5 techniques for a positive working experience with your outsourced consultant team

Recent perspective shifts supported by robust technology tools has given the borderless workplace a boost. We explore 5 techniques to build and maintain a positive working experience with an outsourced strategic communications team.

Given recent developments, organisations have been accelerated – through the search for operational efficiencies and the use of technology – to understand that talent can be found outside of their immediate geography, and bring about advantages for teams through asynchronous working arrangements.

Many organisations are also considering matrix structures with strong and lean core teams, supported by expert and specialist consultant teams. Some might have an onsite or co-located team, while others will be employee-led, and offer a hybrid model of onsite and remote.

This can be a winning combination for the organisation especially when consultants are brought in to help with skills or competency gaps; or when creating differentiation through new products or services that have a different direction or positioning atypical to the current culture or business model.

Consultants can serve as a neutral third-party and provide counsel to the management team by evaluating needs and outcomes. Sometimes, organisations look to work with consulting teams to adapt previously successful outcomes from elsewhere.

Organisations can take advantage of asynchronous working arrangements and assemble a structure that work on the same programme or project together. This is done throughout the day, and possibly through different time zones. This can help speed up communication and execution. With this structure, it is important to keep communication between team members clear.

Here are some techniques to consider for a positive working experience with an outsourced strategic communications consultant team.

Figure out if you require a consultant or a contractor

The scope of work for a consultant and contractor are frequently confused. Organisations looking for strategic counsel look to an execution-contractor team and end up upset with the outcomes. Do not assume that consultants and contractors can code-switch especially if the scope requires ramp-up or hand-overs. Getting the service provider to handle the wrong scope results in more time and resources spent, to the detriment of the organisation.

Provide a clear and concise brief and expected outcome for the programme or project

Save on the pain. Work on objectives and provide clear outcomes. Provide examples of what a successful outcome will be. Share details about measurements and metrics, even if all the organisation has are proxies. If there are none, admit it to the consultant, ask for help in putting them together. A consultant is an ally, not just a vendor.

Engage a consultant by capability and protect your organisation through clear expectation-setting

When selling, most organisations look to their customers to judge them on the results delivered. These results will include a component about a positive track record. However, it is often not the only component. Other components include effectiveness to the current problem, cost and value creation that arguably rank higher in the consideration process.

Utilising this same mindset, ask yourself what you are expecting the consultant to deliver. Weigh the pros and cons between hiring a one-stop shop and an end-to-end scope, as well as between a generalist and a specialist.

Take time to explain what you are paying for, in terms of scope, outcomes and time. Tell the consultant what you do not want. Explain how you intend to handle the payment schedule, whether by milestones, deliverables or time spent. Record these discussions and establish a culture of transparency from the get-go.

Establish a workflow and get out of the way

Pick a comfortable combination of digital tools for task management, calls, direct messaging and sharing materials. There will be no perfect tool regardless of cost unless the entire team uses them on a regular basis.

Ensure that there is a proper onboarding and introduction to the organisation at the beginning of the relationship. Follow-up with refreshers. If you are working with a remote team, do not treat the consultants differently from your in-house team just because they are external. Build a strong relationship with your consultants and get them invested in your business and outcomes.

Set checkpoints and work towards goals and milestones. One way to make a matrix structure work is to delegate ownership evenly between in-house and external teams.

Decide on the frequency and formats of work-in-progress reports. Determine whether these are delivered to be read, or to be presented.

Be realistic about compensation

Most managers intuitively understand the relationship between speed of work, price and quality of work. Pay a team member below the market rate and expect lower quality work. However, many managers have an outdated belief that squeezing an external partner on price is the responsible thing to do for the organisation; often ignoring whether the consultant can help with growth outcomes.

Reducing price does not mean you have saved on costs, because these costs are simply pushed to other areas. For example, a consultant charging less might mean no support on 3rd party services. When negotiating direct with a 3rd party supplier, they will charge the entry price and not the package or bundle price normally reserved for your consultant.

With consultants, the objective is to find a consultant that views the budget shared as a win for them. Some amount of negotiation is expected but not to the detriment of both organisation and consultant, especially when price determines commitment or access to other services.

Being realistic, it is important to pay to achieve expected outcomes with a high quality of output. If there are budget constraints, consider varying different areas of the project by changing the duration of the project, the volume of output, or the expected end goal.

Reflect and reassess the organisation’s needs before roping in the consultant by providing context on the constraints and cooperate to find a mutually beneficial scope and cost that will support business outcomes.

We are Brand Utility is a business consultancy. We work with brands in the corporate, professional services, retail, travel and technology spaces.

Our principal founder is a registered management consultant, certified and recognised by the Institute of Management Consultants Singapore.

We offer strategy and tactics to support growth outcomes - revenue, scale, regional expansion and market entry – for our clients.

Areas of support include:

· Strategic communications: Approach to market, brand concept and map, positioning, messaging, story and narrative, thought leadership

· Marketing: Campaign/programme planning, story-based marketing execution, digital marketing, community amplification, content planning and production, go-to-market execution

· Lead generation: Digital advertising, social media advertising, social commerce, e-commerce

· Integration of marketing with business operations: We plan and execute as a seconded marketing and/or PR lead for your brand

Discover more about our services at our website or book an exploratory consultation through this link.

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