Hiring Consultants Part 3: 7 Quick Questions BEFORE you Engage That Consultant

This is part three of our series on how to get great value from your consultants - and how to figure out how much to pay them. See parts one and two.

Hiring Consultants Part 1: The Secret of How To Get the BEST Value

Hiring Consultants Part 2: How to Get What You Paid For

Unfortunately you don’t always have the luxury to go through that long process. So here’s the quick and dirty version: 7 questions you can ask:

  1. Will you be getting the principal, you’ve been dealing with or one of their substitute staff? Yes? No?
  2. Will they help you prime the participants before the workshop? (If they don’t know what prime means in the neuroscience sense – that’s an automatic strike)
  3. Do they provide follow-up for at least four weeks after the program?
  4. Do they get a high value according to the formula Value (V) = N (number of participants) x D (depth or degree of change). How do they propose to measure their value?
  5. Are they prepared, and able to allow discomfort during the program?
  6. Have they discussed with you what to do if the participants have a different need, than the agenda you have agreed with them?
  7. Depending on the answer to 5 – do they have the depth, and the willingness, to abandon their pre-planned seminar and follow the needs of the participants (within reason).

Need a great consultant or some help to engage a great consultant?  Got an issue around organisational change, innovation, or resilience?  Give Cris a call - he’s helped many organisations and staff, in exactly your position, to develop high impact change programs: info@crispopp.com or (+ 61) 0438 545 607.