Maximizing the Value of Consulting

Maximizing the Value of Consulting
Author: Jack J. Phillips
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 549
Release: 2015-05-19
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1119123674

Provide organized, efficient, relevant consulting with lasting value Maximizing the Value of Consulting is an indispensable, practical guide for managing, measuring, and delivering the results that make internal and external consulting a lasting value to clients and the company. Sponsored by the ROI Institute and the Association of Internal Management Consultants, this book provides a roadmap to relevance for consultants operating in the increasingly fast-paced, changing, dynamic environment. Readers will learn how to use resources properly and manage the investment efficiently, while truly connecting to the business, securing appropriate levels of commitment, and providing adequate levels of support. Detailed coverage includes guidance toward calculating the value of consulting in terms that executives understand, including business impact and ROI, and using the appropriate tools to show how things are working throughout the process. Whether organizations are using internal or external consultants, or both, consultants can provide better value to the company. Consultants are needed to provide advice, support, and insight into the processes undertaken to improve the business, and integrate the input of different functional units into a more streamlined strategy. This book is designed to help consultants provide the utmost value to clients by maximizing organization, efficiency, and ultimately, ROI. Manage for value with better organization and cost control Set objectives at multiple levels to deliver useful results Measure implementation, impact, ROI, and intangibles Use final results to drive appropriate actions, creating lasting value The skyrocketing need for internal and external consultants will continue, in almost every functional area ranging from HR and technology, to auditing and risk management. Maximizing the Value of Consulting provides a manual for relevant, value-driven consulting, with world-renowned expert insight.

Consulting Success

Consulting Success
Author: Michael Zipursky
Publisher: Consulting Success
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2018-10-16
Genre:
ISBN: 9781775041115

How can you take your skills and expertise and package and present it to become a successful consultant? There are proven time-tested principles, strategies, tactics and best-practices the most successful consultants use to start, run and grow their consulting business. Consulting Success teaches you what they are. In this book you'll learn: - How to position yourself as a leading expert and authority in your marketplace - Effective marketing and branding materials that get the attention of your ideal clients - Strategies to increase your fees and earn more with every project - The proposal template that has generated millions of dollars in consulting engagements - How to develop a pipeline of business and attract ideal clients - Productivity secrets for consultants including how to get more done in one week than most people do in a month - And much, much more

Central government's use of consultants

Central government's use of consultants
Author: Great Britain: National Audit Office
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 52
Release: 2006-12-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780102944068

This NAO report sets out two definitions of consultancy: (i) where individuals and companies are engaged to work on specific projects that are outside the client's business as usual; (ii) where responsibility for the final outcome of the project largely rests with the client. Central government spent £1.8 billion on consulting in 2005-06. This report sets out a number of recommendations on the use of consultancy, including: that public bodies need to be much better at identifying where core skill gaps exist; that consultants should only be employed after an assessment of in-house skills; all public bodies should adhere to OGC (Office of Government Commerce) guidance on consultancy contracts; public bodies should explore the market for the range of approaches and contracting methods available and make more use of different payment mechanisms; public bodies also need to be smarter when it comes to understanding how consulting firms operate and provide sufficient incentive to staff to make any consultancy project a success.

Dangerous Company

Dangerous Company
Author: James E. O'Shea
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1998
Genre: Business consultants
ISBN: 9780812926347

Central government's use of consultants and interims

Central government's use of consultants and interims
Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Committee of Public Accounts
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 44
Release: 2010-12-21
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780215555656

Spending on consultants and interims by central government departments amounted to over £1 billion in 2009-10. In May 2010, the coalition Government announced immediate plans to save £1.1 billion on discretionary spending. In the first 6 months of 2010-11, the Cabinet Office reports that consultancy spending had fallen by 46% since 2009-10 due in part to new measures it has introduced to control the use of consultants, but due in the main to government stopping certain programmes. The Committee of Public Accounts has set out a number of conclusions, including: that the Committee does not accept the view expressed by the Cabinet Office that it is impossible to assess the value for money of consultancy work; that relying on consultants for commonly required skills is expensive; that the 'stop-go' approach to using consultants is not sustainable and does not deliver value for money. Further, it is unclear why some departments use consultants a great deal more than others, for example, every £100 spent on staff costs at the Department for Transport, £70 is spent on consultants. The Committee also states that the Cabinet Office has not done enough to grow the government's core skills. For the Committee, departments do not control and manage their spending on consultants and the prices paid are often based simply on time spent on a project, rather than being fixed in advance or related to the achievement of specific objectives.

Central Government's Use of Consultants and Interims

Central Government's Use of Consultants and Interims
Author: Great Britain: National Audit Office
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 34
Release: 2010-10-14
Genre:
ISBN: 9780102965490

This report, which focuses on 17 central government departments, finds that in 2009-10, these departments spent over £1 billion on consultants and interim managers (temporary replacements for permanent staff). The departments spent approximately £904 million on consultants in 2006-07. Spending on consultants fell by £126 million in 2007-08, but since then has remained broadly constant, totaling £789 million in 2009-10. Some of the fall in spending up to 2009-10 is likely to be due to increased accuracy in the recording of costs rather than improved control by management, suggesting that some of that reduction in spending is not sustainable. Limited and inconsistent progress has been made against recommendations made in previous NAO and Public Accounts Committee reports. The quality of departments' management information on consultants and interims is poor. Few departments can provide information on their spending by type of consultancy, the number of interims employed, or interims' roles and length of contracts. Departments do not always follow best practice when buying and managing consultancy and interims and most do not assess the performance of consultants or whether the work done was of benefit. In May 2010, the government introduced changes to the approval process for consultants and restrictions on recruitment, including interims, and this has helped to challenge their use. However, this is a short term impact and as a longer term strategy it could lead to the displacement of costs elsewhere. It needs to be built upon to deliver a sustainable approach to structured cost reduction

The Trusted Advisor: 20th Anniversary Edition

The Trusted Advisor: 20th Anniversary Edition
Author: Charles H. Green
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 236
Release: 2001-10-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0743205448

Bestselling author David Maister teams up with Charles H. Green and Robert M. Galford to bring us the essential tool for all consultants, negotiators, and advisors. In today's fast-paced networked economy, professionals must work harder than ever to maintain and improve their business skills and knowledge. But technical mastery of one's discipline is not enough, assert world-renowned professional advisors David H. Maister, Charles H. Green, and Robert M. Galford. The key to professional success, they argue, is the ability to earn the trust and confidence of clients. To demonstrate the paramount importance of trust, the authors use anecdotes, experiences, and examples -- successes and mistakes, their own and others' -- to great effect. The result is an immensely readable book that will be welcomed by the inexperienced advisor and the most seasoned expert alike.