Maximizing the Value of Consulting: A Guide for Internal and External Consultants

ISBN-13: 9781118923405 / Angielski / Twarda / 2015 / 544 str.

Patricia Pulliam Phillips

Opis

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.

Spis treści

About the Authors ix

Acknowledgments xv

Preface xix

Chapter 1 The Role and Importance of Internal and External Consulting 1

Chapter 2 Organizing the Consulting Practice to Deliver Value 37

Chapter 3 Managing the Consulting Practice to Deliver Value 81

Chapter 4 Controlling Costs and Enhancing Value 117

Chapter 5 Utilizing the Consulting Scorecard for the Practice 153

Chapter 6 A Logical Approach to Measure Impact and ROI for Projects 175

Chapter 7 Developing Powerful Objectives at Multiple Levels 217

Chapter 8 Aligning Projects to the Business 233

Chapter 9 Planning the Evaluation 253

Chapter 10 Methods of Data Collection 269

Chapter 11 Data Collection at All Four Levels 315

Chapter 12 Isolating the Effects of Consulting 341

Chapter 13 Converting Data to Money 371

Chapter 14 Tabulating Project Costs and Calculating ROI 409

Chapter 15 Reporting Results to Key Audiences 439

Chapter 16 Call to Action 479

Notes 485

Index 489

O autorze

JACK J. PHILLIPS, PHD, is a world–renowned expert on accountability, measurement, and evaluation. Phillips provides consulting services for Fortune 500 companies and major global organizations.

DR. WILLIAM D. TROTTER, is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of strategic planning, process and organizational transformation, and creating high–impact internal consulting capabilities.

PATRICIA PULLIAM PHILLIPS, PHD, president and CEO of ROI Institute, is an internationally recognized consultant in measurement and evaluation. Her clients span over 60 countries and include global corporations as well as government, non–profit, and nongovernmental organizations.

Blurb

THE GUIDE for BECOMING an ORGANIZED, EFFICIENT, and VALUE–DRIVEN CONSULTANT

"For those providing consulting services within their company or public sector organization and external consultants who want to work effectively with clients, this book provides highly practical insights into how to maximize the value of their work and capitalize on future opportunities."
From the Preface

Processes in organizations are becoming more complex, and as different functional units attempt to improve an organization, consultants are increasingly needed to provide advice, support, integration, and insight into how to make processes work. Sponsored by the ROI Institute and the Association of Internal Management Consultants, Maximizing the Value of Consulting offers both internal and external consultants an invaluable guide for learning how to deliver value from their consulting work and maximize value for their clients.

Maximizing the Value of Consulting shows how to organize a consulting practice (whether internal or external) that will consistently deliver value throughout the process. Step by step, the expert authors reveal how to adopt the most useful tools to enhance a professional practice, what it takes to manage the process properly, how to deliver value time after time, and how to ensure that consulting remains relevant within the organization.

Maximizing the Value of Consulting offers the key to managing for value with better organization and cost control, setting objectives at multiple levels, measuring overall impact, and using final results to drive organizational targets and create lasting value. Using this important resource can help any consultant provide the utmost value to their clients by maximizing organizational efficiency and, ultimately, ROI.