What do you do if your consulting services aren't meeting the specific needs of Higher Education?

Many consulting firms offer services in gathering and analyzing data rather than interpreting and communicating the narrative behind the numbers. This gap can lead to services that, while technically are proficient, but fail to address the nuanced challenges and objectives of higher educational institutions. This is can be done firstly with changing the method of engagement, and starting with deep, meaningful conversations that explore client pain points, goals, and assessing the areas which can have the biggest impact in the short term. These insights can support consulting firms to pivot their approach from merely presenting data to crafting compelling narratives that highlight actionable steps forward.

Assessing the needs is the first diagnostic step towards any consultative advice. Clear communication with relevant stakeholders adds an element of customization. Each educational institution has unique challenges which need to be discussed and deliberated upon before taking any initiatives. Unless this step is taken seriously, the entire line of treatment towards Excellence in education may fail.

When consulting services don't meet the specific needs of Higher Education, I find it crucial to recognize that this sector isn't purely business-driven, a subtlety that may not always be fully understood. Higher Education serves dual roles: supporting students (often viewed as customers, though this is debatable) and contributing to society by spreading knowledge. Addressing this requires first understanding these unique aspects and then clearly communicating them to all stakeholders. This approach ensures our strategies support not just commercial goals but also respect and enhance these institutions' educational and societal missions.

It is crucial to maintain open and transparent communication with clients in Higher Education. I would proactively engage in discussions to understand their evolving needs, communicate any changes or improvements I am implementing, and seek their feedback and input throughout the process.

Lack of communication kills it all! I would start an assessment with collaborative communication and understand where their process knowledge is at. Then pivot my consulting services up-to their level. Once the needs are understood the rest is easy for the professionals.

What I have found helpful when consulting services aren't meeting the specific needs of Higher Education is to first review the statement of work (SOW) to ensure that what is expected is included/covered in the scope of the SOW. Once that is validated, one should reassess the customer's needs to ensure a sufficient understanding of the expectations. Then, the strategy should be revised, and periodically reviewed with the customer to ensure that expected results are being yielded. During the periodic reviews, the consultant should ensure that the customer is completing necessary validations and documenting the results.

Revising the strategy for consulting services after changing the engagement approach will involve re-engineering the approach before, during and after delivery of the consulting service. Consulting firms should prioritise active listening and employ probing questions that delve into the heart of the issues faced by higher education institutions. Many challenges faced are similar across different institutions, but the solution will be different and ridden with cultural and institutional understanding. It is important to evaluate your current services through the lens of feedback and insights gathered the clients. Each consulting engagement is unique, and consulting cannot use a canned approach for all institutions.

The strategy effectively differentiates universities based on their current status quo. For research universities can be spliced into three types: Type 1 comprises teaching-focused schools where professors engage with international publications and teach students; Type 2 involves academics capable of producing high-quality papers to maintain a certain level of scholarly output; and Type 3 represents institutions where researchers are prolific in generating publications in the top quartile and actively participate in the global research race.

Reevaluate the needs of higher education institutions to ensure your services align with their current challenges and objectives. Implement a process for continuous improvement based on feedback and market trends to adapt your services accordingl

Revising your strategy entails a comprehensive review of your current services and a thoughtful redesign to better serve the higher education sector. This includes creating new offerings that are specifically tailored to the unique requirements of this sector or refining existing ones for greater effectiveness. It's crucial to consider the distinctive regulatory, funding, and cultural aspects of the academic world in your strategic revamp. By customizing your approach to fit the specific context of higher education, you'll not only boost client satisfaction but also establish your reputation as a specialized consultant in this field, thereby increasing your competitive edge.

The currency of success for a consultant offering consultancy services in tied to the depth of a consultant's expertise. When services do not quite hit the mark, it often signals a need for consultants to enhance their skills and knowledge base. Real world experience in the sector adds invaluable context to a consultant’s advice, bridging the gap between theory and practice, just like you wouldn't take driving advise from someone who hasn't driven a vehicle themselves. Secondly a single consultant cannot be an expert in all the areas of consultancy. In this case, forging partnerships with other professionals becomes essential to fill gaps in service offerings, allowing consultants to present a more comprehensive and multifaceted approach.

Enhancing skills is crucial. As consultant traverse between the universities, corporations, countries, and continents, he/she absorb knowledge and best practices for transformation. By distilling success stories from seemingly unrelated cases, everyone can learn valuable lessons. A prime example is the outstanding research conducted by MIT-Skoltech.

Re-assessing the terms and conditions of signed agreement for proper direction and monitoring of concepts and evaluation of job progress. Opening more lines of consultations and opportunities for experts and skill personnel in the capacity of the organizational needs. There could also be a need to provide a support framework, in terms of training, coaching, supervision and providing materials or equipment for project enhancement.

En la labor de consultoría, el tiempo es un factor crucial. Los consultores se enfrentan constantemente al desafío de mantenerse actualizados sobre los conocimientos y el entorno actual. Es fundamental contar con experiencia en las temáticas relacionadas con nuestro campo de actuación para ofrecer un servicio de calidad. Esto implica dedicar tiempo y esfuerzo a la continua actualización de habilidades y conocimientos relevantes para poder abordar de manera efectiva los desafíos que enfrentan nuestros clientes. En resumen, la combinación de actualización constante y experiencia sólida es esencial para el éxito en la consultoría.

Continuous learning and professional development are key to staying relevant and effective in the ever-evolving domain of higher education consulting but not every consultant invest into candidate.

Qualification and experience are the competencies and skills necessary for the exercise of teaching in higher education. Knowing the subject is not enough, creativity and competence is necessary .

To create an impactful consulting offering consultants need to truly listen to the clients served. This fundamental act of listening goes beyond merely hearing words; it involves deeply understanding the needs, challenges, and aspirations that those words convey. The true measure of a consulting firm’s value lies in how it responds to the insights gained from such listening. Far from adopting a “we know best” stance, successful consulting firms recognise that their expertise must be continually calibrated against the lived experiences and feedback of their clients.

Feedback is paramount. The Chancellor, leading the university through transformation, encounters two types of feedback: high level of noise and resistance and small signal of changing predefined with consultants metrics. He/She actively influences them and seeks to understand desire impact to make adjustment actions.

Consulting firms that focus solely on delivering a report and moving on to the next client without a dedicated follow-up mechanism are likely to find themselves struggling to secure repeat business. The reason is straightforward - higher education institutions are seeking partners who are committed to their long-term success, not just consultants who view their engagement as a one-off transaction. Consulting firms must adopt a rigorous approach to tracking and assessing the effectiveness of their advisory services and recommendations. Outcomes can be measures through client satisfaction surveys, analysis of project outcomes compared to predefined objectives, and other performance indicators. The goal is to quantify the value delivered.

Conducting desk research in advance to create a scorecard that aligns with the roadmap for achieving the Polar Star metric is crucial. People are the key asset and the leader signals the desired changes, incentivizes the right behavior, and penalizes undesired behavior to create healthy and sustainable desired culture.

When the focus is creating summary reports out of the existing reports by people who have hardly any experience in higher education, the out come is nothing more than a useless piece of paper. Consulting should be qualitative and the report should be solving issues and finding resolution for challenges faced by HE's

En nuestra escuela de formación bilingüe para la empleabilidad, mantenernos adaptables es fundamental para asegurar que nuestros programas satisfagan las necesidades cambiantes del mercado laboral. Por ejemplo, constantemente evaluamos las tendencias en la demanda de habilidades lingüísticas y profesionales, y ajustamos nuestro plan de estudios para incluir temas relevantes como la comunicación efectiva en entornos internacionales y la cultura empresarial de diferentes sectores.

One thing I found helpful is a game for us to play. Write notes to each other without fear of your seats. Tell each other the negatives and positives. Have some real conversations first without the fear of hierarchy. Define the problems with the students by observing and communicating. Rather than having a consultant, start to communicate around the problem without academic ego. This is almost impossible but it is the only way. I tried and they kicked me out politely. Because my classes’s learning curve went so high that the other teachers start complaining other than asking how I did it. No academic could bare some freelancer teacher who speaks the truth. Lets talk real.

Don’t pigeon-hole yourself. Having niche skills or a unique offering is a great way to make yourself valuable initially, but they soon become defunct once others pick up on the trend. Stay alert and refresh not only skills you already have, but learn new ones and keep open about rebranding yourself.

Ensure you are talking with the right audience. I've explained to sales teams that if you are offering a solution, who is the end user, who is the facilitator, and who makes the decision about the purchase. You might offer the best solutions; however, if your ideal client is on board but can't convince the decision-makers to spend money, you need to widen the audience and change your approach. If you consult on software and the end user loves it, but IT can't install it, you need to widen the audience and change your approach.

Communicate with the academia and industry transparently,Rethink the needs to be assessed and provide strategic solutions, make relevancy to accommodate the requirements of higher education bodies and student community

Being update about the latest happenings, policy changes and industry connect is crucial for being able to deliver. Also consultation highly depends on how you increase your knowledge base and keep it enriching.