insight in consulting work.

• • Section 8 looks at how logic applies to the way in which the results and recommendations from consulting work can be framed.

• • Section 9, titled ‘The prestige’, talks about how the results of consulting work might be presented in order to demonstrate and realise value for the client.

Good clients

It is easy, as a consultant, to assume the responsibility for the success of a project. If the arrangement with a client is a commercial one, the onus is perhaps even more obvious. Calvert Markham, who helped establish the International Council for Management Consulting Institutes (ICMCI), expressed the following view:

When consultants are publicly criticised, it is often not for their performance, but for the quality of the project for which they have been engaged. The introduction of initiatives and formulation of projects is a joint venture between consultants and their clients, and it needs excellence of performance from both parties. Not only do we need excellent consultants, but also excellent clients.