Consultant thinking: Adding value as an internal consultant

In these times of uncertainty and pressure on headcount, internal resources can be perceived as a luxury, so while internal consultants are in the happy position of being on the spot and available they can also be seen as an overhead and a soft target for the cost cutters. Thus internal consultants can feel somewhat exposed as management seek to bring about change in their organisations.

The best justification for the use of any consultant is for the consultant to be seen to be adding value. Fortunately, times of rapid change provide the best opportunities to do this but the consultant does have to be seen to act swiftly, with confidence and professionalism, in other words to have consummate skill.

Beyond technical or functional expertise, the essential consultancy skill sets and processes are much the same for both internal and external consultants although there are differences in the emphasis and deployment of those skills.

There are both advantages and disadvantages to using internal consultants. For example, internal consultants will know their clients well, have well developed networks and be close to what is happening in the organisation, enabling them to tap into the decision making and power structure to rapidly get things moving. What they may not have is the outside perspective of the external consultant and they may lack the breadth of experience of how other organisations have tackled the issues to be dealt with.

In order to thrive, internal consultants must have the confidence of their clients, be aware of their own relative strengths and weaknesses and have finely honed skills and if they are to win the opportunities to do the work and consistently add value.