When to hire a business consultant (and when not to!)

The good news is you (probably) don’t need a business consultant to level-up your organization. That said, companies who know when to bring in outside help consistently outperform their peers.

Knowing ‘when’ is the leadership lesson, and this article helps you master just that. It's for leaders who want their business to outperform. In it I’ll share:

1. When bringing in a consultant supports business performance, and when it does not; and

2. How to identify the style of work suited for consultants, and that suited for your employees.

When should I hire a consultant, and when should I not?

You are a leader, and it’s your responsibility to unlock possibility from your people and processes. A business consultant is valuable when they support you in doing this.

High-performing companies have a bias for action: getting it done, and done fast is prized. This action-orientation is a powerful force, and people with a tendency towards speed are hired. Unsurprisingly, these people are most lit up by their work when they are ‘doing’, and your role as a leader is to make this happen. Most often, this involves you getting out of the way, but in two situations you should get involved.

Situation 1: Spinning

Spinning is action without outcome. It’s a frustrating space of simultaneously not feeling success, and draining your battery trying all-the-things to get it. People with a bias for action are often unaware that they have entered this space: they are busy by nature, and they may think their action is value-add work (also, it is hard to own failure. Let’s be human about that).

Situation 2: Stuck

Stuck is frozen inaction. It’s a crushing space of helplessness and frozen-in-panic. Action-oriented people find this space uncomfortable: it is not doing, and not knowing how to return to doing. While uncomfortable, people are not likely to express being stuck: speed is a valued part of their identity, and the fear of not belonging to the fast-paced space is too painful.

In both of these situations, unlocking possibility necessitates action. This action is:

• You do it yourself; and/ or

• You bring in outside help.

Bluntly leaders have a lot going on. While (nearly) all agree that developing their people is a top priority, limited time is a barrier that blocks change. This is where a business consultant comes in: they support you in de-spinning and un-sticking your people. Really good consultants will even develop your people to avoid a spinning-or-stuck scenario in the future. In the end, you have a more skilled employee who is unblocked, happily back to ‘doing’ and realizing value for your business.

Outside of spinning and stuck, I recommend against consultants. While they may add value, they will most definitely get in the way. And just like a great business leader, getting out of the way matters.

What work is suited for consultants, and what is not?

You know that spinning and stuck employees don’t lead to business outperformance, you also know how a consultant can get you back to performance. What you do not know is what scenarios to look out for. When you have this, you'll be able to get ahead of spinning-and-stuck employees.

People like doing things which they are successful at: it breeds mastery, and leads to a high-performing workplace. Your responsibility as a leader is to get as much of your people’s work in this win-win zone. Fortunately, it is predicted by two factors:

• Frequency: how often this activity is undertaken; and

• Familiarity: how readily the path to success is known.

Optimal work zones for employees and consultants

Two quadrants are a winning mix for your people:

Practical Mastery

When you know how to get success, and frequently deliver it. This quadrant is high frequency, and high familiarity with the bulk of your people’s work taking place here. When it does, your people are lit up and happy on a day-to-day basis (e.g. a recruiter making a great hire).

Growth Mastery

when you know how to get success, but don’t often get the opportunity to demonstrate it. This quadrant is low frequency, and high familiarity with a small-but-meaningful portion of people’s work happening here (e.g. a sales team lead redesigning the objection handling script). When it does, your people have their scope broadened and a pinch of variety to keep them engaged.

These quadrants are fantastic places for your employees to spend their time. It supports an engaged and high-performing company, and we all want that.

The Optimal Confusion quadrant is a mixed bag: it can support growth, or be a fast path to the stuck-and-spinning phenomenon. This quadrant is high frequency, and low familiarity with a small portion of your people’s work happening here (e.g. an operations manager aligning client acquisition with workforce planning). When it does, your people are challenged and, if optimal, motivated to push through their growth edge.

The Optimal Confusion quadrant should be treated with care. With the right support from a leader or a business consultant, your people will grow and achieve. Without this support, they will fast move into the last quadrant: Stuck and Spinning. This space does not lead to good outcomes: not for your people, and not for the outcomes you want to achieve.

Fortunately, the Stuck and Spinning quadrant is the optimal work-style for consultants. This is not because consultants are smarter, it's because they have seen the challenge before and have an approach to moving through it: it is their Practical Mastery.

As a rule of thumb, your people should experience 70% Practical Mastery, 20% Growth Mastery and 10% Optimal Confusion. Sometimes the Optimal Confusion will devolve into Stuck and Spinning, but with the right support from you (and a skilled business consultant) this space will be short lived.

If your people are Stuck or Spinning, don's stress, help is at hand. Book a free consultation with me. If you are not ready to do so, that's ok, check out this article on how to pick the right type of consultant for your unique challenge.