By Zuhair Suidan
In the spirit of David Letterman’s Top Ten lists (though not in reverse order), we assembled Top Ten lists of why to hire a consultant, and why not to.
Top Ten reasons to hire a consultant
1.
Get an objective opinion from someone without an agenda
2.
You lack the skills / expertise for something that’s not core to your business
3.
To pay only for work done. You don’t pay for
benefits, vacation, sick time, coffee breaks…
4.
You lack the resources for a one-time project
5.
You are too busy to do a piece of work that can be contracted out, such as research
6.
You need an outside perspective
7.
You need focus
8.
You need macro thinking
9.
You need a process
10.
Easy
dismissal. Unlike the difficulties of letting go of staff,
if you are not completely satisfied with the work, you just don’t hire the
consultant again
Top Ten reasons not to
hire a consultant
1.
You are
looking for a scapegoat to blame if things don’t work out
2.
The work can
be done by your staff
3.
You are looking
for someone to tell you what to do
4.
The project
requires long-term support (best to do this internally)
5.
You believe a
consultant will know your business better than you and your team do
6.
You believe it
is prestigious
7.
You have a
budget for consulting, and you’ll lose it if you don’t use it
8.
To get support
for a decision you’ve already made
9.
You need an
intermediary between you and your staff
10.
Others
do it, why not you?