Northwest ASSIST
How to obtain maximum
value from consultants
3rd April 2008
Nadine Fry
Julian Todd
Agenda
Introductions
All
Aims
Nadine Fry
ASSIST/Tribal Relationship
Nadine Fry
Consultant or Contractor
Nadine Fry
Exercise
All
COFFEE
The Consultancy Assignment Julian Todd
Pathway
Commission
A Quick re-cap
Deliver
All
Consolidate
Introductions
A show of hands from:
 Informatics Staff
 Others ?
 Who has recruited and
managed consultants before?
 How many have worked
directly with consultants?
 Who may employ and work
with consultants in the future?
Tribal and ASSIST
 Relationship from the outset between Secta (now Tribal) and
ASSIST
 ASSIST agreed to our formal partnership last year
 Shared objectives e.g. brand recognition, sharing information
and supporting regional workshops
 Potential events:
 Developing the intelligent customer/informed client
 Consultation on new national NHS policies
 HIS Benchmarking club
 “Catalogue" of lessons learned
 Building blocks for a new information strategy
Aims
To demonstrate through example and exercises:
 How to get the best fit consultancy to support you in your
business
– The Commission Stage
 How to get the best out of the consultants during the
consultancy assignment – The Deliver Stage
 How to manage the handover process to achieve the most
benefits
– The Consolidate Stage
Consultancy Assignments – Main Stages
Commission
Deliver
Consolidate
Consultant or Contractor?
Consultant
Contractor
 Project resource
 Not managed by the client
 In depth knowledge of the
project
 Independent in terms of
supervision, timekeeping and
place of work
 Creates value for an
organisation
 Operational resources
 Fills a permanent vacancy or
meets a temporary increase in
workload
 Managed directly by client
staff
Exercise
What makes a good consultancy assignment ?
 i.e. what has worked well and why
What makes a poor consultancy assignment ?
 i.e. what causes poor results and why
Let’s compare our findings…
What works well?
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Clear, open communications
Open to new ideas
Participating and supporting
Mutual respect for skills and experience
Strong sponsorship
Working in partnership
Commitment to get a good result
What causes poor results?
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Poor definition of requirements
Changing requirements
Lack of ownership/leadership/ responsibility
Lack of trust and respect
Expected to do ‘sensitive’ work without full briefing
Financial difficulties
A lack of energy
A lack of understanding
Consultancy Assignments – Main Stages
Commission
Deliver
Consolidate
Stage 1: Commissioning Consultancy (1/3)
 What sort of relationship do you want and expect?
 What type of support do you need?
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Specialist expertise
New thinking
Filling a resource gap
Independent view
A facilitator
A challenge to the status quo
 Have you clearly defined the requirement?
 Do you want and expect knowledge transfer?
 Are the objectives clear?
Commission
Stage 1: Commissioning Consultancy (2/3)
 How will you pick a winner?
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Experience
Reputation
Price
Value for money
 Are you ready to support the assignment?
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Governance
Sponsorship
Support resources
Stakeholder engagement
Commission
Stage 1: Commissioning Consultancy (3/3)
 Are you “really” open to new ideas?
 What are you prepared to reveal before and after the
contract award?
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History
Context
Constraints
Culture
 Are you clear on the procurement process and is it fast
enough and flexible enough?
 Catalist
 Competitive tender
Commission
Stage 2: Delivering the assignment (1/2)
 Discovering the real scope of the requirement
 Clear roles and responsibilities
 Admin and project support, working arrangements and
access to information
 Acceptance and quality control of outputs
Deliver
Stage 2: Delivering the assignment (2/2)
 Stakeholder engagement and communications
 Dealing with senior stakeholder ‘power struggles’
 Making decisions in a timely way
 How to deal with dissent
 How to balance competing views
 Keeping a focus on the ‘success’ of the
assignment
Deliver
Stage 3: Consolidating the assignment
 Hand over to ensure ownership
 Who
 What
 How
 So what has changed?
 Is it accepted?
 Is it sustainable?
 Is there a bigger plan?
 Learning from the experience – both parties
Consolidate
A Quick Re-Cap - Our Aims for the Day
 Commission
 How to get the best fit
consultancy to support
you in your business
 Deliver
 How to get the best out
of the consultants
during the consultancy
assignment
 Consolidate
 How to manage the
handover process to
achieve the most
benefits
 Clear definition of what needs
to be done and by when
 Clarity over the type of
support required
 Clear roles and
responsibilities
 Staying focused on the
‘success’ criteria
 Clear definition of what is to
be handed over to who and
how
Commission
Deliver
Consolidate
Your feedback would be appreciated…
Contact Details
Nadine.fry@tribalgroup.co.uk
Julian.todd@tribalgroup.co.uk
CHECKLIST
Defining your requirements for a Consultancy Assignment
 What do you want to be
delivered (hard/soft outputs
and outcomes)
 What are your timescales
 What are the constraints
 Who will deliver what and who
will be involved and for what
amount of time
 What is in scope and out of
scope
 What reporting mechanisms
need to be met
 Who are the ‘customers’
 What known risks and issues
exist
 How is ‘success’ defined
 How do you and the
consultancy benefit from
success
 Do you want and expect
knowledge transfer
 Are your objectives absolutely
clear