Frequently Asked Questions and What to do About Them!

Question:            How can I be a better time manager?

Answer:               Who isn’t walking, talking and checking their i-phones these days? How about the guy who was texting, holding a pizza box, eating the pizza, and driving his truck all at the same time? Multi-tasking has become an art form but do we really have less time and more to do or are we just getting worse at managing time. Maybe time management isn’t about managing time at all—maybe it’s about managing work.

Strategies:

• Plan. Feeling overwhelmed comes from a lack of planning so use a rolling plan for your month, week, and day. Mind mapping software[1] is fun for this and doesn’t feel like work. Include personal and work activities to check on your work-life balance. Once you see your tasks in print, it is amazing how easily things happen. No further decision making is required—you already know what you need to do.
• Delegate. Delegate tasks that are time-consuming, repetitive, that you don’t have the skills for, or are cheaper for someone else to do. Free yourself for what you do best.
• Prepare. Get your materials and files organized but don’t actually start to work. It is reassuring to know that you don’t have to start right now. Just getting ready puts your mind at ease. When tomorrow or Monday comes, you will slide into the work without effort.
• Prioritize.When you face conflicting demands, use these three lenses:
  • Time. If the deadline for one project is sooner than another’s, do it now.
  • Money. If you will make more money doing one activity rather than another, do it now. Your business health is at stake.
  • Impact. Think about the domino effect. What dominos will to fall if you don’t do it now?
• Show up. The discipline of sitting down at your computer is often enough to get you under way. Establish regular work patterns to feel more in control. Save Facebook for later. Right now you have work to do!
• Celebrate. Keep a file of letters, cards, positive messages, and news clippings that relate to your efforts. Value your accomplishments.

Question:        Do I really need liability insurance?

Answer:          Consultants see liability insurance as complex, time-consuming, and expensive, so we tend to avoid the issue until faced with a contract that requires it. Ironically, our clients force us to think about our own risk as well as theirs.

Professional Liability Insurance and Errors and Omissions (E&O) Insurance are the same thing. It protects you against being sued for losses a client may suffer due to an error, omission or negligent act arising out of the services or advice provided by you or your firm either now or in the future.

There are two types:

a)        Claims made: protects only against claims occurring during the policy period (the less expensive option);

b)         Occurrence: protects against claims based on the policy period even if made years after the negligence occurred or the policy has expired (more expensive but more comprehensive).

What to do about it? Buy it!

Suggestions:

• Find a business or professional group insurance plan.
• Get an insurance broker to search for you.
• Lower the cost by using that broker for all your insurance needs
• Select a higher deductible.
• Practice due diligence to decrease potential risks.
• Ensure that your business processes run efficiently.
• Communicate effectively and often with your client.

Gail V. Barrington

Originally published in the Independent Consulting TIG Newsletter, Volume 3, Issue 2. April 2012.

For more information see:

Barrington, G. V. (2012). Consulting Start-up & Management: A Guide for Evaluators & Applied Researchers. Los Angeles: SAGE.

SAGE:

http://www.sagepub.com/productSearch.nav?siteId=sage-us&

Amazon (USA):

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/185-7508499-2721928?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=consulting+start+up&x=0&y=0

Amazon (Canada):

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Question:      What should I do with my files?

Answer:          The longer you have been a consultant, the more serious the file management issue becomes. The thought of all your papers, files, reports, and binders stacked in teetering columns on every surface in your office gives me nightmares. Why? Because in the long run this lack of organization will cost you both time and money.

Where is that critical document you need for your current proposal? What did you do the last time you hired a research assistant? How can you develop an abstract for the upcoming conference by tomorrow? Filing is not about filing at all, it is about retrieval.

From project to project it may seem inconsequential but managing your files (both electronic and paper) is an important part way to preserve your own intellectual capital, retain your corporate memory, support good decision making, and provide an evidence trail. Think of this pedestrian task as knowledge generation, capture, retrieval and translation. Develop your own knowledge management system.

Suggestions:

• Organize your files into some basic categories:
  • Financial records
  • Administrative files
  • Personnel records
  • Client/project files
  • Process knowledge and precedents
• Determine where to store each type of information so that you can find it again.
  • Store current project files on your computer and/or laptop and on a couple of flash drives.
  • Keep administrative records and recent projects on your server, portable back-up drives or discs. Put them in your safety deposit box.
  • Centralize paper files, keep short-term documents on site for two years, and then purge the non-essentials.
  • Move essential long-term files to an off-site archive, not in your garage or attic, but in a storage locker.
• Determine how long to keep each type of file.
  • Store surveys in boxes clearly marked, “Shred after….” for one year.
  • Keep essential business information for seven years (financial and tax records, leases, contracts, insurance records, licenses, and personnel files).
  • Client files have no real end date but I use the seven-year rule. After that, I only keep files that are interesting for articles, workshop materials, or case studies (suitably adapted of course).
• Keep an updated archive map on a spreadsheet so you know where things are.
• Reward yourself for your good business practice. You deserve it!

Gail V. Barrington

Originally published in the Independent Consulting TIG Newsletter, Volume 3, Issue 3. July 2012.

For more information see Chapter 17: Managing Knowledge in Barrington, G. V. (2012). Consulting Start-up & Management: A Guide for Evaluators & Applied Researchers. Los Angeles: SAGE.

 Question: How can I build a strategic alliance?

Answer: Strategic alliances can provide you with a competitive advantage. By creating a relationship with an individual or group that has different and complementary skills and competencies, you can pursue larger, more complex projects, provide more varied services, and reach a broader geographic area. In return you can decrease your competition, achieve economies of scale, and share costs.

However, strategic alliances are often built on "a wing and a prayer" and they may not be robust enough to achieve a successful outcome. Reasons for failure include poor partner choice, differing values or culture, unclear goals, project management issues, and unequal benefits.

Strategies:

The Boston Consulting Group has developed a strategic alliance process model which can be adapted for the independent consultant:

1. Remember your goals. Don't lose your own business plans in the flurry of this engrossing project. There will be life after it is over so keep your long term goals in mind.

2. Be rigorous. Determine potential team members' competencies, work standards, reputation, ethics, interpersonal communications, and team skills. Review samples of their work and set up a small preliminary project with them to test the relationship.

3. Get it in writing. Develop a Memorandum of Understanding for the project outlining roles, responsibilities, communication strategies (both within the team and with the client), data ownership, and report authorship. Develop a sub-contract for each consultant or group specifying tasks, daily rate, number of days, and insurance and tax responsibilities.

4. Manage. Use good project management skills to ensure clear and frequent communications, budgeting, scheduling, and reporting. Make sure your client is apprised of your relationship.

5. Evaluate. Whether positive or negative, key benefits from the experience are likely to be the learning and insights gained from working with other consultants.

6. Diversify. This may be only one of several alliances you develop depending on the type of projects you want to pursue. Build on the lessons from this relationship.

Make sure your early strategic alliances are successful. They will transform your practice and broaden your portfolio in ways you never dreamed.

Gail V. Barrington

Originally published in the Independent Consulting TIG Newsletter, Volume 4, Issue 2. March 2013

See: http://www.upm.ro/proiecte/EEE/Conferences/papers/S421.pdf - Natalia Cojohari. "The competitive advantage of strategic alliances."

For more information on consulting topics see in Barrington, G. V. (2012). Consulting Start-up & Management: A Guide for Evaluators & Applied Researchers. Los Angeles: SAGE.