How Consultants Add Value

This is an example of how someone contributes to different groups of people in an organization. Let me know how this has helped you and what needs clarification here.

Sound: Kaching the sound of money

“Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value.” —Albert Einstein
“I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” —Bill Cosby

Topics this page:
Provide Assurance to Executives
Assist Leaders in Managing Risks
Make Integration Easy for Support Staff
Smooth the Transition for Front-line Workers
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Provide Assurance to Executives

This is done under the guidance of executive champions.

1. Help clarify the organization's culture - norms.
2. Clarify industry competitive positioning - challenges and opportunities.
3. Clarify common goals - targets for better cooperation.

4. Suggest creative strategies to make proposals meld with current and planned projects.
5. Identify how proposals might impact the organization's various performance indicators.
6. Explain (both current and future) advantages and risks to the proposed approach.

Assist Leaders in Managing Risks

This is done to fulfill a charter from executives.

1. Understand the need for existing approaches and structures.
2. Clarify the issues with existing processes.
3. Define the desired state of processes (objectives).
4. Map out a Transition Strategy appropriate to individual style preferences.

5. Suggest creative techniques to adjust Project Plans to fit anticipated commitments and unanticipated demands.
6. Provide metrics for estimates used in Project Plans.
7. Advise on the selection of performance measurements.
8. Audit whether Project Plans are complete and realistic.

9. Assist in preparing Presentations of Justifications.
10. Provide examples of questions and answers about the proposal.
11. Provide examples of Status Report presentation documents and verbal scripts.

Make Integration Easy for Support Staff

This is done under the oversight and accomodation of the organization's leaders.

1. Explore potential security threats.
2. Design strategies and tactics to mitigate security threats.

3. Adapt templates to the organization's unique data needs.
4. Propose test plans and test cases.

5. Suggest common components for possible sharing among teams.
6. Document processes for quick but thorough training.
7. Provide examples of user qualification tests.
8. Install software on client machines.

9. Provide examples of invitations and training event registration administration documents.
10. Provide training registration administration and event logistics support.
11. Conduct group training.
12. Provide tests to certify the skill level of workers.

13. Collect, chart, and analyze computer performance measurements.
14. Provide examples of Status Reports to management.

Smooth the Transition for Front-line Workers

This is done as a service to the organization's support function.

1. Design formats and selections specific to individual needs.
2. Adapt templates to individual needs.
3. Design batch operations.

Consultant Jokes

A priest. a rabbi, and a know-it-all consultant are all sitting in a 
French prison awaiting the guillotine.  Judgement Day comes for them all and 
they are given the choice of who is going to die first. 

Well of course the consultant steps back and nudges the other two forward. 
Finally the priest steps up and agrees to go first. 

At the guillotine the priest is asked if he would like to be face up or 
face down. He replies, "Face up, when I go I want to be facing the right direction." 
Well he is strapped in and the executioner pulls the lever to release the blade. 
The blade goes down and stops ten inches from the priests neck. 
It is proclaimed a miracle and the priest is allowed to go free. 

Next is the Rabbi's turn.  Again he was nudged forward by the consultant. 
The same was asked of the Rabbi and he too chose face up. 
They strapped him in and sent the blade for his neck. 
Again the blade stopped ten inches from his neck. 
Another miracle was proclaimed and the Rabbi was sent free. 

At last it was the know-it-all's consultant's turn. 
Feeling rather confident, he marched proudly to the guillotine. 
When asked if he wanted face up or face down, he answered,
"Well face up seems to be working so I'll have to try it face up too." 

As he was strapped in, just before the lever was pulled he pointed up 
and shouted, "Hold everything!  
I see what the problem with this guillotine is after all!" 

"Confidence is the feeling you have before you understand the situation."


“Never ask a barber if you need a haircut.”
— H. Jackson Brown from Life's Little Instruction Book, II