With things moving faster,it’s becoming harder for organizations to keep up. Not all required capabilitiesare in-house. As a senior L&D leader, there are several ways to address theproblem. You can developyour own talent; hire for a new role; or bring in outside expertise.In the case of the latter, you may wonder when to use a consultant.
Full disclosure: I haveserved in the consultant role for close to two decades so I have personal (andsome might say biased) thoughts on the issue. Yet with an academic background(read: an unnaturally high need to meet standards of integrity) and a sense ofresponsibility to the field, I’ll do my best to explain and not promote whatbenefits me personally. (That is better marketing, anyway. I don’t want you toengage me, let alone anyone else, unless it really makes sense.)
What is a consultant?
First, what is a consultant? It’ssomeone with specific expertise that can help shape your plans going forward. Consultantscombine deep knowledge with practical experience. They’ve not just done thework but have reflected on their experience, looked to what others have had tosay, and can couch their opinions in the recognized frameworks. They framethings in ways that help others understand, and often come up with new ways ofseeing things. They are frequently interviewed, writearticles and/or books, and speak prominently. They’re opinionatedand don’t parrot lines, but they do credit others when appropriate because theyrespect others’ expertise, as well.
The difference between a contractor and a consultant
What is the differencebetween a contractor and a consultant? A consultant will bring a unique depthand breadth of expertise to evaluate your situation and provide guidance.Ideally, he or she is brought in early to collaboratively understandyour situation and explore opportunities and tradeoffs beforehelping converge on a particular approach. The best consulting is apartnership: the consultant doesn’t know your unique situation but draws onrich models about the field. Together, you determine how the models match tothe particular context and point to a path forward.
A contractor, on the otherhand, largely does what he or she is told. They can execute a chosen solution. Contractorsoperate as fixed-term employees, typically getting paid more than regularemployees because they’re not getting employment benefits or long-term assurances.
A contractor would be broughtin after the solution is chosen, if it’s not something the organization wantsto execute against. That could be because it’s a one-off and there’s no need todevelop in-house capability, or time may be of the essence. You want a contractor to do things you have noneed to build capability in, or you just need to augment your ability for aperiod of time owing to unexpected circumstances.
Hiring a consultant
Consultants are coaches,teachers, and partners. They have a responsibility to help choose the rightdirection and develop the associated understanding. One reason to bring in aconsultant is to get outside perspective. Sometimes it helps to bring in adifferent viewpoint. On one engagement, much of my role consisted of keepingthe client from reverting to “the course” when they were trying to incorporatea broader perspective. Sometimes the outside perspective can say the same thingas those in house, but the message is received because it is delivered from someoneoutside the organization. When the outcome is more important than themessenger, or the culture isn’t sufficiently open, this can be a strategicmove.
Another good time for aconsultant is when time is precious to come up with a strategy. Unlike with acontractor, this is to determine the course—not execute against it. In somecases, the time to figure it out just isn’t there. Having someone come in and quicklysort through the options is more valuable than saving the money and takinglonger to develop the necessary understanding. If you truly need to impact anurgent situation, such as improving a critical performance problem, ensureyou’ve got the right expertise to drill in and identify the need and solution.
This is also true when youreally can’t tolerate mistakes. If you have the time and can weather the likelyhiccups along the way, you can get away with learning by experimentation. If,however, there’s little margin for error, starting with expertise makes sense.For instance, if you need your eLearning product to support learning experiencedesign and you can’t afford a loss of credibility, get some advice about whatmakes goodlearning experiences.
Another time when aconsultant is useful is when there’s uncertainty. Here, in particular, you needan independent voice that isn’t coming in with an agenda. You want someone youcan trust to understand the situation and make the right recommendation, notthe most expedient or profitable one. Personally, these have been some of myfavorite situations in terms of feeling like I’ve really helped theorganization make a good decision, and understand why they did.
That latter, sharing the why, is another major reason to bring ina consultant; to learn with and from them. A good consultant doesn’t just tellyou what to do—they elaborate upon the models underpinning the decisions. Oneof the most rewarding things my fellow consultants and I enjoy is sharinglearnings and leaving folks with new understandings and capabilities. Aftersufficient exploration of the situation, many engagements will include apresentation providing some common language to use in addressing the situation,and models to map to the situation to guide ways forward.
Should you bring in aconsultant who can also then execute against the project? My personal view isno. Or at least don’t hire them to execute until the advice component is done.Why? It’s too easy to get into a trap where the advice provided is what theprovider has the ability to execute against. I’d argue that an independentvoice, one not looking to deliver a specific solution, is your best bet earlyon. It helps if you have a voice that isn’t tied to any specific suites ofsolutions. If you’re spending hundreds of thousands of dollars onimplementation, doesn’t some due diligence make sense for a few thousand?
There are folks who cross thespread. Contractors have expertise, as do consultants. Some contractors canhelp advise you on the solution before and/or during the project. Similarly,some consultants have valuable execution skills as well. To assure that you’regetting a truly appropriate solution hire what you need, at the appropriatestage.
Some final thoughts
Consultants do tend to cost abit more. Their ability to comprehend a situation, recognize relevant models,apply them to new situations, and articulate the reasoning, is valuable. Theynot only provide guidance and can educate the team, but can also help convincestakeholders. And this level of confidence is valuable in and of itself.
Ultimately, you want one thatyou can work with. Every individual and every organization has an interpersonalstyle. Find one that matches with you, your team, and your stakeholders. A goodtest is to listen to them speak, noticing both what they say and how they sayit. Although it is less certain, another approach is to contact someone whose“voice” you like in articles. If they’re talking about what you’re thinkingabout, it may be a good match. Of course, recommendations help too. And I’drecommend that you favor ones recognized by those who don’t refer to themselvesas “thought leaders,” but whom others do.
Verify that they haveknowledge in the area of need. Having assisted organizations like yours ishelpful, and working on similar challenges also helps. The more theuncertainly, the more a generalist helps; someone with broad experience ratherthan a narrow expertise. Note that some folks are good at talking specificswhile others talk conceptually.
Consultants don’t make sensein all circumstances, but in the right ones they’re particularly valuable. Yes,I have a vested interest in saying that, but history and experience bears meout. So when should you use a consultant? When you need one! Just make sureit’s the right time, and then make sure you get the right one(s).
