Evaluating Consulting Projects

by Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan, Organisational Provocateur

It is always a great feeling for service professionals to complete their projects and moving on, but there is one more thing is left to do. Sadly, most people miss this element of their projects. It is a sort of after action assessment, when we actually summarise what we have achieved.

Unfortunately, in traditional task-based consulting this is irrelevant anyway for the emphasis is on going through the motions (of performing certain tasks) and piling up as much stuff (deliverables) as humanly possible.

How many web designers do you know, who, after setting up their clients' e-commerce sites, go back to their clients let's say in six months and ask, "How is the site working? How can we make it work better?"

Or how many accountants do you know, who actually call their clients between two tax periods, asking, "What is happening? Need any help"

So many service professionals are perceived as commodity, thus they operate on high volume, and so have no time to discuss results after they produced the pages. How many businesspeople do you know who are always on the run, who are constantly busy? I only know a handful who are not.

1) New capabilities

These are some new skills clients acquired from your during the project. Remember, one objective of the whole project is to transfer skills to clients, so next time when facing similar problems they can handle it without the full-fledged involvement of consultant. These skills can be analysis, diagnosis, synthesis, communication skills, various strategic, managerial and tactical skills, and ability to make quicker decisions and to take action. The delivery of these new skills makes if possible for clients to sustain the new level of performance after the consultant is gone.

Basic premise: What new capabilities have you got now, which you did not have before our collaboration? How will you sustain these new capabilities after we disengage?

New systems

According to W. Edward Deming, 94% of business failures are attributable to ineffective systems or the total lack of systems. Systems are important, for they make it possible for companies to produce reasonably consistent results, even if produced by different people. These systems can include recruitment, operational and appraisal systems just to name a few.

Basic premise: What new systems have you got now, which you did not have before our collaboration? How will you sustain these new systems after we disengage?

3) New Relationships

New projects also often mean new relationships through social cross-pollination between you, your contacts and the client's people. Only one or two valuable introductions can be pretty profitable for clients in the future.

Basic premise: What new relationships have you got now, which you did not have before our collaboration? How will you sustain these new relationships after we disengage?

4) New opportunities

This section is really weird. You can bring great opportunities into your clients' lives, but they may not recognise them as opportunities for them. So, you may have a little education to do to show clients the light. You may have a problem with highly analytical clients who just want you to put your head down and work without even looking up until you are done.

Basic premise: What new opportunities have you got now, which you did not have before our collaboration? How will you sustain these new opportunities after we disengage?

5) New behaviours

Changing behaviours means that your clients' people do certain things differently from what they used to do. What does that mean to them? What impact does this behaviour change mean to the overall performance of their companies?

Basic premise: What new behaviours have you got now, which you did not have before our collaboration? How will you sustain these new behaviours after we disengage?

6) New performance

How can you make certain that after you disengaged from the client, the client's company can sustain and improve the new performance capabilities you initiated? Look at performance from several angles. Do you like the financial changes? Do you like the new way your clients' people (both their clients and their employees) feel about the new situation. How does this new change impact their personal lives?

There is one more thing here. In many cases improvement is longer-term, thus cannot be measured by the end of the engagement. However, you can "measure" the trend towards that improvement. Then focus on that trend.

Basic premise: What new performance level have you got now which you did not have before our collaboration? How will you sustain this new performance level after we disengage?

Copyright 1997-2010 Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan. All rights reserved. You are free to use this article in whole or in part. One favour though: Can I ask you to you include complete attribution, including a live website link. Also, can you please let me know where you plan to publish the article.

The attribution: This article was written by Organisational Provocateur, Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan of Dynamic Innovations Squad, a firm specialising in helping consulting firms to sell their expertise at the highest margins. Get Tom's free Practice Management Black Paper when you sign up for his monthly newsletter, Commando Consulting: Lessons And Practices From The Ultimate Professional Service Firm, The Military. Visit Tom's website at http://www.di-squad.com.

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