High-Performance Consulting Skills
Overview
This goldmine of ideas, advice and techniques provides a practical understanding of the skills required to become a high-performance ‘internal consultant’, whatever your own area of expertise.
As today’s managers in support functions seek to redefine their role and effectiveness, the concept of the ‘internal consultant’ is gaining considerable ground. By moving your perspective from being a ‘colleague’ to a ‘client’ within the business you can bring major benefits to both yourself and your organisation.
Including a large number of charts, diagrams and forms and using his considerable experience, Mark Thomas provides a practical understanding of the skills required to become a high-performance internal consultant. This book is packed full of hard-edged practical tips, techniques and checklists to help you achieve the right results.
With in-depth guidance and practical insights, this book will help you:
- Develop stronger, more productive working relationships with internal clients
- Secure greater internal client commitment to initiatives and change projects
- Work effectively in a less formal and hierarchical way on projects and initiatives
- Market your services and build powerful internal networks
- Enhance your own worth and value to the organisation
All managers working in support functions, such as HR, audit, training, personnel and IT, as well as areas such as finance and marketing will benefit from this book. A high percentage of the content is also directly applicable to the role of the external consultant.
Book Details
- Format:
- Paperback
- ISBN:
- 9781914928000
- Pages:
- 308
- Publication Date:
- 2003
- Format:
- eBook
- ISBN:
- 9781854188533
- Publication Date:
- 2003
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Content
Introduction
ONE: From managing change to managing surprise?
- Support functions under attack
- The opportunity
- What exactly is consultancy?
- The difference between expert and process consulting
- What is the difference between the internal and external consultant?
- The characteristics of internal consultancy
- Why use an internal consultant?
- How to become an internal consultant
- Time to convert and redirect
TWO: The art of client management
- Understanding the key stages of the internal consulting process
- Implementation
- Belbin’s team roles – questionnaire
THREE: Marketing internal consultancy
- Getting in and contracting with your client
- Developing your marketing strategy
- Conducting a client demand analysis
- What clients look for
- Beginning to market yourself – recognising your starting point
- Marketing to senior management
- How to sell to senior management
- Some practical tips to improve your marketing effort
- Internal consultancy case study
FOUR: Managing initial client meetings
- The essential rules for managing initial client meetings
- Things to avoid at initial meetings
- How to convey respect, openness and understanding at an initial client meeting
- Initial client meetings consultant’s template
- Initial terms of reference
- Writing client proposals
- Managing initial meetings checklist
FIVE: Understanding and defining the client’s problem
- Desk research
- Interviewing clients
- Managing the client interview
- Group interviews
- Types of interview questioning techniques
- Providing non-verbal encouragement during interviews
- Using supportive statements
- Counter-productive questions
- Using questionnaires to gather information
- Designing a questionnaire
- Process mapping
- Process analysis questions
- Understanding and defining your client’s problem – being client focused
SIX: Managing change
- Understanding organizational change
- Individual reactions to change
- The change transition curve
- Managing organizational change
- Organizational change readiness assessment
- Managing organizational change template
- Change management template– the critical success factors
- Stakeholder Analysis
- Managing organization change – a checklist of key questions to address
- The critical questions to ask in change scenarios
SEVEN: Presenting client feedback
- Introduction to report writing
- Different types of client report
- Getting your report structure right
- A typical report structure
- Writing a client report
- Reviewing reports
- Making client presentations
- Presenting client feedback – being client focused
EIGHT: Implementing, reviewing and exiting projects
- Project implementation
- Project implementation – being client focused
- Reviewing consultancy projects – being client focused
- Evaluating consultancy projects
- Summary
NINE: The internal consultant’s toolkit
- The consultant’s toolkit
- Organization capability: effectiveness questionnaire • ‘7s’ organization audit
- Internal consultant skills – development needs checklist
- Success factors in managing change
- Change management action planning sheet
List of illustrations