While some business leaders hold the view that consultants don’t solve problems, we disagree. Consultants are your secret weapon.
Your organization is on its way to digital transformation. Your leaders are enthusiastically steering changes in workplace culture and employees are primed and ready to evolve. Now you must work on embedding change.
It’s a confronting task when you consider a staggering 70 percent of business transformations will fail. Could hiring a consultant be the key to a successful digital transformation?
While some business leaders hold the view that consultants don’t solve problems, we disagree. Consultants are your secret weapon, able to speed up and support transformation through their unbiased ability to provide expert advice that draws on their experiences in solving complex issues.
Businesses depend on consultants, but only if they hire the right one. As consultancy business models change, you need to be confident in your investment. Here’s how you will know whether a consultant is the right partner for your digital transformation:
They understand your business and what problems you are trying to solve
Don’t be won over by consultants who produce fancy Powerpoint presentations and attempt to dazzle you with their consultant-speak in meetings. Rather than fancy words or presentations, the right consultant should demonstrate that they have a sound understanding of your business and what your business’ particular challenges are. Our experience shows that this is best achieved when a consultant integrates into your business as best as possible. By working with your people, rather than as an ‘expert outsider’ who dips in and out, a consultant is best positioned to understand the issues and help you solve the identifiable problems.
They are people-focused
Transformation requires not only a change in behavior but a change in values and mindset.
Transformative success hinges on everyone being on-board, prepared and willing to adapt to change. So it is critical that your consultant engages with your people, particularly the influencers within your business who will help drive the transformation and those who are capable of making change stick.
They enable you to embed the changes
The right consultant will not only help you solve your business problems and deal with resistance to transformation, they will also ensure that the changes fall within your business as usual operations.
So often transformation projects fail because consultants drive the transformation without staying on to ensure the changes are embedded. A lot of money can be wasted if a consultant walks away before the changes stick.
Make sure your consultant has a plan to embed and operationalize the changes they are supporting you with. The right consultant will create and hand over the necessary tools that will enable you and your people to continue the transformative journey alone.
They have received a clear, outcome-focused brief
Experienced consultants know they will be set up for failure without an adequate brief with clearly defined outcomes.
At dig8ital we ensure that the hard questions are answered so we fully understand your business and what success looks like for you. We also choose to focus on outcomes rather than the hours needed to deliver them. This way we are accountable for the results based on a previously-agreed budget and timeframe.
Finding the right external consultant in your digital or cyber security transformation will set you up for success. Their specialist expertize in embedding change and tackling tricky challenges will allow your business to reap benefits for years to come.
We pride ourselves on being transformation specialists. If you are looking to partner with a people-focused consultancy that won’t charge you by the hour but by the outcome, we’d love to hear from you.
