Consultancy for the Public Sector - 6 to 10 July 2015

It is a big change to move from working in the public sector to working for yourself as a consultant.  If you are interested in doing so then I am happy to chat to you and give you what tips I can, but you might be better off going on a dedicated training course such as the one run by Public Administration International (PAI) in London.

It is particularly useful for international delegates, not just those in the UK, who are interested in working as a consultant with organisations such as the World Bank, United Nations etc.
Full details are here.

PAI are not someone I work for so I am not selling my own training here - it is purely a public service announcement.  They are a very impressive outfit in central London and I have no reservations about recommending them.  The fees are quite reasonable as these things go.

If you are setting up as a consultant - good luck.  It has its ups and downs, but it can be very satisfying and interesting.

The future of training and consultancy

Here are a few notes on the future of the training and consulting industries that I wrote for some of my colleagues in industry group.  I would be very interested in other people's views.

I know that on-line learning is becoming more prevalent but at least on a time scale relevant to us (say 20 years) I don’t think it is going to kill off face to face training.

I am not being complacent but have the following views;

1.      Online training sounds good but needs strong self motivation  - I know I am not doing as much on my on-line Arabic course as I should

2.      People have different learning styles and the interaction at physical events is appropriate to some – others will be happy with reading

3.      The time away from the office allows learning in a focused environment

4.      The time away from the office allows from a jolly day away from the office (a big thing in the Middle East!)

5.      It is not easy to codify all the relevant experience and knowledge

6.      Presenters can tailor material to audiences (currently) better than on line systems

7.      The interaction with other delegates is often beneficial

8.      Training is often quite a lot of fun – more than an online version

9.      The advantages of e-learning are cost, ease of delivery, and consistency of delivery.  However we often irrationally value things we pay more for more than cheaper things, and the ease of delivery may make it easy to put it off, consistency can mean a “one size fits all” approach – which as we know means it actually fits very few.

The same discussion can also apply to consultancy  - why don’t people just read a book instead of bringing in an expert?  In future will they just go to expert systems?  Many of the thing we consult about are actually known concepts – you can get them from a book – but there is (at least currently) an advantage to bringing in an external advisor.  In future it will be easier to get the data, but the knowledge of how to apply it will reside in individuals for a while.

So over time I expect there will be a big shift away from individuals to on-line resources, and the opportunities for people like us will come in developing and testing innovative ideas and potentially academic research (assuming students are also mainly being taught on-line).  But that is probably beyond my timeline.  The key differentiators then would probably be profile (people will pay for a world leading consultant), contacts (people will hire people they know), style (people hire “people like us” and people they like), and innovation (something new to give them an edge in a world where everyone has the same basic information).

William Gibson said “the future is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed”.  I feel the same about knowledge, and see our role as helping the distribution process.  Books (paper or online) are not enough.

Your views may differ.

Basics of Business - Networking

Networking is one of the elements of business that is sometimes taken for granted, but is actually still a source of discussion.  While salespeople, consultants and other snake oil sellers see networking as essential, there are still plenty of people in business who don’t see it as essential.

The arguments against networking are several – that it is time away from the office that should be spent on productive work, that it is expensive, that staff use is as an opportunity to promote themselves rather than the company, that it is entertainment rather than work, that there is no guaranteed benefit, and that it is full of salesmen rather than customers.

 All of these can have some validity  - but if you think that by stopping your staff from networking they will not meet other potential employers, then you are underestimating the work of recruitment consultants.  You are also missing out on a lot of potentially valuable information. 
A couple of anecdotal incidents from the past week or so.  A colleague I met at a networking lunch has just rung me up from the Middle East to tell me about a London based company looking for some training providers. 

Secondly, last week I was at an event where a colleague found out the top management of  a major competitor had resigned en masse to set up their own company.  This is not the sort of information  that  comes out quickly through formal channels, and it means that there are opportunities to take advantage of the distraction of the competition – at a least for a while.  And yes, a potential job vacancy to be considered too.  Without networking it is likely that much of the window of opportunity would have passed by unknown.

If you are going to use networking in your organisation, and I suggest that you should, you should consider a few key points;

-          Set a target number of days for networking – say 2 per month.

             -          Consider what you want out of it - sales leads, market info, ideas, contacts, a new job

-          Ensure information is shared back home - a quick note is enough

-          Practice your Elevator speech - if you have a chance to make a good impression be ready

-          Think about what organisations you want to link into - customers, competitors, suppliers, academia, media

-          Follow up on contacts made – and categorise them with bring forward actions

-          Share – be reciprocal.  People want you to give as well as take

-          Be prepared to cut events that are too full of the wrong sort of people

-          Recognise that events with the right sort of people are limited

-          Recognise that it is a numbers game – there is no guaranteed win on any one event

-          Recognise that it is a long term game - sometimes things take years to lead to business

-          Don’t limit it to your sales people – technical people need networks too

-          Practice networking skills if you are not a natural

-          Don’t be afraid to ask questions such as “who do you use for…?”

-          Be aware of any IP that you want to protect (e.g. who you use for…”

-          Make sure networkers are aware of the need to avoid any activities that could be considered collusion or market fixing (e.g. discussing prices).

-          If you are not getting what you want, then consider other networks rather than stopping networking altogether

-          LinkedIn is great – but it is not an alternative to physical networking.

ERDF FUNDED consultancy support for Lincolnshire SMEs

MANAGE MY SPEND – SUSTAINABLE SME PURCHASING, AND BUSINESS TO BUSINESS COLLABORATION.

ERDF FUNDED CONSULTANCY SUPPORT IN LINCOLNSHIRE

SUSTAIN Lincolnshire is offering Small and Medium Enterprises in Lincolnshire help to be more economically sustainable. With the help of PAWA Consulting, Oakwell Management Services Ltd. is utilising a ‘Workbook’ approach to improving control over purchasing expenditure. The Workbook, co-authored by Ray Newell and John Kelly of Oakwell Management Services Limited, Professor Marc Day of Henley Management Centre, (Reading University), and supported by the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, is a unique and innovative tool, designed specifically to help small business.

The Workbook is an ‘action’ document and is used in conjunction with consultancy support, delivered by expert associates who work directly with the client SME’s. The objective is to improve their purchasing techniques, emphasising economic sustainability to generate real savings for the business, and sharing experiences in a collaborative way.

Initially, the associate consultants visit the customer company and spend a short time with the Managing Director/Purchasing Manager to ascertain where help is required. This diagnosis is used to demonstrate how to improve procurement/purchasing process/s that are identified as ‘in need of enhancement’, and deploying experts for a maximum of two days fully funded consultancy support.

Oakwell are looking for an initial take up in Lincolnshire of somewhere in the region of 40+ companies.

This project is part of the SUSTAIN Lincolnshire programme, which is part funded through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), East Midlands Development Agency(emda)Single Programme and Lincolnshire County Council.

This is a great opportunity for Lincolnshire Businesses to obtain sustainable procurement support through Lincolnshire County Councils SUSTAIN project.

The project will help enhance small businesses that have purchasing as part of their daily routine, to make significant savings for their organisation, and allow them to collaborate with like minded organisations.

Eligibility criteria: Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) - Businesses of < 250 employees and < 50 million Euros turnover-Annual balance sheet under 43 million Euros, not more than quarter owned by a larger company

The project has a tight delivery horizon and therefore a quick response is critical. The project will finish at the end of September 2011.

Feel free to approach Oakwell, or you can approach me directly if you would like PAWA to deliver your consultancy support.

It is likely that in future there will be few of these fully funded projects, so I would encourage businesses to take the support now.

We are able to offer similar support to smes in the East Midlands, utilising the same workbook for the MATREC project.

Free Purchasing suport for SMEs

Through our partners at Oakwell Management Services, we are able to provide free purchasing consultancy to eligible smes in Lincolnshire through the SUSTAIN programme - click here for details. Businesses will be able to attend a number of seminars but more importantly to have one on one support to help them improve their procurement process.

Our element has to be completed by the end of September, and the number of places is strictly limited, so I strongly recommend signing up as quickly as possible. If for no better reason than that this sort of fully funded project is probably going to become very rare in the future. There is no contribution required apart from your time and committment.

What are the benefits? Well it is always possible that you are doing everything perfectly already, and there is nothing to improve. Generally though we find that there are easy to achieve improvements possible on the bottom line - they may be small in percentage terms, but who does not want to improve their profitability for lalmost no effort? In these difficult times a couple of percent on the profits is always welcome.

Often there are much bigger saving possible with a little effort, and large improvements in risk management.

Fuller details and a launch website will be available in a few days, but if you are interested please call me asap. This project is for companies in the Lincolnshire County Council catchment area - I hope you know whether that includes your business or not.

A similar scheme is being run on a limited basis in the East Midlands, called MATREC and focussing on materials businesses. If you want to know more, get in touch.

Timeline of the future

As the great Yogi Berra said “it’s very difficult to make predictions – especially about the future”. However that does not mean that we should not try to. It can help to shape our business strategy, protect us from shock changes, and besides it can be great fun.

Myers Briggs personality profiles suggest that only 20% of are mainly focussed on the future – 40% are focussed on what we learn from the past, and 40% on the here and now. That is pretty much what you would expect from human beings who evolved in the Savannah - too much dreaming of what might be is not much help in escaping lions, and in fact it might get you eaten.

The same applies in business – not learning from the past, and not focussing on the immediate threats are fatal for businesses. However there is always a need for at least a few people in a business to keep scanning the horizons, and thinking about how things change.

The old metaphor about boiling a frog is appropriate for our attitude to change. Today the internet is pervasive in our society – and most of us forget that a matter of a decade ago it barely existed. Most of us have mobile phones, and we have forgotten what we did before them. Films from the 1990s can feel strangely dated when the central problem could be easily solved in the characters had mobile phones, let alone Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

This makes it difficult for us to think about some of the major changes that can happen to our industry. The rise of 3D printers, which seems like a science fiction technology but is being used in aerospace, changes a lot of our ideas about manufacturing (see The Economist). The internet is of course changing other industries, and in some cases making them redundant – I can’t believe there is a major future in printing yellow pages telephone directories or CD pressing plants.

So what industries will remain unchanged?

Well haulage and distribution will still be essential to move some goods around – despite 3D printers, we are still likely to need to move chemicals and similar raw materials. However it may change significantly within a generation to include much better IT based planning and even more significantly robot driven lorries (it is on the way, trust me).

Television, if we continue to call it that, will probably merge with the web, and be shown on the sort of printed electronics paper thin screens that I have mentioned before.

My industry, consulting and training, will no doubt be changed by intelligent systems and training on demand media. I think though that will always be people who prefer to engage with (flawed) individuals rather than a (perfect) computer database.

Health is changing massively – our life expectancy rises by about 3 months every year. Think about that. The consequences are massive – and not just for pensions. This is a societal change that we don’t notice happening even though it is happening rapidly. Partly this is because medicine is advancing so fast – people live who would have died a decade ago, and people are born who would not have existed 30 years ago (including my children).

Prof. Bryan Cox in his Wonders of the Universe TV programme has reminded us that planet earth will one day be destroyed by the sun. Luckily that will be in about 6 billion years, so no need for us to worry just yet.

Trying to think on that timescale can be fun – when you think that human beings have only been around for less than a hundred thousand years. Will people in the year 3011 even be recognisable to us as people? A website providing a timeline of the future can be a way of stimulating thinking, and broadening our horizons (click here) – as can thinking about the Clock of the Long Now (see the picture for the prototype). I don’t agree with all of their projections (some I think will happen much quicker, others not at all) but that is not the point. It won’t tell you what will happen to your industry next month, or even next year, but it does help us stop thinking that the future will be just like the past.

Intota Expert Network

I am now listed on the Intota Expert Network, which provides consultants, researchers and expert witnesses. Apparently they now have more than 10 000 experts listed, which gives an indication of the size of the consultancy industry in the UK.