8 CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD STRATEGY CONSULTANT
A strategy consultant who comes roaring in with a team, collects input, starts analysing, then presents the results to the board. Do you recognise this? Doesn't feel OK does it? It isn't. Certainly not when it comes to strategy.
"THE NEW THINKING IS #SAMEND"Â
In fact, the results become much better when executives, managers and employees of companies have a large and active role in making their strategy. Conduct their own business and market analyses, devise and develop their own solutions and concepts, build their own financial business cases and carry out their own projects. In this way, innovation becomes entirely of the organisation itself.
SO WHAT IS A STRATEGY CONSULTANT GOOD FOR?Â
Thinking along about the approach, contributing new ideas for the strategy, inspiring with knowledge and examples, asking critical questions, reviewing and assessing proposals and results, keeping everyone on their toes. Consultants are ideally suited to bring groups of people together, to organise and facilitate working sessions and meetings. And they can help visualise the strategy and prepare results and decision-making.
SHOW - PARTICIPATE - DO YOURSELFÂ
Collaboration between companies and a strategy consultant follows the model of: show up - participate - do it yourself. We call it #samendoen, where the consultant really helps. That leads to better solutions, more impact and is also cheaper.
From our experience in recent years and many conversations with clients, we have compiled a list of criteria that a good strategy consultant should meet:
- Accessible and approachable.
- Â Dares to ask a lot of open questions
- Helps by being critical of assumptions and presuppositions made
- Â Makes concise plans, and encourages getting started. Launches experiments, measures results, validates and learns.
- Â Is aware of its role as a catalyst and helps companies get started themselves
- Â Encourages co-creation: involves employees and/or the company's environment, such as customers. Uses creative work forms and modern media to foster collaboration.
- Â Start from the beginning by transferring knowledge, methods, tools and techniques to the customer.
- Leave lasting impressions through visualisation. This brings strategy to life, symbolising innovation. Well-designed and through media of our time: infographics, videos, prototype web or mobile sites, games, 3D printing, etc.
Do you think you possess these skills and have what it takes to become a strategy consultant at Elemental? Then visit our work at page or send us a message!
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