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Calvert Markham

The Art of Consultancy

“This is the practical approach I wish I had come across much earlier in my career.” Cynthia Pexton-Shaw
Whether you are just starting out, considering or already working as a consultant this book is essential reading, enabling you to understand the needs of your client and to get the result they want.
There are more factors to consider in order to be a successful management consultant than simply subject matter knowledge. Problem solving and solution delivery have to be accomplished in usually tight project timescales while keeping clients happy. This book, based on the experience of training thousands of consultants, provides insights into the key processes of selling and delivering consulting services, together with the essential underpinning tools and techniques, and the commercial imperatives for running a successful consulting practice.

This book contains the tools, tactics, secrets and attributes to develop and become a successful management consultant. The contents include chapters on the key processes such as:

The business of consultancy
Marketing and selling consultancy projects
Overview of the delivery process
Entry, Contracting, Diagnosis, Intervention and Closure
And the essential underpinning skills such as:

Analytical tools and techniques
Reporting and Influencing clients
Designing, delivering training sessions and workshops
The practice environment
“This is the practical approach I wish I had come across much earlier in my career. Calvert provides a strong guiding framework for delivering consultancy projects from beginning to end. His writing makes consulting easily accessible for anyone who wishes to deliver their particular expertise into a client organisation." Cynthia Pexton-Shaw, Elevation Learning

“A book that gets to multiple editions is clearly a classic of its sector. Calvert’s is in its seventh and will probably go on to many more. It achieves a threefold feat: of being useful to the expert and to the recently qualified and to the student. Even those of us who have spent decades in this profession need a consultancy bible to refer to. Calvert shows how to be rigorous and systematic, but the book is packed with practical advice from one who is both an academic expert and a senior practising consultant. This is both The Art and The Science of Consultancy.” Ian Watson — Immediate Past Chair ICMCI


“This book explains in plain English the role and daily challenges of life as a management consultant, and has been an excellent source of reference in building our business. Calvert presents a practitioners view covering the requisite soft skills as well as the mechanics of solving the client’s business problems.” Martyn Evans, Consulting Director, Altus

365 printed pages
Original publication
2019
Publication year
2019
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Quotes

  • Мирослав Ковачевићhas quotedlast year
    Opinions are subjective and with all subjective data there is the danger of distortion
  • Мирослав Ковачевићhas quotedlast year
    Opinions are subjective and with all subjective data there is the danger of distortion — that respondents will slant their response to some particular end — perhaps to please the questioner. A question such as, ‘What do you think of the company’s employment policies?’ could be distorted — for example, if respondents believed a critical answer would be held against them.
  • Мирослав Ковачевићhas quotedlast year
    METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION
    There are essentially only three ways you can collect data:

    • From observation;

    • From dialogue with people;

    • By examining documents or other material.

    In consultancy, data is generated using investigative techniques, the most common of which are:

    • the interview — a meeting with a single interviewee;

    • the discussion group — a meeting with several people;

    • the questionnaire — a way of creating documentary information.

    Information on each of these, and the pros and cons of each, is given in Chapter 7.

    There are also structured data collection tools available. The following analytical techniques are outlined in Chapter 7, together with their advantages and disadvantages and some practical hints for using them:

    • Critical incident technique;

    • Delphi technique;

    • Stakeholder analysis;

    • Power mapping;

    • Repertory grid technique.

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