As a management consultant, Ismaila Whittier understands the intimate and necessary role consultants play in business success. To outsiders, a management consultant seems like someone who only gives advice, someone who is not wholly invested in the outcome of their recommendations; the outsider view is shortsighted and based on a misunderstanding of the consultant’s role in an organization. Because the word contains the word consult, people assume a consultant does little more than talk, but in reality, these professionals help reshape, rebrand, and rebuild businesses.
Ismaila Whittier Dismantles the Suggestion That Consultants Are Only Advice Givers
A business consultant is a business partner for a specified period, according to contract details. They help to analyze, diagnose, and implement change. According to the Harvard Business Review, there is a hierarchy or purposes that consultants typically follow, and it includes eight phases:
- Informational
- Problem-solving
- Diagnosis
- Recommendations
- Implementation
- Consensus and commitment to corrective action
- Client learning
- Improved organizational effectiveness
Not every consultant or consultancy agreement will include all phases. For example, most organizations prefer to deal with phases six through eight independently. Also, there is some debate about a consultant’s role during phase five. Still, a consultant does not only provide advice, even if you only look at phases one through four in the hierarchy.
Investigation and Analysis
Ismaila Whittier explains that a significant part of a consultant’s job is investigation and analysis. Businesses seek out firms when they have a problem that they can not identify or do not know how to resolve. The consultants working for the firm study the financials, operations, and management styles to learn as much as possible about the company. During the research and investigation phase, the problem will become clear. Often, struggling companies have multiple issues, and they need solutions.
Consultants can provide research-backed solutions to companies. The suggested changes often come with significant sacrifices, but success is impossible without sacrifice. Consultants can help companies implement proposed changes and help management explain the reasoning behind operational shifts.
Implementation Is Not Without Hiccups
Every successful management consultant knows that implementing solutions will often create unforeseen hiccups. The new issues will also need re-evaluation and correction, which the consultant can help with.
The consultant, then, provides more than advice. They provide actionable intel and remain flexible to ensure corrective action can be taken when necessary. Ultimately, a consultant and their team help companies correct problems and return to profitability or full operation.
Consultants Deserve Respect for Their Position
Ismaila Whittier is a business professional with a unique set of skills. Those skills allow him to see solutions in a cloud of data and problems, solutions that are not visible to business owners and other executives. To Whittier, management consultants often save organizations with their “advice.”
