PRINCIPLES AND PROCESS
At a beginning of a consulting engagement, our objectives relate to one or more of
the various areas in which we can provide effective services, such as:
- assisting your firm’s management to diagnose, analyze and solve strategic
or practical business problems,
- identifying and developing opportunities,
- contributing to the design and implementation of projects,
- enhancing your firm’s reporting and control systems and methods,
- initiating or solidifying learning, or
- helping with the achievement of some specific organizational purposes.
However, our general goal shall always be the improvement of your organization’
s performance, while closely observing your firm’s culture and its technical,
organizational and human context.
Further, we commit to provide services only if we can establish objective measures of
the results of our involvement, so we reflect this principle in the way we construct and
execute the business consulting process, as described below and as embedded in
our policies.
Finally, we are determined to involve the client in the consulting assignment as
intimately and as extensively as possible.
While each consulting engagement is unique, we apply a 7-step road-map to each
case.
Step 1. The “get acquainted” step
Once we have established mutual interest, we would conduct an initial meeting with
the firm - On-site or Online. At the firm’s choice, such meeting could be a formal
conference with the management team, or a discreet one-on-one working breakfast
or lunch with the CEO or the general manager or the owner-manager – as the case
may be, or with the leader of the project for which you are considering outside
assistance. Or a Skype meeting.
Step 2. The “pre-contract” phase
First, we must establish the general area to which the proposed assignment belongs
within the range of countless alternatives: from formulating a fresh, objective point of
view; to developing comments or recommendations on projects and activities
envisaged by the firm’s management; to performance improvement, to sitting on the
board of directors; to taking on a diagnosis assignment, a strategy design job, a
particular business project audit, or the management of an implementation.
Depending on the specificity and the size of the assignment considered, we would
allocate a few days to examine the prospective engagement in order to formulate a
proposal. This preliminary-problem-diagnosis work will be charged at a very
affordable nominal daily rate regardless of the number of resources that will be
assigned by us for this phase. Typically, we would use one or two consultants working
with you for between one to a maximum of five days. There is no charge for the time
spent by us to process the information and to prepare the proposal.
In fact, if you don't like the result of this preliminary work, you can stop the process
right there, at an insignificant cost to your firm.
Step 3. The “consulting contract” step
Following the preliminary problem diagnosis, we would submit an engagement
proposal. Such proposal would include the planning of the various phases of the
engagement, the measures of success, the deliverables, the level of client
involvement, and the commercial terms and conditions. Each milestone of the plan is
identified and the achievement of the objectives set for each such milestone is a pre-
requisite for the continuation of the process and for the settlement of the client's
financial obligations.
Based on the proposal, we would sign a consulting contract.
Step 4. The “diagnosis” stage
Depending on the job, this phase consists of an in-depth analysis of the problems,
data collection, fact finding and evaluation, and diagnosis.
The diagnosis report is discussed with the client.
Step 5. The “solution development” step
In a wide-scope engagement, based on the consensus reached with the client after
the examination of the diagnosis report, this phase will see the development of one or
several alternative solutions.
In a limited-scope assignment, the phase will consists of a report on findings and
recommendations.
In both cases, solutions and an implementation plan are discussed with the client.
Step 6. The “implementation”
If the consulting contract includes implementation, we will assist with, or conduct – as
the case may be – the implementation process.
An important principle of our methodology is that, even when we lead the
implementation, the client must be heavily involved in the process. Such involvement
includes close collaboration for all management tasks, full immersion of the client’s
implementation team in the introduction of the solutions, and comprehensive training
at least at the level of “training the trainers”.
Our implementation plans include very clear deliverables, strict milestones and
meaningful obligations both for us and for the client.
Step 7. The “withdrawal”
This phase includes the evaluation and acceptance report, the final settlement, and –
if applicable - plans for follow-up.