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What percentage of the work done was completed using your own
resources?

Can you specify in detail what valuable lessons your people learned
from the experience?

Did the consultants leave you with all the tools and knowledge
required to continue the work yourselves?

How often did the consultants accurately report progress?

Should I use consultants?

A good and frequently asked question, but one that can only be answered
after thinking through a few others that may save you money and grief.
Too many managers and executives employ consultants without sufficient
thought, with the result that dissatisfaction with the results is often rife,
but infrequently expressed. If a manager has spent tens of thousands of
pounds or dollars on doing the firm more harm than good they are unlikely
to want to talk about the failure. They tend instead to try to persuade
themselves and others that things are not as bad as they appear. So the
consultant adds the organization’s name to his or her client list and moves
on to wreak havoc elsewhere.

OK, that is only one side of an often-complex question. Consultants fre-
quently do excellent work and deliver far more than they are strictly paid
to do. When that happens it is often down to the client in that they knew
in advance what they wanted of a consultant and why the consultant was
the right person for the job. Usually this can only be achieved by consider-
ing the right questions.

Thought starters Yes No
Yes No
Do we know precisely what we want to achieve? Yes No
Yes No
Do we lack the people or the expertise to do it Yes No
ourselves?

Would it be less than optimal use of our people’s time
to do it ourselves right now?

Is what we want to do a real priority right now?

Would the use of external expertise fast-track the
development of our people?

214 Key management questions