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How To Choose A Business Transformation Consultant

Written by Mark Hullin | Apr 2, 2020 1:40:42 PM

In aggressive sectors, incremental advancements aren't sufficient enough to maintain continued market leadership. Businesses have to completely transform the way in which they do business. As stated by Gartner, Chief Information Officers rated digital transformation amongst their top three business concerns in over 65% industries. So how can a business transformation consultant help

Ask yourself this. What is the most effective way to manage the challenging process of creating, planning, and adopting a substantial business transformation?

Most enterprises seek external help for all or component elements of the transformation process. It stands to reason, considering how important these endeavours are to the business and how complex it can be when "shifting" internal processes and thinking in support of new ways.

The fantastic news is, there are many options for business transformation consulting assistance than ever before. Nonetheless, these choices can make it seem overwhelming when trying to determine which one best suits your organisation's requirements.

Let's explore a the possibilities available today and the reason why we believe independent business transformation consultants provide the greatest combination of agility, business fit and performance.

Outsource or Not?

Plenty of transformation initiatives take place organically, be it because s staff member has discovered an opportunity for improvement or management requesting new strategies for particular problems.

In most cases, businesses look for outside insight to help ascertain the most promising options or to help understand an elaborate business landscape. Getting an outside viewpoint at this stage can be extremely worthwhile, whether or not it's combined together with internal resources or not. A business transformation consultant will be able to provide a much wider view of what's happening across other organisations in your market; they can likewise help you identify the strategic consequences of the change.

Business transformation consultants are undoubtedly one of the best value solutions. However in the current consultancy sector, one doesn't necessarily have to select the largest company. Neither should you assume that the most expensive hire will deliver the best results.

Business Transformation Consultant: Independent Or Big Business

Anytime you engage a consulting company, you've got two different choices. The conventional option for major business transformations will be to hire with a big consulting agency; they'll provide a team of consultants with established frameworks.

However, thanks to the development in the independent consulting industry, it's also possible to employ a more modest team of experienced independents. These business transformation consultants might also introduce comparable methodologies, but they're going to have a wider set of unique and diversified experiences that are their very own. They can operate in a more versatile fashion, usually providing support that is more applicable, specific, viable and most probably at a low cost.

Factors that can impact your decision:

Experience

Whenever you employ the blue chips of the world, you're investing in the company's experience as opposed to the experiences of the individual business consultants that will be working on your venture. These are selected by the agency, not by you personally.

In contrast, independent business transformation consultants bring their unique experience. When you hire them, you are deciding upon particular experiences and contributions that they'll make instantly to your mission. Also, many independents have both consulting and executive director experience.

Cultural Fit

Larger consulting firms operating practices can be frustrating for your team to assimilate on a daily basis and when they exit, they take their insights with them.

Conversely, employing independents allows you to exploit precisely the ideal expertise at precisely the perfect time. Most independents do not demand a minimum spend at stage 1 as an example; they simply wish to help you resolve the challenge before you. You'll be able to combine various skill sets that you need or characterise functions to ensure that the work is complete at  a satisfactory schedule.

Reputation

Big consultation agencies possess recognised brands and reputations. There certainly are scenarios when it is useful to have that pedigree, for example, on high profile initiatives where it's critical to ensure C-Suite confidence.

In other cases, an enlightened, practiced external perspective is all that's necessary for success. Consequently, independent business transformation consultants may provide not only improved value but much healthier results. It is not difficult for independents to merge effortlessly with your firm's culture and very often personnel forget that they are not actually part of the business. On initiatives that demand a great deal of change, that can prove to be a tremendous advantage. The close relationships that independent specialists form with your staff help them personalise their support to targeted specifically on what your enterprise requires.

Investment

Big consulting enterprises have high overheads and they pay their experts a salary whether they're working on an assignment or not . On the other hand, Independents don't earn a salary unless of course they are engaged on a project. The reason being that their overhead expenses don't usually add a lot more than a few percent to their earnings, and their day rate is nearly always lower. Considering how many times big corporate projects run over time and over budget, that should really be something you sincerely give consideration to when making your choice.

Key Takeaway

Independent business transformation consultants don't generally create hundred page presentation decks that sit in your inbox and never get read. They're not only strategise, they actually role their sleeves up and take action. They only win once they have equipped their client comprehensively to learn from their insights and progress without them.

The relationship between organisational agility and market leadership is sharper than ever. Independent consultants help organisations work more nimbly as they have the ability to continuously move and swerve in a rapidly evolving marketplace.