Discussion: View Thread

I am interested in finding out more about the CORE COMPETENCIES that
consultants are expected to possess.

I have read articles that wrote about how consultants have failed in their
jobs ... and have landed themselves in lawsuits and so on.

So what does it take to be a COMPETENT CONSULTANT?

What are cognitive skills that one must possess? Can it be learnt?

How does one usually end up joining the CONSULTANCY PROFESSION? (i.e CAREER
PATH?)

Anyone able to share with me of an instance when the CONSULTANCY PROJECT
failed because the CONSULTANT was not COMPETENT? ... and by the way how is
the SUCCESS of a project measured?

I will be very glad if I can get in touch with people in the CONSULTANCY
PROFESSION ... and hear from them their FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT. Hence ... would
appreciate if all the Consultants could take some time to reply to this
mail.

Of course ... I will be equally glad to hear from others as well.

Looking forward to getting in touch with all of you!



THOMAS ANG
E-mail: thomasang@post1.com

I work as a management consultant.

Your question is very broad, so my answers will match them. The
particular competencies required are relative to the area of
consultantancy and there are many:
* Strategic Planning
* Information Technology Planning
* Business Process Reengineering
* Marketing
* Financial Systems and Controls
* Change Management
* Migration Management
* Diversity Management
* Outsourcing Management
* and the list goes on

If there is one link that ties all the areas together is the expectation
that the outside consultant has a broader perspective then the internal
people. A good number of my colleagues where once internal people
(myself included) who got tired of not being listened to our valued by
their organizations. Now they consultant to those same organizations at
twice the money they were making before leaving.

As for measurements of success, it all depends on the engagement.
Sometimes the consultant is only asked to prepare a report or do an
analysis. Other times you carry things through to implementation.

I have seen and known incompetent consultants. They are probably equal
in proportion to the level of incompetence in any work that does not
have consistent, established standards. Which is most of the work done
in this country. And even where there are standards there are
incompetent people. Think malpractice. I don't know whether you think
consultants as a whole or more or less competent. I can tell you that I
work with some of the sharpest people I have come across. We consult to
governments. Most of the people are former government employees,
usually GS-13s and above.

If you are looking for something more specific, just ask the question.
Hope this helps.

>----------
>From: Thomas Ang[SMTP:thomasang@POST1.COM]
>Sent: Friday, September 12, 1997 1:27 PM
>To: MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
>Subject: DEVELOPING CORE COMPETENCIES OF CONSULTANTS
>
>I am interested in finding out more about the CORE COMPETENCIES that
>consultants are expected to possess.
>
>I have read articles that wrote about how consultants have failed in their
>jobs ... and have landed themselves in lawsuits and so on.
>
>So what does it take to be a COMPETENT CONSULTANT?
>
>What are cognitive skills that one must possess? Can it be learnt?
>
>How does one usually end up joining the CONSULTANCY PROFESSION? (i.e CAREER
>PATH?)
>
>Anyone able to share with me of an instance when the CONSULTANCY PROJECT
>failed because the CONSULTANT was not COMPETENT? ... and by the way how is
>the SUCCESS of a project measured?
>
>I will be very glad if I can get in touch with people in the CONSULTANCY
>PROFESSION ... and hear from them their FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT. Hence ... would
>appreciate if all the Consultants could take some time to reply to this
>mail.
>
>Of course ... I will be equally glad to hear from others as well.
>
>Looking forward to getting in touch with all of you!
>
>
>
>THOMAS ANG
>E-mail: thomasang@post1.com
>

At 01:27 AM 9/13/97 +0800, you wrote:
>I am interested in finding out more about the CORE COMPETENCIES that
>consultants are expected to possess.

I think you will find some of the answers you're looking for in Peter
Block's book, Flawless Consulting.

Frank Bell Internet:
Project Leader fbell@nonamebbs.com
Amtrak
National Training and
Conference Center
110 S. French St.--Ste 200
Wilmington, Del. 19801

http://members.aol.com/frankwbell

Thomas,

You have really taken on a chore. Anyway, I have done some research on
consulting. Althrough I'm an internal trainer, we are going to internal
consulting as our primary service. You'll find many of your questions
answered in the reference list below. Combining this with some real time
experieces from others will be useful. Hope it helps. I'm providing it to
the entire list as others may find it useful. Let me know if you'd like
some more of my research on the topic.

Ken Stein
kstein@digital.net

DeWine, S. (1994). The consultant???s craft: Improving organizational
communication. New York, NY: St. Martin???s Press.

Greenbaum, T. (1990). The consultant???s manual: A complete guide to
building a successful consulting practice. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Gebelein, S. (1989, March). Profile of an internal consultant: Roles and
skills for building client confidence. Training & Development Journal,
43(3), 52-58.

Holtz, H. (1989). Choosing and using a consultant: A manager???s guide to
consulting services. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Lippitt, G., & Lippitt, R. (1986). The consulting process in action (2nd
ed.). San Diego, CA: University Associates.

Sorohan, E. (1996, March). The performance consultant at work. Training
& Development, 50(3), 34-38.

Speers, E. (1995, March). Managing the consulting process. Performance &
Instruction, (34)(3), 28-30.

Wergin, J. (1991). Using consultants successfully. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass Inc.

Uhlfelder, H. (1993, November). So you want to be an internal consultant.
Journal for Quality and Participation, 16(6), 44-46.

Gendelman, J. (1995). Consulting 101: How to succeed as a training
consultant. Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training and Development.


At 01:27 AM 9/13/97 +0800, you wrote:
>I am interested in finding out more about the CORE COMPETENCIES that
>consultants are expected to possess.
>

-- [ From: Lynda Rogerson * EMC.Ver #2.5.3 ] --

Hello Folks,

Lots of interesting dialog today!! I wonder if we might not also
include in competencies, certain capacities that the consultant needs,
not just topic/discipline knowledge. For instance:

1. ability to see patterns and relationships in systems--and to make
effective decisions based on those observations
2. understanding and ability to work with many different kinds of
people
3. ability to be direct, "care"-frontatve (as opposed to confrontive)
and clear in their assessments
4. ability to identify what really needs to take place in order to
assist the client in achieving business objectives
5. ability to synthesize information and create knowledge
6. ability to assist others in designing strategies that met objectives
7. ability to communicate with CEOs, senior executives, and managers in
terms that they understand and that make good business sense to them
8. ability to diagnose and describe in terms relevant to the subject
environment/org culture

As a process consultant, I see my job as a facilitator of action on the
part of others. In other words, it isn't as important that I have the
answer, as it is that I assist others in developing the answers that fit
their needs and environments.


Lynda Rogerson, Ed.D.
hxbg65a@prodigy.com
www.lynco.com

Thomas,
Hi. I've been following your comments with interest as I am a consultant
who not only works nationally and internationally but am a consultant in
the identification of core competencies for management and professional
level vocational areas.

My work is not so much in the identification of competencies because
here and overseas there are thousands of people doing this, but in the
identification of why they want these competencies (in other words what
does their industry or organisation expect to achieve by adopting these
competencies) and how can they be better written and contextualised so
that people can actually use them - and in particular how they can
assess others, and be themselves assessed, against them.

At the moment I am specialising in project management because it is an
area which is relevant to all management today but also because we are
working at developing processes that any professional group can adopt
and use (especially the assessment and application in the workplace of
the competencies against workplace, and not academic, needs).

There are core competencies available for consultants and I have used
them - but only as the basis on which to build more contextualised
standards of competence. The ones I've used are called 'Business
Counselling' and are available from RSA Examinations Board, Westwood
Way, Coventry CV4 8HS, England. Telephone 0203 470033, fax 0203 468080.

Hope this helps

PHIL RUTHERFORD




Thomas Ang wrote:
>
> I am interested in finding out more about the CORE COMPETENCIES that
> consultants are expected to possess.
>
> I have read articles that wrote about how consultants have failed in their
> jobs ... and have landed themselves in lawsuits and so on.
>
> So what does it take to be a COMPETENT CONSULTANT?
>
> What are cognitive skills that one must possess? Can it be learnt?
>
> How does one usually end up joining the CONSULTANCY PROFESSION? (i.e CAREER
> PATH?)
>
> Anyone able to share with me of an instance when the CONSULTANCY PROJECT
> failed because the CONSULTANT was not COMPETENT? ... and by the way how is
> the SUCCESS of a project measured?
>
> I will be very glad if I can get in touch with people in the CONSULTANCY
> PROFESSION ... and hear from them their FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT. Hence ... would
> appreciate if all the Consultants could take some time to reply to this
> mail.
>
> Of course ... I will be equally glad to hear from others as well.
>
> Looking forward to getting in touch with all of you!
>
> THOMAS ANG
> E-mail: thomasang@post1.com

Hi, Folks:

Whenever someone asks me about skills required for consulting, I almost
invariably respond with:

The ability to ask provocative questions in a disarming fashion.

Take care,

Peter Altschul

I am a partner in a small healthcare consulting firm. When we started the
business 5 years ago we were very worried about whether or not we would
suxcceed for both personal and largely economic reasons. We have been
fortunate to have been very successful to date. When I think about
competencies that make one successful, there are many. Often too many
competencies to be rollrd into just one person, so complementary skills
and approaches are necessary. Some of the more critical areas for success
lie in the interaction between the client and the consultant. So, building
trust at the beginning of the engagement is essential for future success.
In addition, often clients hire consultants to legitimize their own
agendas and don't like it when the consultant recommends against that
approach. So, how one measures success is important - from the
client's perspective?, the consultant's perspective?, the
financial outcome?...Although I don't know that a listing of skills will
translate into a "competent" consultant, here are some KSA's I believe
important:
interpersonal and communication skills
listening skills
writing skills
interviewing skills
change management skills
political acumen
technical skills and knowledge (depending on the specific area of
consultation)
presentation skills
creativity
confidence

Mary Ann DiMola
Matrix Consulting, Inc.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mary Ann DiMola
dimola@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu

"At the point of encounter there are neither utter ignoramuses nor perfect
sages; there are only men who are attempting, together, to learn more than
they now know."
Paulo Friere
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Sat, 13 Sep 1997, Thomas Ang wrote:

> I am interested in finding out more about the CORE COMPETENCIES that
> consultants are expected to possess.
>
> I have read articles that wrote about how consultants have failed in their
> jobs ... and have landed themselves in lawsuits and so on.
>
> So what does it take to be a COMPETENT CONSULTANT?
>
> What are cognitive skills that one must possess? Can it be learnt?
>
> How does one usually end up joining the CONSULTANCY PROFESSION? (i.e CAREER
> PATH?)
>
> Anyone able to share with me of an instance when the CONSULTANCY PROJECT
> failed because the CONSULTANT was not COMPETENT? ... and by the way how is
> the SUCCESS of a project measured?
>
> I will be very glad if I can get in touch with people in the CONSULTANCY
> PROFESSION ... and hear from them their FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT. Hence ... would
> appreciate if all the Consultants could take some time to reply to this
> mail.
>
> Of course ... I will be equally glad to hear from others as well.
>
> Looking forward to getting in touch with all of you!
>
>
>
> THOMAS ANG
> E-mail: thomasang@post1.com
>

One source to check on core competencies for consultants is the
Institute for Management Consultants [USA]. Contact info at

http://www.imcusa.org

The Institute of one of a worldwide association of institutes {the
International Council of Management Consulting Institutes]. An integral
part of their charter is to certify management consultants. Thus, the
materials they provide/recommend to prepare consultants for the exams
will outline some of the competencies which the Institute expects all
certified consultants to have.

Obviously, the range of competencies which may be demanded for a
specific consultant on a specific project will be defined by the scope
of the project. Likewise, no certifying program could ever cover all the
competencies which every consultant might need. However, I believe that
the great majority of the core competencies are included in the material
which IMC requires its candidates to master for certification.

The focus of this response is obviously from a practitioner's point of
view, rather than that of academic research. The Institute and its
sister organization, the Association of Management Consulting Firms
[http://www.amcf.org] cooperate with the Academy of Management in more
formal investigations of the above issues.


Al

--
Alan A. Andolsen CMC CRM
President
Naremco Services Inc.
60 East 42nd Street
New York, NY 10165

Voice: 212-697-0290
Fax: 212-986-1736
MailTo:AlAndolsen@NAREMCO.COM
URL: http://www.naremco.com

I think that the competencies needed very much depend upon the type of consultant you are. I am not talking about the field you are in, but whether you are in "prestige" consulting, delivering standardized programs such as training, seminars or auditing, basically a contract employee, or actually providing some special skill or analysis in which the client firm lacks competence.

After a number of years as a consultant I began to realize that many of the client firms with which I dealt did not really need my firm's skills - they often had them in house. They often defined the problem and identified what they thought the solution was. I finally realized that we were simply "hired guns" brought in to provide support in an organizational turf battle. What we were really selling was prestige. The client wanted us to stand up next to him in some meeting and say (as an outside expert,) " Yes, Jim here has the right answer." Thus, for prestige consulting, one essential skill is having the image of competence and prestige. You need the right pedigree as well which is why the top consulting firms primarily hire from the top few business schools.

Not every consulting project in which I was involved was "prestige" in nature, but most were. The main decision you have to make in this situation is whether or not you agree with the client's definition of the problem or opportunity, his or her analysis of the situation and his or her choice of a solution. If you get into the project and find that you do not agree with the client, it is best to tell the client as soon as possible and allow the client to terminate the contract.

Of course the list of skills provided by Lenny Laskowski and MaryAnn Di Mola are important too for all types of consulting.

Martin W. Broin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Management
Texas A&M International Univ.
5201 University Boulevard
Laredo, Texas 78041
Phone: (956) 326-2538
FAX: (956) 326-2494
E-mail: broin@tamiu.edu

-----Original Message-----
From: MaryAnn Di Mola [SMTP:dimola@GWIS2.CIRC.GWU.EDU]
Sent: Saturday, October 04, 1997 5:48 AM
To: MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
Subject: Re: DEVELOPING CORE COMPETENCIES OF CONSULTANTS

I am a partner in a small healthcare consulting firm. When we started the business 5 years ago we were very worried about whether or not we would suxcceed for both personal and largely economic reasons. We have been fortunate to have been very successful to date. When I think about competencies that make one successful, there are many. Often too many competencies to be rollrd into just one person, so complementary skills and approaches are necessary. Some of the more critical areas for success lie in the interaction between the client and the consultant. So, building trust at the beginning of the engagement is essential for future success. In addition, often clients hire consultants to legitimize their own agendas and don't like it when the consultant recommends against that approach. So, how one measures success is important - from the client's perspective?, the consultant's perspective?, the financial outcome?...Although I don't know that a listing of skills will translate into a "competent" consultant, here are some KSA's I believe important:
interpersonal and communication skills
listening skills
writing skills
interviewing skills
change management skills
political acumen
technical skills and knowledge (depending on the specific area of consultation)
presentation skills
creativity
confidence

Mary Ann DiMola
Matrix Consulting, Inc.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mary Ann DiMola
dimola@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu

"At the point of encounter there are neither utter ignoramuses nor perfect sages; there are only men who are attempting, together, to learn more than they now know."
Paulo Friere
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Sat, 13 Sep 1997, Thomas Ang wrote:
> I am interested in finding out more about the CORE COMPETENCIES that
* consultants are expected to possess.
*
* <much deleted here> >> >
>
> THOMAS ANG
> E-mail: thomasang@post1.com
>

In a message dated 10/3/97 1:41:39 PM, Thomas Ang wrote:

<<So what does it take to be a COMPETENT CONSULTANT?

>>

What a great question! Charlie Wankel asked me to do more than lurk, so I'll
take a shot at this even though I'm brand new to the list.

I've been in the training and development profession for over 20 years, the
last twelve as an independent consultant. The things I've learned over this
time could fill a book, but even with all that there is no easy answer to the
question. To begin with, I must ask a question - what kind of consulting are
you trying to provide? The answer will determine a direction for the type of
competencies you need to develop. Many of our clients expect us to be good
at developing and implementing a process which helps team leaders and team
members understand and apply a team approach to their business. Some clients
want performance coaching or "executive coaching" for an individual; usually
a manager with underdeveloped people skills. Training in a group setting and
coaching an individual use two different skill sets, even though many of the
key points are the same.

So, to keep it short, I suggest you first identify what you intend to offer
prospective clients. What problems can you help solve? Next, network and
affiliate with others who work in similar areas. In our business, the
American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) is a good place to start.
In fact, the ASTD Journal has had numerous articles on performance coaching
and consulting. There is a professional organization for Management
Consultants as well.

Then, get out and learn by doing. At this stage I believe your core VALUES
will be more important than core competencies. You must believe in what you
are doing; be honest in your dealings with prospects and clients alike; take
a genuine interested in the people associated with the problem; and, be a
friend as well as a consultant.

We have over 50 consultants as part of our virtual team, at all levels of
skill. The ones who survive and thrive seem to be the ones who truly believe
they can make a difference in someone's life, are willing to invest time and
money into their business and their learning curve, and have a value system
that keeps clients coming back even when the project doesn't meet all the
expectations.

Best wishes,

Rick Stamm
The TEAM Approach(R)
Changing the Way America Works... Together(TM)
TeamDoc@aol.com
717/656-0788