The services of a consulting company are important even for a small company (for example, you are interested in consulting in China). That is why, when searching for the necessary consultant, you need to be serious and responsible. The quality of the services offered is of great importance, as errors can lead to negative consequences. One of these may even be bankruptcy. It becomes the result of improperly built management and making mistakes in such activities:

• accounting;
• financial;
• legal;
• tax;
• managerial.

The art of choosing a consulting company lies in following certain criteria when looking for an organization that provides the required services. Entrepreneurs who do not have much experience rely on the organization that provides the most affordable services. And only last look at the rest of the parameters. However, other criteria are of great importance for the successful resolution of business issues.

Choosing a consulting company: world experience

Developed countries have developed special procedures for the selection of consultants. In more detail, their development was carried out in large-scale organizations:

• International Bank for Reconstruction and Development;
• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, etc.

Managers around the world are using already existing methods for selecting consultants. The search procedure has 3 key stages:

1. Long listing stage. A list of consulting companies of the required profile is compiled: on the basis of directories, information from Associations, publications in publications, announcements, etc.
2. Shortlisting stage. A list of final candidates is being drawn up: 10-12 organizations for global problems, 5-6 - for a medium scale, 2-3 - for small ones. Selection is carried out based on the qualifications of employees, the list of ongoing projects, the availability of recommendations, and location.
3. The final selection, carried out according to two parameters: specific proposals of the firm and price. The main rule is that cost is not a determining factor. This is because the cost savings may be smaller than the difference in service quality.

Let's take a closer look at the selection options.

Criteria for choosing a consulting company:

• Experience. It is necessary to ask about the general experience of the organization, the experience of consulting on the standard and the experience of working with firms of the same direction or specifics as you.
• Staff of consultants. Need to know the quantity full-time employees and freelance. It is preferable to choose a firm that has a large staff of internal employees.
• current projects. Review the company's current projects. Mostly if it is indicated at what stage each of them is. In addition, an open reference list, which is published online or in publications, becomes a plus.
• closed projects. The analysis will require information on how many customers continue to contact the represented company.
• Services provided. A large list of services testifies to the constant work on improving the skills of employees, as well as a responsible approach to methodological work in the company.
• Publications. Assess how often the company's employees are published in relevant publications. As a rule, 2-3 companies are subject to selection, to which a request for consultants is made. The following parameters will help determine the company's employees: his personal qualities, work experience in this field, education, practical skills, development.

The above criteria will help you find a truly professional consulting company that can solve any problem.

Expert - any person not from our city.
Murphy's laws

The problem of choosing a consulting company and a consultant for the creation of quality management systems (QMS) is relevant for many organizations. The editors of the journal continue this topic with a publication that presents the criteria for evaluating a consulting company and the competence of a consultant.

When embarking on the improvement of management systems, among other issues, senior management considers the use of external consultants to assist the project. This article is addressed to companies choosing QMS consultants in accordance with the requirements ISO standard 9001:2000. After appropriate adaptation, the criteria formulated in the article can be used to assess the competence of consultants to create management systems in accordance with the requirements of other documents: ISO / TC 16949, ISO / TC 29001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, SA 8001, etc. The article is based on recommendations ISO 10019:2005 "Guidelines for the selection of quality management system consultants and the use of their services" and the experience of the author's interaction with customers throughout the profile provided by CJSC "TKB Intercertifica" advisory services.

Before considering the process and criteria for assessing the competence of consultants, it is necessary to pay attention to the role of top management. In accordance with the ISO 10019:2005 guidelines, top management should be involved in the process of evaluating and selecting a QMS consultant. Only in this case can all the goals of creating a QMS be taken into account, and the company will be able to satisfy its needs for consulting services and its expectations.

In practice, the consultant selection process is divided into two stages: at the first stage, the company evaluates the consulting structure, at the second - evaluates and selects the consultant(s) from the list proposed to it. In this case, the second stage can be carried out simultaneously with the first, but never precedes it. Since the objects of assessment differ markedly, let's consider the most significant criteria for assessing a consulting company.

Cost, terms of project implementation and volume of services rendered. Of course, the cost of consulting services worries customers not least. When comparing the cost of services of various consulting companies, it is necessary to take into account whether the prices are inclusive of VAT and how the travel and accommodation costs of the consultant are paid. Speaking about the project implementation period, it is necessary to clarify what period the consulting company implies. Sometimes we can talk about the time required by the company only for the development of documentation, without taking into account the time for staff training and implementation of documentation. In this case, the real terms of the project implementation may turn out to be four to five months longer, which may become an extremely unpleasant surprise for the customer already in the course of creating the QMS. When analyzing the volume of services provided, it is advisable to estimate the number of man-days of the consultant's work on this project and the nature of the services provided. If everything is more or less clear with the first indicator (the more man-days a consulting company plans to spend on a project, the more successful, with other equal conditions, it turns out), then it is almost impossible to assess the nature of the consulting services provided in the absence of a quality management specialist in the organization. Without opening a discussion about approaches to creating a QMS, we can only advise not to use the services of consultants who offer the organization a ready-made set of QMS documentation or promise that they will write all the QMS documentation for the organization themselves. Since the consultant cannot know the specifics and processes of the organization as well as its employees, in both cases the value of the QMS documentation and, accordingly, the value of the customer's QMS are reduced to zero.

Experience in a consulting company. It is advisable to find out the general experience of the consulting company, the experience of consulting according to the declared standard and the experience of working with organizations of a similar profile or specificity. You can try to evaluate financial stability consulting company by requesting relevant information for the last few years. However, for obvious reasons, consulting companies will be extremely reluctant to provide such information and with a number of reservations.

Staff of consultants. It makes sense to estimate the number of full-time and attracted external consultants. A firm with a large number of in-house consultants is preferred. Estimate the average age of in-house consultants at this stage meaningless, since then a specific consultant will be selected.

current projects. You should familiarize yourself with the list of current projects of the consulting company, preferably with an indication of the stage of each of them being performed. An open reference list of a consulting company, published on the Internet or in periodicals, is also welcome. It is necessary to find out if the consulting company had clients of a similar profile, and if so, request feedback. However, do not rely too much on positive reviews and thank you letters, since it would be naive to expect that the company will also introduce negative feedback from the clients side.

Completed projects. Information about how many former clients after the creation of the QMS continued to use the services of this consulting company may also be of interest for analysis.

Offered range of services. A wide range of services that a consulting company can offer its clients, both in the process of creating a QMS and in its further development, speaks of constant increase qualification of specialists and serious methodical work in the company. Sometimes consulting companies as additional service offer some support for the certification process, and a number of certification bodies for which this service is valid are immediately specified. The presence of external representatives during a third party audit is not prohibited, but ISO 10019:2005 specifically emphasizes that the consultant, as well as the consulting firm, should “retain independence from quality management system certification / registration bodies or from accreditation bodies and ... maintain impartiality in the organization's selection of certification/registration bodies."

Publications. It is advisable to evaluate the frequency of publications of the company's specialists in periodicals covering quality management issues.

Based on the results of the evaluation, two or three consulting companies are usually selected, from which information about the consultants is requested. To assess the competence of consultants, ISO 10019:2005 proposes a concept similar to the concept of auditor competence established in ISO 19011:2002 “Guidelines for auditing quality management systems and / or management systems environment».

Evaluation of consultants is proposed to be carried out according to the following criteria: personal qualities, education, knowledge and skills, work experience, maintenance and improvement of competence. How can an organization evaluate the competence of a consultant in each of the criteria?

Personal qualities. The ISO 10019 standard lists a number of qualities: ethics, observation, receptivity, versatility, perseverance, consistency, self-confidence, sociability, practicality, responsibility. If possible, it is best to meet with a consultant to assess these qualities for yourself. Along with information about completed projects, you can ask for information about contact persons in client organizations and contact them.

Education. ISO 10019 recommends higher education (with four years of total work experience preferred) or secondary education (with six years of total work experience desirable) as an average base.

Knowledge and skills, which, in accordance with the recommendations of the ISO 10019 standard, the consultant should have and demonstrate.

1. Knowledge and skills specific to quality management.

It must be ensured that the consultant is trained and understands the requirements of the relevant standards. Experience in enterprises as a person involved in the creation of the QMS also indicates the possession of relevant knowledge and skills. Certification of a consultant as an auditor of one or more certification systems is encouraged, as the consultant should have knowledge of national and international systems certification/registration and accreditation. Knowledge and ability to apply the principles, methodologies and methods of quality is also indicative of the consultant's competence. In accordance with the recommendations of the ISO 10019 standard, the competence of a consultant may include knowledge of:

• quality management principles;
• tools and methods for continuous improvement;
• appropriate statistical methods;
• methodologies and methods of auditing;
• principles of quality economics;
• teamwork methods;
• PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) methodologies;
• policy deployment methodologies;
• process mapping methods;
• problem solving methods;
• methods for monitoring customer/employee satisfaction;
• brainstorming methods.

Knowledge in these areas can be obtained through appropriate training. It is desirable that supporting documents be submitted for all of the above items.

2. Knowledge and skills specific to the organization.

A consultant who is familiar with the legal and regulatory requirements relating to the company, its processes and products, as well as customer requirements, is preferred. However, ISO 10019:2005 emphasizes the reasonable amount of such knowledge. It is advisable to request information about the consultant's previous work experience and compare it with the industry specifics of your company. A consultant with experience or a large number of successful projects in a similar or related industry will be more valuable to the organization.

Experience. Consultant experience may include the following (relevant ISO 10019 recommendations are shown in parentheses):

• experience practical work(four years for people with higher education or six years for people with secondary education);
• experience in the field of management;
• experience in quality management (at least two years);
• QMS auditing experience;
• QMS implementation experience (at least three implemented QMS implementation projects with adequate participation).
• The consultant's management experience and experience in QMS auditing can be welcomed. Conducting seminars on topics related to quality management also indicates the competence of the consultant.

Recommendations of the ISO 10019 standard regarding the experience of a consultant are given from the point of view of creating a QMS of some "average" complexity. Factors such as territorial dispersion, complexity of processes, the presence of specific legislative and regulatory requirements, the presence of competent specialists in the field of quality management in the organization, the unwillingness of top management to participate in the creation of the QMS will lead to a tightening of the organization's requirements for the experience of a consultant.

Maintaining and improving competence. Particular attention should be paid to whether the consultant maintains and enhances their competence.

It is advisable to request information about the availability of publications (articles and books) from the consultant, about participation with reports in conferences or about membership in various state or public organizations.

Based on the results of the assessment, a consultant is selected, and the customer and the consulting company proceed to conclude a contract for the provision of consulting services.

Conclusion. A few words about what, in accordance with the recommendations of the ISO 10019 standard, should be reflected in the contract for the provision of consulting services. In order to avoid disputes and mutual claims, the contract should clearly state:

• the scope of the QMS (to the extent possible at this stage);
• list of project milestones indicative dates their implementation;
• the cost of each stage and payment terms;
• mutual obligations of the customer organization and the consultant to perform the work of each of the stages of the project;
• the obligation of the customer to allocate appropriate resources for the project;
• a mechanism for the consultant to report to customers on the work done by stage and the progress of the project as a whole;
• mutual obligations of the parties to ensure the confidentiality of information;
• mechanism for amending the contract.

I would like to express the hope that the criteria for assessing the competence of consultants given in the article will help reduce the company's risks when choosing and using consultants' services to a reasonable minimum.

Ovchinnikov Sergey Mikhailovich

Consulting and its types. In a broad sense, consulting is a set of services related to the provision of advice on specific issues of interest to the client.

Allocate a large number of types of consulting, a far from complete list of which includes legal, managerial, personnel, investment consulting.

In the classical sense, consulting itself is mainly management consulting.

Management consulting is an advisory activity based on contractual relations for the provision of services to organizations with the help of specially trained and qualified persons to identify, analyze and solve problems related to management activities in general and the activities of financial, economic, commercial (sales, marketing, supply, warehouse), personnel, information and other services in particular. Advisory services are provided in the form of recommendations for solving these problems and facilitating, if necessary, the implementation of solutions.

Currently, there are approximately three areas of management consulting:

1) "software" consulting, i.e. business automation through the introduction of computer information systems and individual software products in the field of management and production (mainly SAP R3/R4, Sail, Galaxy and computer-aided design systems);

2) so-called. functional (classic) consulting, which includes financial and tax consulting services (for example, audit, financial assessment operations, system upgrades financial reporting, planning, tax optimization), marketing consulting (for example, analysis and development of marketing programs, sales and supply management systems), personnel and other types of consulting in certain areas of the enterprise;

3) comprehensive management consulting, combining elements of previous levels, provides for a comprehensive analysis and restructuring of the company's management system in order to increase the efficiency of the enterprise based on modern management technologies (budgeting, strategic planning SBS, etc.).

Criteria for evaluating the selection of consulting firms engaged in management consulting. Before deciding to involve independent consultants (consulting firm) to solve the problems that have arisen in the enterprise related to management and control, the manager must decide on the requirements that the consultant must meet. This, first of all, is necessary to reduce the risk associated with poor-quality or dishonest execution of tasks assigned to consultants.

The main criteria for evaluating a potential provider of consulting services are:

1. Adequacy of the activity profile of a consulting firm (consultant) to the tasks assigned to it. Many so-called. consultants and consulting firms are actually engaged in the distribution of certain software products and office equipment or automation of workplaces for employees of the client company, and, in fact, management consulting is carried out as if additionally (if at all). Therefore, it is important to immediately find out the main profile of the consultant.

2. Accreditation of the activities of the consulting firm by reputable institutions or other organizations, the trust in the reputation of which is absolute. Accreditation can be either official, supported by relevant documents, access to which should be open for the client, or unofficial, i.e. verbal confirmation of the head of a reputable institution, the organization of the reputation of an “accredited” consulting firm and the existence of cooperation (joint projects, contracts, regular interaction). In Russian practice, state accreditation is widely used, but accreditation by independent associations, societies, and associations is no less effective.

3. Experience in the market of consulting services in the region, which, as a rule, is confirmed by:

– date of formation of the company;

The effectiveness of the services provided by a consulting firm directly depends on the understanding of the specifics of doing business in a given region, the availability of established business connections and experience. Moreover, as a rule, the experience of the firm as a whole should prevail over the experience of individual consultants.
Recommendations, references or a list of completed projects allow you to establish the profile of the main services and the professionalism of the firm's consultants. As a rule, consulting firms are reluctant to provide a list of their clients, which is due, among other things, to trade secrets. It is all the more difficult to claim to disclose the details of the implementation of these projects.

It should immediately be noted that in Russia the number successful projects can be counted on fingers. This is due to a number of reasons.

4. Availability of methodological base. A self-respecting consulting company with qualified consultants on staff bases its work on a certain professional methodology; in other words, has its corporate standards work, projects. The methodology, as a rule, is issued in the form of manuals for internal use (is trade secret), but in some cases, in a simplified version, it can be provided to an interested client. Most well-known consulting companies provide a potential client with the right to get acquainted with the methodological materials related to the subject of his project.

5. Professional literacy of consultants. Can be assessed by analyzing the use of professional terminology. A professional, as a rule, is not a speaker and uses dry lexical turns in answers, built on the principle: after any statement - an explanation (argument), i.e. it is done this way because... Any statements must be well-founded. The clarity and accuracy of formulations and arguments testifies to the clarity and accuracy of thinking. It should be noted that it is often difficult for an experienced consultant to simplify specialized turnovers. In any case, when communicating with a consultant, you should not hesitate to ask additional clarifying questions. Answering them is their job.
Equally important is the consultant's level of knowledge of modern information technologies. This applies primarily to the skills of working with a PC and knowledge of software products that correspond to the specifics and areas of its work. For example, a professional auditor or specialist in accounting cannot but know programs like 1C.

6. Professional ethics- an integral element of the image of the consultant. It is closely related to the safety of commercial information (not necessarily a trade secret) of the client. Being "candid" about his clients by a consultant should cause some concern. he can just as easily divulge information about your firm.
In addition, consultants, often working with the staff of the client firm, as a rule, must know the basics of psychology. Them code of ethics should provide for a loyal and respectful attitude towards all customers without exception. A sign of the consultant's professionalism, the adequacy of his qualities, the requirements of the project work carried out jointly with the client's employees, is the ability to combine the independence of the position and the desire to take into account the wishes of the client already at the negotiation stage.
Closely related to the ethics of the consultant and his attitude towards the client are indicators such as neatness, accuracy, punctuality.

7. Technical equipment of consultants. A professional consultant is not necessarily a “person with a laptop”. But one should be distrustful of a consulting company that has "one computer, and that one is with the secretary." Not to mention those firms that prepare reports on writing paper.

8. Reality of the declared terms of the project. A sign of a professional consultant is the distribution of the designed work into the main stages, for each of which their own deadlines are set. Deadlines that are too long and too short should be a legitimate concern. You should not trust consultants who often assure that they will solve any problem, say, in a month. But stretching the project for a year is also undesirable. Of course, it all depends on the scale and complexity of the problem. To solve specific problems, there are certain rules.

It should be noted that an experienced consultant immediately stipulates the possibility and conditions for going beyond the established time frame. This is due to the fact that it is impossible to determine in advance possible force majeure circumstances and a complete list of upcoming events.
9. Adequacy of the cost of services for the work performed. As a rule, the consumer of consulting services has no idea about the principles of establishing a fee; while there are quite a few ways to determine the price of services. There are 2 main methods in particular:

– hourly rate;

– fixed fee.

It makes sense to agree to an hourly (or daily) fee for short-term projects - a few weeks or a maximum of 2 months. For example, the prices for the services of professionals in Moscow are at least 200 rubles. in an hour. The world standard is at least $60. It should be noted that the prices of companies at the regional level, respectively, are lower.
An additional complication is that it is difficult to evaluate in advance the acquired knowledge, techniques and technologies, because they are intangible, unlike purchased, say, office equipment.
Regardless, there are a few general guidelines:

– do not rely on qualified consultants whose fees are attractive due to their modest size and great price compliance (professionals value their work);

– also get rid of the stereotype that a high fee means high quality work (professionalism of consultants of well-known Moscow companies is often not much higher than that of well-known regional firms);

– choose to compare the prices of several consulting firms;

– it must be remembered that your expectation of discounts is fully justified (as a rule, you can achieve a significant price reduction);

– seek a detailed (step-by-step) cost estimate for proposed interventions;

– if possible, seek expert opinion from experts in the field.

Criteria for choosing the services of management consulting firms.

Before turning to consulting services, it is necessary to obtain information about what is meant by consulting services and what they are, because. in many respects the profile, specialization of a consulting firm depends on the chosen type of consulting.

If a problem has been identified that needs to be solved, and the consulting company is the provider of the necessary consulting services, it is necessary to determine the feasibility and potential effectiveness of the implementation of the activities proposed by the consultants. To do this, follow the following rules:

1. It is necessary to familiarize yourself in detail with the content of the service provided in the interpretation of the representative of the consulting firm. You should not accept the service if it was not possible to understand what its essence is.

2. It is necessary to assess the adequacy of the scale and content of the activities that make up the service, the scale and content of the problem.

3. When automating internal corporate processes, it must be taken into account that technical measures (installation of equipment and software products) must be preceded by measures for the qualitative and quantitative change (reengineering) of pre-existing processes, as well as personnel measures.

4. If it is obvious that the solution to the problem is complex, one should not skimp on the elements, refusing to separate services that make up a single complex.

The main causes of failures in the implementation of projects by consulting firms and ways to prevent them.

Most promising projects fail due to the following reasons:

1. Conflicts and inconsistencies arising from poor elaboration of contracts between consulting firms and clients, when at the project implementation stage, all the controversial points of agreements, different understanding (interpretation) of their points are manifested. This should also include the lack of compromise on the issues of compensation for the expenses of consultants that arose through the fault of the client and were not taken into account in the contract.

2. Excessive requirements for the results of the work of consultants on the part of the management of the client company, which leads to client disappointment and, as a result, termination of the project. Expect (especially from complex projects) instant returns should not be. The onset of changes, as well as their potential scale, must be predicted, for which special calculations are sometimes made. It is often undesirable to force events: it should be remembered that the more intensive the planned transformations, the more difficult it is to predict and prevent possible shortcomings in their implementation.

3. Unprofessionalism of consultants. A professional will never take up a job if he understands that it is outside his area of ​​​​specialization or realizes that due to some circumstances he will not be able to cope with it. For such specialists, the main thing is reputation. Therefore, it is important to carefully consider the selection of a consulting company.

4. A set of activities (services) does not correspond to the nature and scale of the problems facing the client. Often, the solution to the problem is complex, and, trying to save on individual services in the complex, i.e. by refusing them, the client does not get the expected effect from the project. Sooner or later, the rejected events will still have to be carried out, and, as a rule, the amount of savings on these services in the past far exceeds the cost of carrying them out separately from the entire complex in the future.

5. Inconsistency and uncertainty of the management of the client company.
On the one hand, there is an awareness of the need for changes and the inability to carry them out independently, on the other hand, the desire to preserve the existing corporate culture, the fear of fundamental changes. In many ways, this is due to the almost complete dependence of the leader on his subordinates, and the attempt to "change everything without changing anything."

6. Sabotage of the project by the personnel of the client company, associated with the understanding that:

– changing (improving) some processes and activities of the company will require new knowledge, principles and dynamics of work from them, and, as a rule, most of the personnel are aware that they are not able to work in a new way (and “there are no irreplaceable workers” );

– improving the efficiency of internal procedures and reducing the time and effort required to implement them is likely to lead to a reduction in the number of employed workers and increased accountability for their implementation;

– the work of consultants will eliminate informal levers of influence on intra-company processes, destroy the system for realizing the personal interests of individual managers.
Criticism of managers and specialists towards the project and project team, as a rule, is unconstructive, often verbal and overly emotional.

7. Inefficient work of specialists (managers) responsible for the implementation of the project on the part of the client.

The main reason is an error in the selection of a manager and specialists for the working (project) team, and the consequence of this is the non-fulfillment or inefficient implementation of the decisions made. In addition, the boundaries of their powers and responsibilities are often not clearly defined.
8. Failure of the project deadlines. The reasons for this are almost all of the above, except for the second (item 2), circumstances.

Preventive measures that reduce the risk of project failure and, accordingly, the loss of financial and time resources are:

1. Before making a decision on the implementation of the project, the head of the client company must:

– accurately determine the expected scale and depth of changes;

– tune in to the fact that the project will not give an instant effect;

– be mentally prepared to consistently and decisively implement changes, despite increasing resistance from employees. Otherwise, the project may not start.

2. Detailed study of contracts with consulting firm. Particular attention should be paid to the following points:

a complete and, preferably, a detailed list of activities, divided into appropriate stages;

the maximum terms for the implementation of the project (preferably drawing up a calendar plan - Gantt charts), conditions and procedures for their correction;

ways of assessing the work of consultants (or the price of the contract), as well as the conditions and extent of the excess of the project cost;

the procedure for interaction with consultants, including: the procedure and conditions for the provision of reports, their discussion;

the procedure for the formation of a project team (group), its competence;

method of evaluating the results, the ultimate goal of the project, preferably subject to qualitative or quantitative measurement;

quantitative or qualitative results of the project (the effect that will be obtained from it).

3. Trust in the opinion of consultants, if the decision to cooperate with a consulting firm has already been made and the project has been launched.

4. Careful selection of an employee, a group of employees who will be responsible for the implementation of the project together with a consulting firm and be part of the project team (group). Their main qualities are: a positive perception of the new, independence of opinion, the ability to constructively discuss problematic issues, lack of personal interests incompatible with the objectives of the project. The final decision must be agreed with the consultants.
5. Considering only constructive proposals from employees who criticize the project, refusing to accept illiterately substantiated arguments and accepting only written counter proposals and personal ratings project implementation.

Exemplary elements of projects and norms of time in the implementation of management consulting services.

The implementation of any, even a small project, at least conditionally, should be divided into stages. Each stage has its own goal, budget, methods of performance evaluation and reporting. The table below shows the standard elements of a project.

Main elements design work consulting firms

At stage 1, the terms of the project are agreed upon, an approximate schedule is signed, which is an integral part of the contract with a consulting firm, and, if necessary, the composition and competence of the project group (team) consisting, in addition to consultants, of employees of the enterprise is formed.

Even a small project should include a detailed diagnosis of (2) the company's current problems, as It is at this stage of the work that an idea of ​​how to resolve them is formed. In addition, it is always useful for the client to have a written expert opinion on the state of affairs in the company.

As a rule, a conscientious consultant in the study of the situation goes beyond the outlined problem area of ​​the project. So, if the consultant is staging effective system sales, he is likely to be interested in the issue of pricing, and this is a planning and financial management system. It should be sympathetic to his interest, tk. this will affect the result of his work.

It must always be remembered that before the start of the implementation of measures, there must be a project agreed upon by the client and the consulting firm (3), and having accepted it, it is necessary to strictly follow its points. Frequent adjustments reduce the effectiveness of the project to zero.

The main stage is divided into separate activities according to the objectives of the project (4). At the end of the event, it is obligatory to discuss the results of its implementation, the so-called. intermediate monitoring.

Upon completion of the work of consultants, its preliminary results are summed up (5), if necessary, the client decides on the need for additional work on this project or the involvement of consultants for other projects in this area and (or) in other areas.

Most professional consultants consider it necessary, even after the completion of the project (6), to provide support or otherwise interact with the client (accompany) in order to:

– providing assistance at first with methodological and other materials and consultations, in training employees, etc.;

– prevention of possible problematic situations caused by both incorrect use of the project results by the client and omissions in the work of consultants;

– assessment of the long-term effect of the work done.

Time limits for project implementation depending on their complexity

*Complex projects are long-term large-scale projects, for example, those related to the creation of a new and complete restructuring of an existing company (business), as well as work on the modernization of one or more processes, activities (finance, tax accounting, marketing, etc.) in a group of enterprises or a holding.

A project of medium complexity is a project of the type of setting up any of the elements of an enterprise management system (management of finances, marketing, supply, planning, etc.), i.e. improvement of the methods of work of the relevant areas (departments). Examples are: the introduction of budgeting, setting up analytical marketing.

Simple projects include the transfer and training of specific work technologies, for example, methods and methods for optimizing income taxation or organizing an effective dealer network.

Despite the difficulties associated with taking into account the specifics of projects, the specifics of enterprises and the state of affairs in them, consulting, like any other activity, can and should be standardized.

Undoubtedly, there are and will always be exceptions to the set time and content parameters, but it should be remembered that the basic standards are an indicator of a civilized business.

Choosing a consulting firm (consultant)

Professional consulting services have been provided in Russia for about 20-25 years. Despite such a long period of time, a clear understanding of why to invite consultants and whether they should be invited at all, among potential consumers advisory services have not been established yet. The reason for this is largely an inadequate understanding of what consultants can and cannot do, when it makes sense to invite them and what the necessary conditions successful cooperation with consultants.

Reasons for contacting a consultant

The main task of consultants is to assist clients in solving their management problems. They can solve this problem in several ways:

*Find a problem and propose solutions.

In a situation where the client is aware that he has a problem, but cannot determine what exactly it is, what are its true causes, consultants can analyze the situation and identify the problem and its causes, as well as develop and offer the client ways to solve it ( expert advice when the consultants themselves do all the work to detect and solve the problem).

* Help the client find the problem himself and determine ways to solve it.

There are situations when the client is ready to define the problem and solve it, but he lacks some methodological support for the successful implementation of his intentions. Then the consultants can provide the client with this methodological support and go with him all the way from discovering the problem to solving it ( process consulting, i.e. consulting in progress management activities client).

* Teach the client how to find and solve problems.

The creation of a system of practical knowledge in the client, a mechanism that allows him from now and henceforth to find and solve his problems, is the essence of educational consulting. With this approach, the consultant does not participate directly in the process of finding and solving problems, but only trains the client and checks the correctness of the "homework".

In practice, all three approaches often intersect and complement each other (especially training, as a rule, is not carried out separately). Emphasis shifts depending on what the client most needs: to find a solution to the problem for him, or to help him solve the problem, or to be taught how to solve it.

The following are the most common reasons for hiring consultants.

• 1. The learning process (knowledge through a consultant). Cooperation is seen not only as a means to find an answer to a specific question, but also as an opportunity to learn certain methods of analyzing and solving this issue. A client who invites a consultant for his own training understands that the result of interaction with a consultant can be manifested in an improved and deeper understanding of the real problems of the firm.
• 2. Stereoscopic view of the problem. The consultant must have such an important quality as a broad vision of the situation. A true professional is able to evaluate the results of the contradictory impact of various factors on the company's business. Having a sufficient outlook, certain knowledge and owning the appropriate technology, the consultant is able to identify the main factors in any situation and give competent recommendations on further actions that are much more adequate to the prevailing realities than the proposals of the firm's staff.
• 3. Curiosity. Often, when inviting consultants, some managers, even for themselves, do not very clearly define the motives for this act, and in many cases they are driven by ordinary human curiosity. In Russia, foreign companies are especially often invited this way. Then, domestic managers, having spent considerable funds on a retelling of Western textbooks adapted for them, are disappointed for a long time in management consulting as a phenomenon.
• 4. A tool in external and intra-corporate intrigues. A firm needs a solid research to defend its interests in the outside world. Other options for using consultants for intrigue are related to situations where one manager or a group of managers needs an additional channel of influence on the situation within the company, and one would like to justify the changes taking place with references to the recommendations of independent consultants. The way the world works is that there is no prophet in his own country, so independent experts are often needed. "Expert - any person not from our company."
• 5. Obtaining confirmation of the correctness of the actions of top managers based on a report compiled by an authoritative organization.
• 6. Transferring responsibility. This motive appears when inviting financial and tax consultants. In this case, consultants are needed so that top managers have someone to lay responsibility for any (even arbitrary) actions of the tax authorities that make claims against the company.
• 7. Intensive help on a specific issue. Sometimes a firm has specific legal, accounting, or management problems. In such cases, relatively narrow specialists are often invited for a relatively short time.
• 8. A fresh look at the company. Even the most professional and competent people can be strongly influenced by existing traditions and values, which greatly interferes with the decisions needed in the new stages of the company's development. Of course, a fresh look at the activities of the company is useful when its consequences are not only abstractly correct recommendations, but also realistic step-by-step procedures for their implementation.

Not all of these reasons lead to effective counseling. Therefore, the question of when it is worth inviting a consultant and when it is not necessary to do this is important, what exactly the consultant should not undertake.

The consultant should be invited in the following situations:

When the problem is complex, systemic. If the scale of the problem is such that in order to solve it, it is necessary to carry out radical complex transformations in the management system, the principles of building a business, it is best to invite third-party experts who will bring fresh ideas and provide the necessary labor resources. Solving complex problems usually requires significant labor costs and specialized knowledge.

When the problem is one-time, situational. If the client has a problem that is caused by a combination of specific circumstances and is not repetitive, routine, and also requires a prompt solution, it is more efficient not to create internal organizational capacity to solve it, but to invite consultants once. At the same time, it is not effective to invite consultants to solve routine, everyday tasks, i.e. for the implementation of current management activities.

When there are differences of opinion on a problem and ways to address it within the client's management or between management and owners. In this situation, consultants are the best independent arbiter, able to objectively assess the problem and offer objectively justified ways to solve it.

When solving a problem can lead to serious consequences, including strategic, financial or social. This situation is similar to the previous one, with the only difference that in this case the cost of solving the problem and the associated responsibility is quite high. Therefore, the management of the client may require independent expert justification for identifying and resolving the problem. Sometimes this is a way for the client to share responsibility with the consultant, not in terms of making a decision, but in terms of developing it.

There may be other situations when it is better to invite a consultant. The common criteria for all of them are:

• - Having a problem.
• - Lack of temporary or human resources to solve the problem.
• - Lack of specialized knowledge to solve the problem.
• - The high price of the issue.

It should also be noted what the consultant cannot or should not do for the client and why he should not be invited:

• * Making decisions. The consultant, as a rule, cannot make decisions for the client. The client himself is responsible for his business, responsible to the owners, contractors, personnel and himself, and he is to make the final decisions. The consultant only offers options for solutions, gives recommendations on the optimal solution, but does not make decisions themselves.
• * Game with the law. The consultant cannot and in no case should give the client recommendations that are contrary to applicable law. Any recommendation the implementation of which brings the client into conflict with the law is a threat to the client's business and in itself creates a serious problem. Thus, the consultant cannot and should not, by solving some problems of the client, create other, sometimes more serious problems for him - problems with the law.
• * Participation in conflicts. The consultant cannot and should not participate in the client's internal conflicts. It is extremely unethical when some persons in the client's management invite consultants in order to "fall down" others. The consultant should always be above personal or group conflicts, act as an independent arbiter, look for solutions that are beneficial for the business as a whole, and not for individuals or groups of individuals.
• * formal results. The purpose of consulting assistance is to solve the client's problems, not to write a consultation report. The task of the consultant's activity should not be the creation of reports that are beautiful in form and empty in content, "candy wrappers" that are used to create the appearance of useful management activities. Therefore, you should not invite a consultant to write such a report, which will then be stored in a drawer and taken out from time to time for demonstration - this is too expensive and unjustified way to impress.

If a firm decides to engage a consultant, how can and should it proceed?

Search and selection of a consulting firm (consultant)

Methods for selecting consultants in Russia have not yet been worked out and formalized as in developed countries. Usually, a method is used that could be called the method of intuitive random search. The Russian manager selects consultants in two ways:

• 1. He intuitively feels the need for help in solving his problems and turns to any consultants. This method is the least effective, since in this case the client does not have a very good idea of ​​what kind of help he can receive from a consultant. Usually he simply offers the consultant to do for the manager the work that he could not do himself - find an investor, sell overstocked products, etc.
• 2. The manager gets acquainted with consultants at some event (training courses, conferences, etc.), learns about their activities from the funds mass media or from his colleagues in the industry or region and, becoming interested in their work, tries to check its benefits for himself. This method is more fruitful, since the client knows at least approximately what to expect from this consultant, but still the randomness of the choice reduces its effectiveness. Therefore, with the development of market relations and the growth of qualifications Russian managers are gradually moving to the globally accepted detailed procedure for the search and selection of consultants on the basis of a tender.

In any case, the decision to invite or not to invite consultants remains with the client. But this decision also depends on the consultant. Since consulting is not only an intellectual activity, but also a business, the consultant must, first of all, act in such a way that potential client chose him as a service provider. A special term is used to designate actions to attract clients at the stage of selecting consultants. "intake"(from English intake - absorption, recruitment, seduction). In many consulting firms in developed countries, there is a special position - the account manager (or key client issues manager), who is responsible for leading this process. For the success of his activities, the client relations manager must act from the standpoint of the interests of not consultants, but clients. This allows him to build client-oriented consulting, which is, according to modern concepts, most effective tool promotion of consulting services on the market.

In developed countries, special procedures have been established for the selection of consultants by clients. They are worked out in particular detail in large international organizations such as the European Union (EU), International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), etc. Recommendations on the selection procedure are also developed by the consultants' associations themselves.

Typically, consultant selection procedures include the following 3 stages:

• 1. Preliminary selection (long listing - long listing).
• 2. Drawing up the final list of candidates (short-listing).
• 3. Final choice.
• 1. Preliminary selection (long listing - long listing).

Consider some of the features associated with the involvement of a consultant. If problems arise, the head of the enterprise is interested in solving them in the most effective way (for which, in fact, a decision is made to consult). The next level of leaders, who are in charge of problem areas, are more interested in solving problems on their own. In a consultant, they may see not an assistant, but a competitor (before their qualifications were not in doubt, but now they will have something to compare with). As a result, the decision to engage a consultant is often met with resistance within the enterprise. And for the same reason, it is inappropriate to delegate the choice of a consultant to the heads of “problem areas”.

At the stage of long-listing selection, the client compiles a list of all consulting firms with a profile corresponding to the problem for which he wants to involve consultants (if the client himself has not determined his deep, key issues, then such a list should primarily include consultants for general management- generalists). To compile a long list, information contained in various sources is used.

Sources of information can be:

• · associations, unions, associations, guilds of consultants, auditors, recruiting firms, etc.;
• data banks of the public state fund " Russian center privatization" (RTsP), the Government of Moscow;
• Recommendations of partners, colleagues, acquaintances;
• reference books ("Golden Pages", RAU-press, etc.). Leading Russian consulting firms and consultants are included in the European directory of management consultants published in London;
• · conferences, seminars, exhibitions;
• · advertisements;
• Books, articles written by consultants and interviews with them.

But still, the choice of a consultant is fraught with difficulties: if agencies are still engaged in promoting their services through the publication of advertising (usually on an occasional basis), then independent consultants almost never do this. Advertising to promote counseling is ineffective. Directories do not always contain information about all consultants, the association's database being created is not complete. Consultants are usually found out through acquaintances, from articles in economic journals prepared with their participation. Letters of offer are also used, usually faxed by consultants to business leaders. All kinds of publications are preferable for selection, as in them the consultant substantiates his opinion on any problem.

You can save time in negotiations by avoiding those whose approach is initially unacceptable to the client.

In practice, the client usually chooses from 5-6 consultants, and he does not always have the opportunity to negotiate with all of them. However, with two or three, this must be done in order to have at least some alternative. The time spent choosing a consultant always pays off.

For convenience, let's assume that the client has complete list consultants and has the opportunity to negotiate with each. The choice of a consultant should be taken seriously. Having determined the most appropriate approach to consulting (and thus limiting the list), it is advisable in the next step to choose the type of consultant to whom the task will be assigned. Here it is necessary to determine which consulting company will provide services to the client - it will be an independent consultant, a domestic consulting agency or a foreign company operating in Russia.

Below are the advantages and disadvantages of each type of consultant, which are essential when choosing a consultant for a client company.

Comparative characteristics of types of external clients

When the type of consultant is determined, a specific specialist is selected who will carry out the task. This is also true for agencies, which, like any organization, have high and low-skilled staff. However, qualification is not the only selection criterion. Since the result of counseling is created by the cooperation of the client and the consultant, it is necessary to assess the possibility of such cooperation. The consultant must be sympathetic to the client, inspire confidence and be able to explain himself in a language understandable to the client (with minimal involvement of special terminology).

A reliable method of determining qualifications through references from former clients is of little use in selecting a consultant.

The reasons for this are as follows:

• - heterogeneity of tasks solved by a consultant for different enterprises (achieving the same goals, for example, increasing sales, at different enterprises can be carried out in almost the opposite way);
• - confidentiality (often the consultant does not have the right to name the enterprise for which the project was carried out, and almost always - the essence of the project. As well as former clients are ready to comment on what kind of work and how it was done).

If we are talking about an agency, then getting recommendations does not always make it possible to determine which specific specialists participated in the project. It makes no sense to determine the qualifications of a consultant on formal grounds. A certificate of "international standard" from a reputable foreign consulting company can now be obtained by anyone who has paid a certain amount and listened to a nine-day course. Membership in FEACO, a European association of consultants, possible through membership in a domestic association, costs about the same, although it is associated with additional formalities.

Thus, when choosing a consultant, the manager has to rely mainly on common sense. There are areas of activity of the enterprise in which the manager is an expert. His experience includes the successful solution of many problems, the practical testing of various methods. In preliminary negotiations, the manager may ask the consultant's point of view on these problems and methods. The versions proposed by the consultant serve to indirectly assess his qualifications.

2. Drawing up the final list of candidates (short-listing).

At the stage of short listing, a final list is formed from the preliminary list, consisting of 10-12 consulting firms for large projects, 5-6 for medium-sized ones and 2-3 for small ones. The selection is carried out, first of all, according to objective quality parameters. At this "qualifying" stage, the client should receive answers to next questions about consulting firms previously included in the long list: "What professional level of their staff?", "What consulting projects have they already carried out?", "Who were their clients?", "How good are their references?", etc. Information to answer these questions can be obtained from booklets and ads from consulting firms themselves, from consulting associations, and from press articles and reviews from business colleagues.

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