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Internal Consultants and a Consultative Approach

By Dr. Bob Reck, Kendall Consulting Group
May 1996

This essay addressed several specific problems and issues several of our clients were having a few years ago. We hope you find it informative.

There is a quiet revolution in today's businesses, especially in the functions of information systems, human resources, and finance. Functional excellence is no longer good enough! Today results count. You need your functional excellence and a set of skills and techniques that ensure that the desired impacts of your plans and strategies are fully realized.

Four of our clients recently made the following statements:

• "Why aren't our systems being used. Technically they're terrific?"
• "I told them what they had to do! But nothing has happened since!"
• "I'm shocked. Someone told us our group's image and reputation is so low that no one wants to do business with us."
• "I keep waiting for my [internal] customers to tell me what to do. Instead, they just never call."

The first was from an internal information systems organization, the second from a human resources group, the third from a finance division, and the last from another IS organization. The fourth statement we have heard from people in all staff functions. All of these groups shared at least one thing in common: they had all decided to become internal consultants to their company. The trouble, so far, was that it wasn't working. What was missing in each situation was a consultative approach.

A consultative approach involves leadership and anticipation in helping colleagues, clients or customers. The approach requires work -- starting with an orderly and complete analysis of your customer's business, organizational, and personal situation and the projects you are involved in. It requires commitment to your customer's success and a different approach to relationship building and business partnerships. It requires a broader set of skills and competencies than many functionally skilled individuals are willing to develop. The approach mandates a new level of professionalism and dedication to continuously adding value. (See for example, the consulting competency model. Click here.)

In terms of understanding a client's business situation, a number of analysis frameworks exist to help an internal consultant package their knowledge and findings. These frameworks also help spot gaps in knowledge and understanding of a client situation. Michael Porter's value chain analysis and business forces model are two related frameworks that strongly support the needed understanding. The first identifies how an organization provides value-added for its customers while the second categorizes the many forces acting on a business - or individual.

Further understanding can also be gained through structured interviews, studying the internal forces a manager or her/his department faces, or using techniques such as building a stakeholder analysis for the organization. A stakeholder analysis helps identify the issues and concerns around each individual or group associated with a change effort. Personal understanding of a manager's situation requires an open dialogue and their participation. Clarity around the projects a group has underway, including their impact on a business, is also a requirement. Open dialog with participants and stakeholders around project scope documents and operating principles are two ways to ensure the needed understanding. Building this understanding requires strong interpersonal skills, expectations management, a high-altitude view of the business, as well as interview and facilitation skills.

When we interviewed many of the managers and staff in one client, nearly everyone said they were focused on their customers, yet when we asked pointed assessment questions we found large gaps in understanding and performance of the real business situation. Most staff in the internal consulting group (based on the I.S. organization) had never even taken a tour through the company's manufacturing operations. Client satisfaction hinges on clearly understanding your customer's situation, managing their expectations, building long-term partnerships and relationships across the organization, being responsive, encouraging feedback, and maintaining a positive attitude towards them. You can't do this if you don't understand their business.

Good consultants approach their clients with a consultative approach. They always try to stay at least a step ahead of the customer, gently leading them in the right direction to a state of greater success. This requires work and research. A vision of what is right for the client needs to be created and appropriately shared with the client. A consultant helps them buy-in to that vision and shows them why they can't stand still. Further, the consultant understands the precepts of change and change management (another topic discussed in one of our newsletters Innovations; click here). They anticipate the client's needs for a strong case for change and are sure it's there when needed. They see the need for vision and detail and know how to provide it in the client's vocabulary and media. They also understand the need for both flexibility and structure and can provide both.

The consultative approach can be taught and learned. Some of our recent consulting work has helped KCG's clients teach this to their staffs and even launch a new functionally-based, internal consulting capability. For one recent client we put together a three-day interactive course with follow-up for their IS staff. More advanced education and one-on-one coaching were also conducted and continue. In another client we educated over 80 staff members from across the business so that all could participate in cross-consulting activities to one another. We have joined internal consultants in their project work as educator, methodologist and role model. These efforts are a success and strong and viable internal consulting groups now support those businesses.

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Links to other articles may be found at the bottom of this page.

Links to other articles at KCG's website

Innovations Articles

• Measures of Success for Internal Consulting Orgs (NEW!)
• Consultative Selling (New)
• Trends in Consulting (New!!)
• Commentary on Trends in Consulting (new)
• Marketing of Consulting Services (new)
• Skills and Competencies of Successful Consultants
• Consulting Skills Development Experience (new)
• Effective Uses of I.T. Staff as Internal Consultants
• Strategy Implementation (new)
• Organizational Due Diligence (Mergers and Acquisitions)
• Principle Driven Operations
• Change Management
• Education's Role in Change Management
• Communications and Change Management
• Value Disciplines
• Role of IS Strategy in Making Market Leaders
• Strategic Planning and Change Mobilization
• Project Management
• Grow Your Own Consultants

Archive Articles (below)

• Designing Executive Information Systems
• Executive Information Systems: An Overview of Development
• Implications of Transition From an Industrial Era to One of Information
• Critical Success Factors Techniques can Apply to Team Management, Too
• Decision Scenarios Ensure Information System Meets Business Needs
• Critical Success Factors : Helping IS Managers Pinpoint Information Needs
• Combining Quality and Reengineering for Operational Superiority
• Steering IS Committees Straight
• Internal Consultants and a Consultative Approach
• EIS Plays Critical Role in Reengineering
• Rapid Software Selection

Kendall Consulting Group is an international general management consulting firm specializing in strategy execution, change management, and executive education. We invite you to contact us for how we might help you and your company grow and prosper.

You may reference and use the material from any of the articles provided that full written credit is given to the company and authors in your work.

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