Guide to hiring a consultant
by Amy Brugh
Perhaps it seems self-serving for a consultant to write a guide for hiring a consultant. But believe me, this guide is for you, the person needing outside help and not knowing where to start or how to go about finding a good fit.
Here are 10 tips for hiring a consultant:
DETERMINE WHY YOU NEED OUTSIDE HELP
Sometimes having someone from outside your organization is the best way, but this isn’t always the case. First look internally to see if you have the resources, knowledge, expertise, and skills right before your eyes. You may have colleagues that are being underutilized in their current role, looking for a challenge, or wanting to try something new.
DEFINE SCOPE
Once you have determined that an outside person is the best way to accomplish the work, get clear on the scope of work. Who needs to be engaged and involved? What needs to get accomplished? What questions need to be answered? Where do you want this work to go in the future? Use these questions to guide your scope of work. Be clear, concise, and avoid jargon.
DETERMINE TIMELINE
Figure out when this work needs to be completed and plan back from there. Engage others in your workplace who may have a different sense of timing and deadlines. Determine a start date, midpoints along the way, and a deadline. Know that you can revisit these and adjust them, but make sure to sketch out a general timeline that fits with the scope of work.
STATE YOUR BUDGET
Figure out how much you have available to spend on this project. If you’ve got an amount included in your organization’s budget, great. If not, then figure out how much you are able to spend based on your organization’s financial situation. Do this before you try to find an outside consultant. Be prepared to state how much you want to spend on the project. Not stating your budget or a range for what you plan to spend is dated and is the opposite of promoting equity. If you were hoping that someone would do this work for free, reconsider hiring an outside consultant. If you don’t have monetary resources, then consider how you can barter or set up or another type of fair trade.
CREATE AN RFP
RFP is a Request for Proposals. State why you are seeking outside help, what qualifications, style, and approach you are looking for, the scope of work, the timeline, and your budget range in your RFP. Include specific details like where to send proposals, to whom, and in what format. Use a sample RFP to guide you. Use the format(s) that work best for you and organization—written, video, or other formats.
ACCEPT AND REVIEW PROPOSALS
Be open to proposals submitted in various formats. Proposals are often submitted via writing and attached to an email as a pdf. Allow creativity and be open to others ways of thinking and doing. If someone is well-suited for the work but presents information better via video submission or another format, challenge yourself and others around you to be open to something new and different.
MAKE A DECISION
Engage others in making the decision about who to hire. Include people who think, work, and communicate differently than you do. Determine fair criteria for how you’ll evaluate proposals and move forward with your choice.
COMMUNICATE
It takes time and resources to communicate, but it’s worth it. Send a very quick note of acknowledgement to those who submitted proposals. Be clear with them about your process, when you’ll make a decision, and when they can expect to hear back. Send another quick note to those who didn’t advance through your process. Call people who have been interviewed or otherwise engaged in your process. Be direct and honest about how you made your decisions and why.
WRITE A LETTER OF AGREEMENT
Work with the consultant to write a letter of agreement or contract that reflects the scope of work, timeline, and budget. Include other specifics around confidentiality, how information may be used, how invoicing and payment will work, and other specifics to the work or to your organization. Use a sample to guide you (ask me for a sample). Sign and date the letter of agreement.
GET TO WORK
Once you’ve chosen a consultant and gotten a letter of agreement in place, now’s the time to get to work!