CHAPTER 4

PROFESSIONAL ATTRIBUTES OF MANAGEMENT

CONSULTANTS

In an article of Professor J. Owen Cherrington of Brigham Young University, he

enumerated the professional attributes of consultants. According to this renowned academician,
a management consultant must possess the following broad areas of skills:

1. Technical skills

These include both understanding and experience in a technical discipline - such as

information technology, marketing, engineering and organizational behavior.

2. Interpersonal skills

These include personal attributes that make an individual amiable among people and
effective in accomplishing desirable objectives through people.

3. Consulting process skills

These involve the ability to understand and use the following approach in solving
business problems:
a) Identify the cause of problems or inefficiencies
b) Identify alternative solutions
c) Select the most desirable alternative, and
d) Implement the chosen solution

DISCUSSION:

I. Technical Skills

Education Requirements

The education required to obtain the necessary technical skills for management consulting
depends on the area of specialization. Some generalizations can be made, however,
concerning the amount of education required the common core requirement and the experience
possessed by most consultants.

A. TECHNICAL TRAINING

a. Length of Education
 A bachelor's degree is a prerequisite and many, if not most people going into
management consultancy today have one or two graduate degrees. Undergraduate
programs generally teach the "how" rather than the "why". Graduate programs help
develop tolerance for the uncertainty and ambiguity inherent in business problems.

b. Type of Education
Educational programs usually include a technical degree and a general degree. For
instance, a person might obtain a general business degree at a bachelor's level and
specialize in information technology after earning a master's degree in computer science
and information management.

B. COMMON CORE REQUIREMENT

Regardless of a person's area of specialization, the following common core courses should be
included in the educational program.
1. Communications
2. Mathematics and statistics
3. Computer data processing

II. Interpersonal skills or Developed Attributes

In addition to education and experience, several personal attributes are critical for the success
of a management consultant. These are:

1. Intelligence or capacity for logical thinking and reasoning

This refers to the consultant's degree of mental organization and development that
enables him/her to absorb and relate facts in a logical and orderly fashion and to reason
inductively and deductively

2. Integrity

This pertains to the number of attributes, such as moral and ethical soundness; fairness,
equity; ability to distinguish between right and wrong; honesty, dependability; freedom from
corrupting influence or practice; and strictness in the fulfillment of both the letter and the spirit of
agreements made regardless of personal considerations.

3. Objectivity

The consultant must have the ability to grasp and to represent facts, unbiased by
prejudice. He/She is also independent.

4. Understanding of people (human relations, empathy)

The consultant must have the ability to anticipate human reactions to differing situations;
to establish and maintain friendly relations and mutual confidence with people at all levels; and
to recognize and respect the rights of others.

5. Judgment
 This refers to the management consultant's ability and reasoning power to arrive at a
wise decision, a course of action or a conclusion, especially when only meager or confused
facts are available.

6. Courage

This refers to the consultant's strength of mind and character that enables him/her to
encounter disagreement, difficulties, and obstructions with firmness of spirit and determination,
and to consider them as challenges rather than something to be avoided or feared; the ability to
stand by one's convictions regardless of pressure.

7. Ambition

A management consultant must have the desire and motivation to earn and obtain full
recognition for the attainment of professional status.

8. Psychological maturity

This pertains to the consultant's ability to view situations in perspective and to take
action needed on a calm and controlled basis without being diverted from a sound logical and
ethical course by outside pressure.

9. Psychological equilibrium

A consultant needs a high-energy level to (1) support his ber ellectual and emotional
activities (2) enable him/her to withstand pressure and frustration, and ) avoid physical illness.

10. Relationship Building skills

a. An ability to build rapport and trust with the client

Rapport is hard to define - but it is easy to recognize. Two people have a rapport
when they communicate with ease and work together effectively. It is clear that they
have a trust in each other and a commitment to each other. Rapport is not confined
to face-to-face communication. It is a feature of all communication. Rapport can be
built through written and verbal communications as well.

b. An ability to question effectively

Questioning is one of the fundamental communication skills. Questioning is not only

a way to get information (though this is important). It is also a way to build rapport
and to control the direction of a conversion. Effective questioning skills are an
important plank in any manager's leadership strategy. They are especially important
for the consultant.

c. An ability to communicate ideas succinctly and precisely

A consultant brings a special level of expertise to a business. He or she must offer

"something the business cannot offer itself. This may mean that the consultant is
working in an area with a high technical content, for example finance or marketing.
Areas such as these and many others have a language all their own. The consultant
 must be cautious about using this language directly to the client. After all, the client is
not interested in the consultant's knowledge of a technical area but in his or her
ability to use that knowledge in a way which creates value for the business.

A consultant has most impact when he or she talks the same language as the client.
Ideas must be related in a way that is succinct and precise and uses no more technical jargon
than the client is comfortable with. Converting technical ideas into plain language is not always
easy. But it is important and is a skill of its own which can be developed with practice.

d. An ability to negotiate objectives and outcomes

A consulting project must have definite objectives and outcomes. The value the
project is expected to deliver to the client business must be explicit. However, the
consultant and the client do not always agree, in the first instance at least, on what
those outcomes should be. The client may not have a clear idea of what is wanted
for the business. If he or she does have a definite idea it may be beyond the scope
of what the consultant is in a position to offer realistically. It may be that the
consultant is not convinced that what the client is demanding as an outcome is
absolutely right for the business Such disagreements can often occur with student
consulting projects where the client's expectations are very high and there is a need
to reconcile commercial with educational outcomes.

Whatever the source of any disagreement, the project outcomes must be defined
and agreed by consultant and client. This is a process of negotiation that results in
the formal project brief.

The need to negotiate is not an admission that there is necessarily a conflict between
the client and the consultant Rather, it is a recognition that the consultancy exercise
will work best when both client and consultant have clear expectations as to what will
result from the consulting exercise and what the responsibility of both parties will be
in achieving them. The consultant must be aware that disappointment in consultancy
(for both client and consultant team) results more from unclear expectations than
from poor outcomes.

e. An ability to convince through verbal, written and visual mediums

In business, having good ideas is not enough. Ideas must be used to encourage
people to follow them as courses of action.

They must be used to encourage the business's managers to implement plans and its backers
to make supportive investment decisions. Ideas must be communicated in a way that convinces
people they are good and are worth implementing. This conviction comes as much from the
‘how' of communication as from the 'what', that is, from the form of the communication as well
as its content.

Conviction results if ideas are communicated in a manner that is appropriate to the audience; for
example, if the communication uses the right language, is of the right length and adopts a
proper style. This applies to communication in any situation and whether the medium is verbal,
visual or written.
6. An ability to use information to make a case for a particular course of action

Of course, ideas must have some substance if they are to deliver real value. Communication of
ideas must be backed up with information. This includes both facts and interpretation of facts.
The logic of that interpretation must be clear. Different people in the client business will seek
and will be convinced by different corroborating information, at different levels and presented in
different ways. Some information will be included in an initial communication. Other parts may
be kept back as a response to questions and challenges.

Knowing when to use particular information, and how to use it to convince, is an important
communication skill for the consultant, especially as a consultant's ideas are likely to be under
close scrutiny by the client business, certainly more so than those of internal managers.

g. An ability to develop selling strategies

Effective selling calls for a definite, well-developed and quite well-understood set of skills.
Selling of goods and services is a specialist management activity. However, all managers are
involved in selling their ideas all the time. Consultants must certainly sell their ideas. But they
must also sell themselves and their own organizations as providers of ideas. This is a particular
challenge for consultants involved in general management rather than some specialist area. A
business may readily accept that it lacks technical knowledge in product development,
information technology or finance. However, few businesses will readily admit to being deficient
in general management skills.

The consultant can draw on a variety of formal selling skills. These must be used appropriately
though. Consultancy, as a product,' does not usually respond to a 'hard sell' approach. Rather, a
formal selling approach should be used as the tactic in a well-thought-through selling strategy.
This strategy should aim to communicate what the consultant can genuinely offer the client and
be used to build a long-term, mutually rewarding relationship.

h. An ability to work effectively as a member of a team

Many consulting tasks (especially those of major significance) require a team effort. As a
minimum they will demand that the consultant and client work together. Usually they will involve
an extended management team in the client business. Often the consulting task will have
significant resource implications and will be complex to deliver. The scope of its demands will go
beyond the capabilities of one individual, certainly in time and perhaps in technical knowledge.
Delivering the project will require the consultant to work as part of a team.

Good team working is essential for business success and not just in consulting. It is a skill in
itself. It demands many things. It requires, for example, a careful definition of individual roles in
relation to the team as a whole. It also requires well-honed interpersonal, motivation and
conflict-resolution skills. Most of all, perhaps, it demands a willingness to align the interests of
the individuals who make up the team with the overall task the team must address. This
requires an ability to advocate individual interests and yet, when necessary, to compromise
individual concerns for the interests of the group as a whole.

If the team is to develop a productive coherence through which its members can make
individual contributions, it must be actively managed.
i. An ability to listen effectively

As an active part of communication, listening represents a skill that can be improved.

Some points to improve one's ability to listen are as follows:
1. Actively concentrate on what is being said. It is easy for the mind to drift.
2. Keep track of, and mentally summarize, the key themes in what is being said.
3. Keep an ear out for particularly relevant ideas or facts.
4. Identify and mentally record key phrases.
5. Note the speaker's use of metaphor and imagery:
6. Use your own paralanguage and body language to encourage the speaker (this does
help active listening try it).
7. When appropriate, ask questions to explore key points further.
8. Summarize the speaker's points and ask him or her to confirm your understanding.
9. If possible, support active listening with note taking. The project log is a good place to
keep such notes.
10. Avoid concentrating on preparing your own response while the other person is
speaking. Don't feel you must answer right away. It is perfectly acceptable to take a few
seconds to reflect on what has been said and then respond. In fact, this will make it clear that
you are concentrating on what the speaker is saying and will motivate them.

You will find that with a little practice active listening, far from detracting from your ability
to prepare responses, positively enhances it, not least because your responses will be relevant
to the other speaker.

j. An ability to demonstrate leadership

Leadership is an ability to focus and direct the individuals in an organization in a way

that brings the whole organization benefits. Leadership is perhaps the most valuable commodity
a senior manager can offer his or her organization. Leadership draws together a variety of
relationship skills - not least articulation of vision, motivation and communication -- into a
coherent behavioral strategy.

It should not be thought that a consulting team can have only one, permanent lead and
that the remainder of the team must be followers. Such an assumption lies behind many
intragroup conflicts. Leadership is not an inherent and fixed property of an individual. It is
situational; that is, it arises out of the conditions of a particular situation in which people interact
in a particular way. Leadership may shift between members as the project evolves and the
situation changes. The individual who shows leadership for the team may not be the same
person who shows leadership towards the client business or towards people from outside the
team offering support to the project. In professional consulting, as in business generally,
leadership up the formal reporting hierarchy, from subordinate to superior, may be as important
as traditional leadership down it.

A consulting project is one of the best opportunities a student will be given to recognize
the nature and value of leadership, and to develop leadership skills.

The project management, analysis and relationship skill areas do not work in isolation.
They must operate in conjunction and in balance with each other. Relationship building must be
based on a proficient analysis of the business and the people in it. Project management must be
aimed at delivering negotiated outcomes. Good project management skills offer a base on
which can be built a trust that outcomes will be delivered. And so on.
Common Barriers to Effective Communication Between the Client and the Consultant

Consultants need to be aware of specific types of barriers that may Pamper

communication between him/her and the clients. Diagnostic ability is extremely important
because it allows consultants to understand the circumstances surrounding the communication
situation and the pitfalls that may affect it.

The following are the most common barriers and the recommended approach that may
be adopted by the consultant to avoid or correct them

1. Know-It-All-Attitude and/or prejudice of some personnel of the client

It is very likely that the consultant will encounter an individual who is a "know-it-all" and
anything the consultant says will be probably rejected by this person. The consultant should try
to develop a cooperative and supportive climate and should approach the person from his or her
own perspective. Use well- thought-out and logical reasoning that leads up to a particular action.
Disagree, if necessary, but do not denounce overtly the position of the individual to improve any
future working relationship with him or her.

2. Inability to understand technical language

This may arise when the consultant interacts with a nonexpert client and employees who
are unable to understand technical language.

The consultant should exercise care when using words that may be misunderstood by
the receiver and seek immediate feedback when necessary in order to ensure that the meaning
the receiver gives to a technical word is what was intended by the sender.

3. Inadequate background or knowledge

Closely related to the technical language barriers are background or knowledge

difference. When dealing with clients or client employees who have varied backgrounds and
expertise, audience analysis is essential. The consultant should have patience and empathy for
the receiver. Provide additional information for clarification and be prepared to explain things
more thoroughly to individuals who need explanation for better understanding.

4. Resistance to change

Effecting change within individuals including concerned managers is generally a different

task. They have a natural tendency to resent change when it is perceived as a threat to their
work and this tendency can affect communication. The consultant should seek the support of
the client and its employees and encourage their input regarding the proposed change. If
change is recommended, explain it in a positive manner in order to reduce their anxieties. By
being open and by encouraging participation, you will provide a better climate for implementing
change.

5. Information overload

Any individual has a limit when dealing with information and exceeding this limit can
hamper effective communication of information. Try to guide clients by helping them manage
their time, set priorities and delegate work responsibilities to others. If an individual, for the
moment, appears to be overloaded with work, try not to give additional assignment to him/her.
An idea may be rejected no matter how ingenious it is. Exercise good judgment and timing
when confronted with this situation.

11. Project management skills

a. An ability to define objectives and outcomes

An objective state what the project is going to achieve for the client. However, not every
statement is a good objective. A stated objective must be subject to a critical review. Is it well
defined? Will the organization know when it has achieved the objective? Is the objective
achievable, given the external market conditions that face the business? Is it realistic, given the
business's internal resources?

b. An ability to develop formal plans

A plan is a course of action specified in order to achieve a certain objective. Critical aspects of
planning include defining tasks, ordering them and understanding the resource implications of
the task sequence; in particular, identifying who will be responsible for carrying out the tasks
and the financial implications of their activities. A plan must be properly articulated and
communicated if it is to work.

c. An ability to sequence and prioritize tasks

Even a simple plan will demand that different people carry out a number - often a
considerable number - of tasks at different times. Those tasks must be coordinated within the
shape of the overall project. Timetabling will be important. It will be possible to carry out some
tasks only after others have been carried out first. Some tasks may be performed alongside
each other. Some tasks must be given priority over others if resources are to be used
effectively. Prioritization must be undertaken both by individuals and between individuals on the
project team

A project in which task order and priority have been well defined will be delivered in a
shorter time period and at lower cost than one where they have not

c. An ability to manage the financial resources that are to be invested in the consulting
project

All management activity demands that money be spent. Keeping track of that
expenditure is a critical management responsibility Profiles of expected expenditure - budgets -
must be set before the project starts so that the resource requirements may be understood.
These budgets must be managed. Actual expenditure must be monitored against anticipated
expenditure. A project, no matter how good its outcomes, runs the risk of disappointing the
client if it turns out to be more expensive than anticipated.

For these reasons developing an awareness of budget management issues and

recognizing the skills necessary for managing them are valuable parts of the consulting learning
experience.

d. An ability to recognize the human expertise necessary to deliver the project

 A particularly important aspect of recognizing the human expertise necessary to deliver
a project is to understand how the various members of the consulting team can specialize their
roles. Consultants must work as part of a team. This team will be an adjunct to the management
team at the client business.
Productive team working is crucial for consulting success. One area where team working
and project management skills meet is in deciding who will do what. Not every member of the
team can or should attempt to undertake every task. It is unlikely, given people's individual
preferences, that they would wish to A lot of value can be created by differentiation activities
and allowing an individual in the team an opportunity to specialize his or her contribution.

f. An ability to manage personal time

The management of personal time is an important aspect of project management. They

are worth investing in. Not only do they allow time to be used productively, they also mean that
last- minute panics are avoided. This reduces stress. Relaxed management is more effective,
engenders confidence, and makes learning easier and much more enjoyable.

12. Analysis skills

a. An ability to identify what information is available in a particular situation

Decision-makers demand information. A good decision-maker is active in auditing the

information that is available to be used in a decision-making situation. However, at an
immediate level it will demand effective questioning of those with experience of the business
and its situation to get them to share the information they have (and which they may not even
know they have!). This process involves both problem definition and questioning skills.

b. An ability to identify what information is needed in a particular situation

Having identified what information is available in a situation a consultant must decide which
information is pertinent to the decision in hand. The information that is needed to make the
decision an effective one must be distinguished from that which is merely a distraction. The
balance will lie in the nature of the decision, its significance to the consulting project and the
business, and the type of information available.

c. An ability to process thar information to identify the important relationships within it

Information on its own is not much use. It must be processed in order to identify the
important relationships within it. Drawing conclusions demands an understanding of patterns of
relationships and causal linkages that connect businesses, their customers and their
environments.

d. An ability to draw meaning from that information and use it to support decision-making

Once connections have been made and conclusions drawn it is necessary to identify the
impact of those conclusions on the courses of action open to the client business and their
significance to the consulting project.

This process of information has both 'private and public aspects. The private aspect
involves a detached and reflective consideration of what the information means and what, in
consequence, is the best option for the business. The public aspect demands using information
to make the case for a particular course of action, to advocate particular options, to convince
others of the correctness of that course and to meet the objections. These two aspects do, of
course, go hand in hand.
The 'intuitive side of analysis is often supplemented by the use of formal techniques that
can help business decision-making.

e. An ability to recognize the business's profile of strengths, weaknesses and capabilities

All businesses are different. They develop strengths that allow them to deliver certain
sorts of value to particular customers in a special and valuable way. They have weaknesses
that leave them open to attack by competitors. A variety of conceptual frameworks can be used
to guide the exploration of a firm's strengths, capabilities and weaknesses.

f. An ability to recognize the opportunities and challenges the environment offers the business

A business's environment presents a constantly shifting kaleidoscope of possibilities.

Some offer new opportunities to serve customers better and so grow and develop the business.
An ability to evaluate the opportunities and threats its markets offer the business is a
fundamental prerequisite to devising rewarding consulting projects and defining their objectives.

g. An ability to assess the business's financial situation

Financial performance is a fundamental measure of a business's success. An analysis of

a company's financial situation offers a route to understanding its performance in its
marketplace, the risks to which it is exposed and the resources it has available to invest in the
future. Financial analysis is easiest and most rewarding when undertaken with the guidance of
formal ratio methods.

h. An ability to evaluate the business's markets and how they are developing

A market is the total of demand for a particular good or service. The growth of the
business will be sensitive to the development of its markets.

An analysis of trends in the business's markets, combined with a consideration of the

firm's capabilities, can be used to define consulting project outcomes that make a real
contribution to the business's development.

i. An ability to assess the business's internal conditions

The business must have internal conditions that are flexible and responsive to new
possibilities and have the resources needed to innovate in an appropriate way. The business
must have the capacity to grow in response to those possibilities or be able to hold of the
resources it will need to invest in growth. These resources include human skills as well as
productive capacity.

j. An ability to analyze the way in which decision-making occurs within the business

Generally, businesses rarely recognize good ideas instantly and pursue them without
question. Usually a consultant must convince the client business that what he or she is
suggesting is a real opportunity. To do this an effective consultant must understand decision-
making in the business and use this knowledge to his or her advantage. This demands knowing
who is involved in the decision-making process and the roles different individuals play.
Analyzing the decision-making processes in the client business is a first stage in building
relationships with individuals in the business.
III. Consulting Process Skills

Most engagements undertaken by consultants will involve the solution of problems.

Hence, the consultant should have the ability to apply the analytical approach and process in
this problem-solving exercise. This process consists of four areas:

1. Problem definition phase

This phase has the purpose of fully describing the underlying problem. It begins with the
initial recognition of a symptom pointing to the problem and ends with the complete description
of the problem.

2. Identification of Alternative Solutions

This is described as the fact-finding and analysis phase which involves the gathering of
facts needed to solve the problem and analyzing these facts in order to clarify the requirements
of the best solution.

3. Selection of the most desirable alternative

Also known as the solution development phase, this involves the selection of the optimal
solution to the problem and developing a detailed plan of action. This plan of action should
include the rationale for its selection; expressed in terms of benefits and advantages, the
schedule of its installation and the needed resources,

4. Presentation

5. Implementation phase

This phase has the purpose of putting the detailed plan into operation and should be the
least difficult to do if the previous phases have been performed well. It may, however, involve a
high degree of logistic complexity. In some situations, the deviations due to changed
circumstances in the environment may become so great that there may be a necessity to
recycle back to previous phases.