Engaging Management Consultants – or how to avoid getting ripped off
Management consultancies have a reputation for ripping off
their clients. But is this always deserved? There are
many reasons for engaging management consultants. You may
need a particular technical skill, you may need an
objective, third party opinion, or you may have some short
term needs for expertise in change management. There are
also lots of instances when you shouldn’t use consultants:
you’re not sure what the problem is and you want them to
tell you; you have a budget you need to expend by a certain
date; you want them to make some people redundant. These
are not good reasons for engaging a consultancy and will
inevitably lead to disappointment. Taking a responsible
role when contracting with consultancies will ensure this
disappointment is avoided.
First Step: Decide whether you need a consultancy or not
To decide whether it’s appropriate to engage with a
consultancy or not, consider the following:
What is the need or problem you want to address and why do
you think this need or problem exists? Will it be solved by
this intervention or will the underlying issue still exist?
What skills are you looking for? What value might a
consultancy bring to your business? What risks are there to
your business in using an outsourced resource?
When To Get Business Help And When To Go It Alone
It’s a sorta no-brainer when you need help in business:
flummoxed, bewildered, stuck. But what kind of help do you
really need? Do you need to take a class, read books, hire
a coach, or get peer-support?
It’s a big question. Without the right support and
education, everything you’re working for can fall apart.
But, the wrong support can be expensive, time-consuming and
overwhelming. The first stage of growth: the world of
education.
When you walk a spiritual path, there are different stages
that a murid (‘murid’ is a Sufi word for spiritual student)
goes through.
In the beginning of spiritual walking, there is a lot of
foundational work that is done, learning about your ego and
the tricks it plays, as well as learning the basic
practices that help to control and clean the ego, such as
prayers, chants, movements, fasting, etc.
In your business, when you are learning something new,
there is a lot of terrain to cover. Foundational nuts and
bolts knowledge, and learning basic practices that help
your business to thrive, and not run rampant in all
directions, scattering your energy and efforts.
The second stage of growth: the world of light.
There comes a time in the spiritual life of the murid when
the nuts and bolts are in place, and the heart has been
emptied enough to be able to contain the light and knowing
of the Divine Presence.
And, in your business, when it is solid enough to stand on
its own two feet, when it is a thriving creature, there
comes a time when it can also contain a deeper presence.
You don’t exactly break the rules of business, but you play
with them and around them, like jazz plays with the musical
scales.
You always have to honor your foundational roots, but the
fluidity of the light invigorates the whole with a Presence
that goes beyond formula.
A Communication Case Where Creativity Is A Solution
Featured post by Terry Kaufman from Your English Solutions
Texas. A place where 31% of the population is Hispanic. A friend approached me one day with an interesting communication case:
As a Real Estate manager, he is fluent in Spanish but the Hispanics in his county speak a particular dialect of Spanish…Tex-Mex. He does not understand Tex-Mex very well. The only way to communicate with his Hispanic clients and workers is in “broken” English.
The difficulty is that the English he uses has Texan slang and complicated sentence constructions. For example, he would say to a worker, “Y’all work’in in that house over yonder?” To a client, he would say, “The estimated property value according to the Hall county appraisal district for this house is $39,500.”
Say what?! What did he say?
For a non-native speaker, if you remove the slang and use clear English the sentences are easier to understand: Are you working in that house (you show the house with your hand)? The price of this house is $39,500 (you write the price on a piece of paper and show it to the Hispanic client).
Visual aids are vital in this communication case. Use paper and write important information. For example, show numbers and words. Images are also important to use. Take photos from magazines to help communicate words. Those are two examples of creative solutions that you can use to manage difficult situations.
Creativity is a necessary element of effective communication. When a non-native English speaker does not understand, the message or idea could be lost in frustration. In an ineffective communication exchange, the communicator (native English speaker) typically loses patience and the receiver (non-native speaker) may be afraid to ask for repetition and clarification.
If a communicator uses creativity as a communication tool, the chances for success are greater.
Less frustration. More success.
Terry Kaufman is an English Communications Consultant. Y.E.S. gives native English speakers effective communication skills that are vital when communicating with their non-native English speaking counterparts. http://www.your-english-solutions.com/
