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PAGE CONTENT: Consulting & Relationship Skills | Consulting Skills | Relationship Skills | Influence Skills | Coaching
Internal Consultants
Approximately half of the training and consulting undertaken for clients by CTA is with internal consulting units.
The strategies and processes for consultants are relevant to both internal and external consultants, however their situation is different:
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Internal consultants are 'taken for granted' and generally undervalued while external consultants come with the 'messiah halo'. |
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The consultant remains on-site - or at hand, after delivery. It is necessary to fix things that are not fixed first time. |
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Contracts are more negotiable with internal consultants |
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Internal consultants have some advantages that they often ignore: |
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a) they are committed to the same overall business objectives |
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b) share the benefits of successful interventions (reputation, job security, promotion) |
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c) can be very efficient I: they know the context, the parameters, the culture, the system, the people, the politics and the language |
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d) can be efficient II: they 'hit the ground running' and may well know the precise situation. |
Here are some of the situations where we have assisted internal consultants.
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Funds Management Business Consultants (Internal) |
Challenge |
A team of internal consultants in one of Australia 's largest fund managers wanted to improve the quality of their service delivery: to increase the success rate of their interventions with their clients. |
Actions |
We designed and conducted workshops comprising consulting process and tools relevant to their situation. |
Results |
The program was successful and we have run a similar program in four other organisations by participants in that original program. |
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Internal consultants in University environment |
Challenge |
The University leadership saw attainment of information literacy as the strategic pathway to achieve its goal to be rated as a member of the leading tier of Australian Universities. Information professionals from the Library were to be the agents of this change and to be successful, they needed to move to a consultative service model. |
Actions |
We designed and conducted workshops from the consulting and relationship skills suite. The liaison librarians were trained in the consulting process and in how to conduct their own relationship marketing programs and in how to re-position themselves as 'proactive partners' rather than as 'responsive supportive service providers.
They were given skills and the confidence to approach more Heads of Faculties, academics and researchers and to diminish the time spent at the Reference Desks in libraries. More time with university leaders who could then give the messages to the students freeing the information professionals to assist in more internet based learning and research activities. |
Results |
The program is very successful and has now run in five universities in two states with more in the pipeline. In some of the universities it has been extended to IT, teaching and learning and other internal consultants. |
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Australian subsidiary of multi-national company |
Challenge |
The shared service unit was severely under-utilised by the business units yet there were many opportunities for business systems improvement which the internal consultants could deliver but were unwelcome to do so. Morale was understandably low in the shared services division. |
Actions |
We designed and conducted a workshop for the internal consultants to change their positioning first from their own perspective, and then from their business colleague / clients perspective. This involved a self-description change from 'Shared Services' to 'Internal Consulting'. A marketing program was workshopped for each of the consultants and for the internal consulting unit as a whole.
Success stories were collected and published, marketing events trialled, refined and implemented and 'products' developed. Improved communications with the business units was also an aspect of the program. |
Results |
The workshop action plans were implemented over an extensive period and the position of the internal consulting unit was consolidated and slowly expanded. Some of the more mundane functions were decentralised to the business units and the internal consultants implemented higher value solutions across the whole company. |
Below is a list of programs offered by Consultant Training Australia for internal consultants
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Consulting and Relationship Skills |
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2 day program combining the Consulting Skills and Relationship Skills workshops
Designed for consultants expert in their own professional area who want to enhance their skills in building relationships with clients and in delivering their consultancy services
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Create your own network within your organisation |
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Workshop specific consulting issues that you need to address |
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Learn the process of winning assignments - convert opportunities into engagements |
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Add more value to the client than simply being a subject expert |
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Find your work more fulfilling by moving above the contractor role |
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Position yourself as a potential strategic partner with increased influence |
Outcomes - In Summary
(a) Consult more effectively
(b) Relate to clients - build engagement
(c) Contribute to building the profile of the Internal Consulting Unit
[ More information on this program ]
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Some of the coaching and consulting assignments we have delivered are on the More Information page. Please contact us if you would like to discuss the situation you are contemplating.
[ More information on this program ] |
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