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New reengineering teams typically consider the use of a consultant for their project. This module addresses some guidelines and tips to think about when evaluating the use of consultants. We also present benchmarking findings on the use of consultants from two separate studies.
Consultants can play a valuable role in your project.
- They are objective and immune to internal politics.
- They have followed the process before.
- They bring information and best practices from other companies.
- They are good communication paths between front line workers and customers, and the leaders of the company or organization.
Consultants can also unintentionally create barriers by:
- having the solution being viewed as "theirs" and not "yours"
- taking too strong a lead role and disengaging the organization
The team leader and stakeholders must decide the role they want the consultant to play, and let that influence the consultant selection process. Three very different roles are:
Role A - a strong facilitator and experienced practitioner who brings a methodology with them. If you need this type of support, look for consultants who have strong facilitation skills and in-depth process design knowledge.
Role B - a team member; can be an objective and unbiased contributor to the solution; may fill a gap in your team that cannot be filled from within the organization; should be someone knowledgeable in your industry.
Role C - a subject-matter expert with knowledge of performance levels and best practices of similar organizations and processes; able to perform specific tasks for the team.
Teams that have strong internal facilitators and experienced process design leaders should lean toward Role B or Role C. If the organization lacks internal skills to facilitate the team, then Role A may be required. You may need a combination of these roles.
Whichever roles you choose, define the responsibilities clearly. For example, will your consultant be responsible for:
- writing project documentation?
- leading the project and facilitating meetings?
- making presentations to stakeholders and associates?
- making decisions for the project?
- contributing subject-matter expertise in your organization’s work processes?
The better these roles are defined, the better your relationship with the consultant.
Based on the results of Prosci’s 1999 benchmarking study with 248 projects, more than 65% of the participating companies had a consultant on their project. The top-three roles for consultants were: advisor to the team, team leader, and facilitator. Other important consultant roles included trainer, subject-matter expert, and developer.
In general, consultants' areas of expertise were in business process reengineering and the specific work process being redesigned.
Overall, the effectiveness of the consultants was rated highly, with more than 70% of respondents ranking their consultants as excellent or very good.
What were the key contributions of your consultant?
In a second study with 102 companies released in January, 1998, teams discussed their expectations of consultants. While most teams had unique needs, in general they expected their consultants to contribute in three areas.
- project experience (knowledge about how and when project activities should be completed)
- help with communications
- aid in facilitating meetings
They wanted their consultant to have proven experience and broad knowledge in their technical area, and to be able to help the team with the change management activities. In some cases they wanted the consultant to serve as a communication bridge to top-management.
When ask what to look for in consultants, teams stated:
The willingness of the consultant to transfer knowledge was important to teams so that they could continue with implementation after the consultant has departed. When ask if they would use a consultant next time, more than 80% reported that they would most likely use consultants again on their next project.
Related Reengineering Resources
Reengineering Toolkits and Document Templates
Business Process Reengineering Methodologies
Business Process Reengineering Implementation
Change Management Strategies and Action Planning
Process Management and Improvement
Professional Services, Coaching and Training Offers
Send questions to
bpr@prosci.com
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