A week ago, yes, naively I was ready to believe everything our consultant is going to tell us next week. Seriously, after the Tutor Group Exercise I now see things in a different way. So we pulled apart the Consultant's report to conclude:
- The report did not address the aims or objectives. They are not answered.
- Was the brief clear? Who briefed the report? Is there an ulterior motive. Who commissioned this and why?
- The conclusion did not help the end user. Interviews were conducted with 4 directors, 2 customers, and 4 production managers - so that's 80% stakeholders and 20% customers? How is that valid research? The sample is too small.
- What benchmark, what industry best practice proof is there?
- The findings are based on opinions not evidence, the conclusions are not evidence based. These are merely assumptions. Who was the stakeholder who initiated this, is this purely a report that supports his intentions?
- The recommendation is not flexible. It goes against their core values. Why charge the extra £50?
- The research is incomplete. There should be an analyis on the clients interpretation not just internal stakeholders.
- Quite often a consultant can replicate a model that worked elsewhere, and simply say that it'll work for you too without doing the research or making adaptations.
- It should be a clear report, not me doing the analysis. Go back and do it again.
Comments
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Looks like you've spotted what a lot of consultancy is about.
Find out what the person(s) holding the purse strings wants the report to say. Write a report that confirms what that person wants to read.
Be prepared to not get another consultancy job if you do otherwise and write a truly independent, objective report.
Jan - cynic
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Thanks for your message Jan. I was suprised to learn that consultants would write reports just to please the stakeholder who requested it. Seems a bit unethical to me.New comment
Unethical, but pragmatic especially if freelance consultant and relying on big business customers.