Essentials of External Consulting

Overview/Description
 You may already have a reputation as something of an area specialist or problem solver. You may have a number of years of general management experience, or you may have recently acquired a management qualification. Perhaps you've now been asked to deploy your knowledge in an external consulting role. What do external consultants really do? Although they may work in a variety of disciplines, clearly the role means being an advocate or representative of your organization. For such a role, you'll need excellent client-facing skills. These include communication and listening, presenting, report-writing, meetings and negotiation. Combining this with, in equal measure, qualities of leadership, creativity, and emotional intelligence. In this course, you'll find out more about the role of an external consultant. You'll also see how, with the key skills and qualities, you can deliver outstanding performance to clients, guaranteeing they'll want you to return again in the future.

Target Audience
 Anyone with some specialist knowledge and general management experience who has recently moved, or is considering moving, into external consulting

Expected Duration
5.0 hours

Lesson Objectives:

External Consulting: The Basics

  • recognize the value that an external consultant can bring to an organization.
  • characterize the tasks undertaken by consultants.
  • accurately interpret the non-verbal cues in a particular consulting scenario.
  • identify factors that contribute to effective active listening.

    • The External Consultant's Skill Base

  • recognize the advantages of improving client-contact skills as a consultant.
  • analyze the effectiveness of a specific consulting presentation, using delivery strategy as a guide.
  • distinguish between factors that make report writing effective or ineffective.
  • differentiate between successful and unsuccessful strategies when holding meetings.
  • analyze the effectiveness of a meeting, according to information provided on prior planning.
  • apply a win-win negotiating strategy to achieve a successful outcome in a specific consulting situation.

    • External Consulting Qualities

  • recognize the benefits of improving creativity and emotional intelligence as an external consultant.
  • identify the key factors which determine which style of leadership is appropriate to a situation.
  • make a recommendation as to whether a specified character has attributes suitable for leadership.
  • recognize the value of being innovative as an external consultant.
  • distinguish between different methods of innovating.
  • identify the meaning of the term "emotional intelligence."
  • recognize the value of emotional intelligence in any consulting scenario.

    • Course Number: CONS0111