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Consulting Skills: Bringing Our Authentic Selves Forward

Context: Work smarter. Do more with less. Never stop learning and improving. These are the urgent mandates of the day, as organizations strive to stay on top of rapid shifts in markets and technology. Restructurings, rightsizings, new partnerships and alliances, and ever-advancing technologies create a climate of constant change and challenge.

In serving organizations from the inside or the outside, you are contributing to outcomes over which you may have little or no direct control. To make your best contribution, you need to be able to build honest, meaningful relationships with people who are moving quickly under tremendous pressure to perform. You need more effective ways of communicating your knowledge and experience. You are looking for methods of partnering with your clients that will make the most of their expertise and yours to further the goals of the organization. In short, you need the skills of a consultant.

Your expertise is a critical part of what you contribute, but it can only be fully valued and effectively used when you know how to interact with all the people in the organization who are your clients.

Whatever your position in or relationship to the organization, you have unprecedented opportunities to positively influence the organization's vitality and success. People who understand how to leverage their own knowledge for the benefit of the whole are the change agents of any organization.

Audience. Whether you are a staff member of an organization or an external advisor and expert, you have to prove your value to the bottom line. Whether your expertise is in human resources, information systems, planning, audit, research and development or legal affairs, your role is changing. You need to know how to leverage your knowledge for maximum impact on the organization's business strategy. Sideline support is no longer enough. You are expected to bring the skills of coaching and consulting to your work.

If you are in a staff role in an organization, the Consulting Skills workshop will help you clarify your changing responsibilities and build mutually beneficial relationships within the organization. This learning experience will improve your ability to have your knowledge and expertise valued and used to their full.

If you are an external consultant, the workshop will show you how to attract the kind of work you want and increase your effectiveness in consulting. You will learn to more effectively begin projects and shepherd them through to implementation.

Purpose. The Consulting Skills workshop is designed to help you clarify your changing role, what you want to contribute to the organization, and how to make your best contribution. Improved organizational performance starts with you. The workshop focuses on increasing your ability to make a difference to your clients and the organization.

Testimonials.

"This is a FABULOUS workbook and a phenomenal resource--wow! Everything a consultant might need in his/her knapsack!"

-	Karen Turner, Ed.D., Director, Learning Center, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

-	Bill Viggiano, Vice President, Audit Services and Maria Mendes, Manager, Audit Program, Southern New England Telecommunications (SNET)

-	Bill Stone, Human Training and Consulting Supervisor, COPI, Chevron Corporation

• Eight Keys to Effective Consulting including:
  • Being more effective by bringing your whole self to your work
  • Developing mutually beneficial and satisfying consulting relationships
  • Approaching work with a spirit of inquiry
  • Building clear agreements
  • Being trustworthy
  • Influencing your clients
  • Managing resistance and resolving conflicts
  • Achieving the goals of each phase of the consulting process.

• The Seven-Phase Consulting Process including:
  • The steps of the process, from setting the stage for the work you want to do through implementation and assessment.
  • Building focused contracts and clear agreements
  • Helping clients understand their current situation
  • Supporting client's determining what changes are needed
  • Enabling the organization to make the necessary changes
  • Honorably closing the engagement by assessing impact, the effectiveness of the partnership, and the learning that has occurred.

Method. We conduct a needs assessment of all participants and gather information to develop real-life case studies for the workshop. In this highly interactive and stimulating three-to four-day workshop, you will practice all eight keys to effective consulting, using pertinent case studies and receiving focused, helpful feedback. You will also work through all the steps of the seven phases of the consulting process. We strongly recommend follow-up sessions to leverage, deepen, and integrate learning from the workshop.

What You Will Get

• A 275-page reference manual that includes models, key concepts, tips, worksheets, interview questions, agendas, contracts, checklists, and a summary of key points for each phase.

• Examples of what has and has not worked in a variety of consulting engagements from seasoned and successful consultants.

Is Consulting Skills Right for You?

We start by asking you about the specific needs of your organization, and providing you with an honest assessment of this program's suitability for you. When appropriate, we will work with you to tailor the design of the program to meet your particular needs.

Our Commitment To You

We believe that organizations exist to serve their customers, employees, communities and stockholders. We also believe that organizations play a critical role in creating a sustainable future and providing meaningful work for people. We believe that relationships are the primary vehicle by which work is carried out. Our purpose is to strengthen organizations by helping people learn to use their knowledge and expertise to make their highest contribution.

We expect our clients to hold us to the high standards we set for ourselves. As lifelong students of people and organizations, we continuously work to deepen our understanding of ourselves, our clients, and the organizations they serve. The Consulting Skills workshop, which has been developed and refined over fifteen years, represents the best of what we have learned about making a positive difference in organizations.

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