Tips for Hiring a Consultant
We recommend that you consider more than one consultant before selecting who you will work with, and check their references, to determine the best fit for you.
We also suggest you talk with potential consultants about the following things, and work towards shared understanding on them, before beginning the work:
Purpose: Why are you undertaking this work? What is the deep aspiration that leads you to seek consulting at this time?
Outcomes: What are your expectations, or “conditions of satisfaction.” How will you know if this capacity building project is working? Are there specific things you can use to track or measure or document progress and/or outcomes?
Process: What is the work plan? That is, what activities will the consultant undertake, and which ones will involve work from members of the organization?
People: Who else, if anyone, do you need to enroll or get buy-in from for this to work? Will the consultant be involved in helping with this in some way (e.g. coaching the organization’s leader, or meeting with people?)
Emergence: There are many wise quotes to the effect that even the best laid plans sometimes don't survive their first encounter with reality. How will you build in times for reflection and learning and changing the plan as the future emerges?
Cost/Budget: What will the fees be? Will there be a flat fee? Or Hourly? Or some hybrid (e.g. hourly with a ceiling?)
With thanks to: the "P-O-P" model, created by Leslie Sholl Jaffe and Randy Alford as taught by Robert Gass; Ben Kadel of Emotus Operandi; and C. Otto Scharmer's Theory U.
We also suggest you talk with potential consultants about the following things, and work towards shared understanding on them, before beginning the work:
Purpose: Why are you undertaking this work? What is the deep aspiration that leads you to seek consulting at this time?
Outcomes: What are your expectations, or “conditions of satisfaction.” How will you know if this capacity building project is working? Are there specific things you can use to track or measure or document progress and/or outcomes?
Process: What is the work plan? That is, what activities will the consultant undertake, and which ones will involve work from members of the organization?
People: Who else, if anyone, do you need to enroll or get buy-in from for this to work? Will the consultant be involved in helping with this in some way (e.g. coaching the organization’s leader, or meeting with people?)
Emergence: There are many wise quotes to the effect that even the best laid plans sometimes don't survive their first encounter with reality. How will you build in times for reflection and learning and changing the plan as the future emerges?
Cost/Budget: What will the fees be? Will there be a flat fee? Or Hourly? Or some hybrid (e.g. hourly with a ceiling?)
With thanks to: the "P-O-P" model, created by Leslie Sholl Jaffe and Randy Alford as taught by Robert Gass; Ben Kadel of Emotus Operandi; and C. Otto Scharmer's Theory U.
For further information about hiring a consultant, follow these links to request an emailed copy of the following articles published in the Society for Nonprofits (www.snpo.org) Publication "Nonprofit World" (links offered here with permission):
"Common Mistakes in Hiring a Consultant" ( Nov./Dec. 2012),
"Secrets to Finding the perfect Consultant" (May/June 2010);
"The Logic of Consultants' Fees" (Sept./Oct. 1992) [Note that this is a 20-year-old piece, and the numbers are not adjusted for inflation, but the logic remains relevant].
"Common Mistakes in Hiring a Consultant" ( Nov./Dec. 2012),
"Secrets to Finding the perfect Consultant" (May/June 2010);
"The Logic of Consultants' Fees" (Sept./Oct. 1992) [Note that this is a 20-year-old piece, and the numbers are not adjusted for inflation, but the logic remains relevant].
