A useful read for organizations newer to 𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬. I don't agree with everything here, however it's a good starting place!
One point to highlight:
𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭-𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬, while of course you can hire someone to simply complete tasks, an experienced consultant's value is also in the critical thinking and perspective they bring. When hiring a consultant, consider if you're simply looking for someone to complete a predefined task, or desire strategic partnership. The answer helps you decide who to hire.
"𝑬𝒙𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒂 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎. 𝑾𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚. 𝑰𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒕𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔." (page 10)
For example, as your strategic partner, I help you think big picture and refine your plan and process. What questions are most essential to answer? How can our process be equitable and inclusive? How will we engage the community? How can we ensure the results are actionable, and shared with the range of stakeholders who contributed? On a task-level, I carry-out the majority of the leg-work, including data collection, analysis, and writing/visualization of results. Depending on the organization and the goals of the project, this 2nd part can be more or less hands-on for staff, partners and community members.
Do you hire consultants for their strategic guidance, technical expertise, or both? If you're a consultant, I'm curious if this resonates with you, what you'd add or change.
Do you need some help with hiring an external evaluator? This guide from S.D. Bechtel Foundation could be just what you are looking for.
https://lnkd.in/gmJMcxi7
Hiring an external evaluator - Resource
betterevaluation.org
Managing Director / Co-founder at BLANK.
1moI’m hooked!