How to pick the right business consultant (and get it right every time)

There are lots of consultants (with even more expertise) out in the world. This is great news, except when you have to pick the ‘right’ person to work with. This post helps you get it right!

This article is for leaders who want to attract the right business consultant, quickly and in a cost-effective way. In it I’ll explain:

1. How to articulate your business problem, and get it right each time; and

2. How to match your unique problem to the right type of business consultant.

If you are unsure whether you need to bring in a business consultant, check out this article before reading on.

How to articulate your business problem, and get it right every time

Picking the right business consultant begins with a clear articulation of the problem you face. When you can articulate your unique situation you will:

• Attract the people most familiar with solving this type of problem; and

• Better match the skills and experience of the business consultant to your needs.

Clearly articulating your problem is a skill in its own right, but (fortunately) it has a predictable formula to get it right. The three parts of a great problem definition are:

1. The situation surrounding your problem. This is a factual statement, presenting the stable set of circumstances you find yourself in. The situation starts broad (e.g. your business and your role), and narrows in to describe the stable state relevant to your problem.

2. The complication causing your problem. This is a statement describing how your stable situation has been complicated. The complication includes how these changes impact you, your team and/ or your business.

3. The questions you are asking yourself. These are the thoughts you are ruminating over, and stem naturally from the complication.

Here is an example to help ground this concept:

Situation: I am the Head of People and Culture at a medium sized venture-backed company in Canada. Our business provides financial products to micro-businesses in Canada, and has recently expanded its operations into the USA. The expansion has been successful, and we are now looking to increase our employee footprint in this country.

Complication: We do not have any existing people operations in the USA, and are concerned that our employee value proposition is not sufficient to attract and retain top talent in this geography.

Questions: How does our existing employee value proposition compare in the USA? What People and Culture systems do we need to offer an equitable employee experience in the USA?

With your problem statement (and the newfound skills to describe your challenge clearly), you are set-up to match your unique problem with the right business consulting skill set.

How to match your unique problem with the right business consultant?

Business consultant come in one of two categories:

• Strategy consultants help leaders determine the overall direction in which they will take the business. These folk tend to answer the ‘what should I do’ questions which impact the overall direction an organization takes.

• Operations consultants: help leaders determine the people, processes and technology they need to achieve their business objectives. These folk tend to answer the ‘how do I do it’ questions which impact the design and delivery of departments within an organization.

The best way to determine which consultant applies to your organization is with your problem statement. When you read your problem statement, decide whether:

• Your questions are more what to do or how to do it?

• It centres the overall organization or a part within the organization?

Problems which centre the what to do on the organization level lend themselves to strategy consultants—folks who can help you work out what to do next. When the problem centre on what to do or how to do a thing within a part of your organization, you are looking for an operations consultant—folks who can help you design and implement what you need to get the outcomes you seek.

If an Operations Consultant is what you need, book a free consultation and we can chat through your newly minted problem statement.