PROCURING MONITORING & EVALUATING CONSULTING SERVICESPresented at the International Consulting Conference –

Seoul Korea - September 2014

INTRODUCTION

1. A lot of money is being spent on "consultants".

2. It is important to understand what a consultant is before delving into the topic of engaging, contracting, monitoring and evaluating their performance.

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'TOO MUCH SPENT ON "CONSULTANTS" '

Money is being wasted:

• Consulting projects "not implemented"

• Refer to reasons for project failure - further on

• The wrong advice is given to clients

• The consultants do not have the right competencies

• The consultants are not ethical

AND what is often not mentioned:

• The client does not have the required competencies

• The client is not ethical

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IS THIS YOUR VIEW OF A CONSULTANT?

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POOR DEFINITIONS

• Some of the definitions used under the banner of Consulting, are directly in conflict with the true definition of consulting.

• It is imperative that there is education in this area - by defining keywords of what "consulting" actually means.

• We would like to focus on “Management Consulting”.

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GOOD DEFINITIONS

• Experienced professional who provides expert knowledge for a fee. He or she works in an advisory capacity only and is usually not accountable for the outcome of a consultingexercise. Business dictionary.com.

• A consultant is an experienced individual that is trained to analyze and advise a client in order to help the client make the best possible choices. searchitchannel.techtarget.com

• A Consultant is someone brought in for a limited time to solve one or more specific problems. This can be done under a contract for a specific problem or on a longer term contract for ongoing needs related to a specific problem. www.smallbusinessnotes.com

• A person professionally engaged in advising on, and providing, a detached, external view of a company's management techniques and practices. dictionary.bnet.com

• An individual who provides independent advice and assistance about the process of management to clients with management responsibilities. www.imcsa.com

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EXAMPLE – ASIAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

1.3 For the purpose of these Guidelines, the term consultants includes a wide variety of private and public entities, including international and national consulting firms, engineering firms, construction firms, management firms, procurement agents, inspection agents, auditors, United Nations (UN) agencies and other multinational organizations, universities, research institutions, government agencies, nongovernment organizations (NGOs), and individuals.

ADB or its borrowers use these organizations as consultants to help in a wide range of activities such as policy advice, institutional reforms, management, engineering services, construction supervision, financial services, procurement services, social and environmental studies, and identification, preparation, and implementation of projects to complement borrowers’ or ADB’s capabilities in these areas.

Pretty Broad is it not?© ProfWeb 2014

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KEY CLIENT EXPECTATIONS

Sound reputation and proven track record - trustworthiness

Understanding of the client’s business, needs, opportunities, challenges and problems

Contextual competence - knowledge, skills and experience

Integrity and honesty – especially about problems

Independence and objectivity

Responsive, reliable and open communication

Skills transfer

On time/on budget delivery – meet the contract

Value add! Often misinterpreted as pure cost.

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CONSULTANT EXPECTATIONS

Fair Treatment/ Ethical Client

Commitment to the project

Allocation of resources as required

Integrity and honesty – especially about problems

Knowledgeable about own business

Responsive, reliable and open communication

Attendance of key staff at meetings/ punctuality for interviews

Provision of complete and timely information

Competent staff to transfer skills to

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ALTERNATIVE WAYS OF ENGAGING

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Client

Initiated

Consultant

Initiated

•Info Document

RFI

•Tender ResponseRFT

•Proposal

RFP

•Proposal

Tender process

Proposal process

FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS PRESENTATION, WE WILL COVER

TENDERS

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GETTING ASSISTANCE FROM PROFESSIONALS

For complex engagements, it may be necessary to engage the assistance of independent advisors to assist

with the process.

The value of getting independent specialists to help with the process

Possibly even up to contract award.

Ensure that these advisors are contracted in terms of confidentiality and that they may not tender for the work

themselves.

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TYPICAL TENDER PROCESS(THIS IS CLIENT INITIATED)

Business Case / requirements

specApproval

Construct

RFTOpen or closed?

Issue

RFT

Information Session?

Receive

responses

Convene

Evaluation

committee

Evaluate

responses

Final

Recommendation/ decision

Award Tender Contract

Initiate Engagement

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1. Need or Opportunity 4. Benefits (Quantitative and Qualitative)

2. Approach 3. Final and High Level Deliverables

The Case for the Project

BUSINESS CASE

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IDENTIFICATION OF QUALIFYING RESPONDENTS

• This is applicable to proposals and closed tenders

• Comparing “apples and pears”

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RECEIVE & EVALUATE TENDERS/ RESPONSES

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SELECTION OF RESPONDENTS

• The selection process – needs to be formal and fair.

• Application of Selection Criteria is vital but not easy.

• No two consultancies are alike!

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Plan/ DesignUpdate

charter/plan Resource/ Structure

Execute Consulting

Intervention

Develop work

products

Monitor & Control

Report progress to

client

Report

ENGAGEMENT LIFECYCLE

Lessons

Learnt

Contract/ Approval

Initiate & start up

resourcing

Close Measurement & evaluation

Final Report & Recommendations

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ENGAGING & CONTRACTING

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ENGAGING AND CONTRACTING CONSIDERATIONS

Clarity of agreement

Deliverables

Outcomes versus outputs

Maximising “ROI”

Cost Saving tactics

The consultant's T+Cs

Your standard T+Cs

IP rights

Duration

Implementation responsibility –who?

Cost determination

•Charge by time or value

•Billing calculation formula

•Small firm / large firm

Knowledge Transfer

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TIME AND COST FACTORS

Unreasonable pressure to

complete on time due to

delays in issuing the tender.

Tenders often overdue before the project is to

start.

Compressing delivery times has major cost

& resource implications.

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INITIATING THE ENGAGEMENT

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THE PLANNING CYCLE & THE CHARTER

These steps are repeated until the project has reached its

conclusion

As things change, the charter (and plan) should be updated to

reflect current reality.

Any major changes should be the outcome of a signed change

request form.

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MONITORING AND CONTROLLING

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Project_Management_%28project_control%29.png Modified by ProfWeb

Where are We? (Measurement)

Where do we plan to be?

(Evaluation)

How can we get back on

track?

(Correction)

Variance

in plan

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Report

Corrective

action

REPORTING

• Why do we report?

• What do we report on?

• Who is involved? Refer project structure and owner sponsor models. Steercom etc

• How often to we report?

• What is the level of detail we report on?

• Anthony’s triangle applies to engagements as well.

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MEASUREMENT& EVALUATION

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WHO IS ACCOUNTABLE FOR SUCCESS?

• Biggest problem - the client is accountable.

• The consultant is accountable for the quality of his work and advice.

• How does this work in reality?

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EVALUATION OFSUCCESS

Professional excellence

Business benefits

Goal achievement

Managed and fulfilled

expectations

The importance of perceptions!

Client Perspective

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BUSINESS BENEFITSNote – avoid using ROI – it tends to focus on financial issues.

Consulting projects can fall anywhere on these axes

Intangible benefits

RO

I -

Fin

anci

al

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EVALUATION OFSUCCESS

Profitability

Personal, professional

and practice development

Enhancement of

personal/firm reputation

Enhanced organisational

learning

Consultant Perspective

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WHY DO CONSULTING PROJECTS SUCCEED?

Senior client commitment & buy in –allocating resources

Clear understanding of client challenges,

needs and expectations

Clearly defined scope, terms of

reference- business case

Clearly defined and well executed roles and responsibilities

Adoption of key account

management principles and

practices

Rigorous project, quality and document

management/integration across all project phases

Balanced and focused approach to project administration and

process/deliverables management

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BENEFITS OF USING CERTIFIED PROFESSIONALS

• Consulting is not a regulated profession, so voluntary association is a sign that individuals value what the profession should stand for.

• Code of conduct• The right of recourse is important.• An appeals process is equally important in order to carry the

required weight.

• Independence

• Disciplinary process

• Mediation and Arbitration• Professional peer review is available for clients and members

• Evidence of prior achievement• A certified professional has had his/her credentials formally

assessed and needs to maintain a CPD record and client references.

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CONCLUSION

Assignment success is a shared responsibility.

Clear statement of requirements

Monitoring throughout the lifecycle

Partnership approach

Clear measurement of results against expectations and agreement

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Presenter: Angelo Kehayas

akehayas@profweb.net

www.profweb.net

27 11 789 9996

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