Are planning micro-consultations the future?

I recently spoke with students at University of Minnesota in a public gardens management class about strategic planning. One of the question their instructor Stan Hokanson indicated the class had been reflecting on all semester was when and how to use consultants effectively. Here are my impressions:

There is a swing happening. The traditional role of consultants as the big guns we call in on rare occasions have really shifted in the last 5-10 years. Leadership should similar adapt their thinking to match the broader range of scales planning consultants work at.

3 big ways nonprofits use consultants

At the risk of overgeneralizing, I'm placing work with consultants into 3 different sized buckets.

The first type is strategic planning work. This is a big, heavy bucket. Many organizations will need a consultant to do some heavy lifting every 5-10 years on major planning initiatives. In these cases what a consultant offers that a permanent staff member cannot is primarily expertise, though their value in giving a project/process credibility, aiding in diplomacy and of course contributing their labor is also critical and varies with each project and organization. This expertise may be in #planning, #design, #construction, #infrastructure, #finance, or some other field of specialization. In these cases an organization usually has a vague idea of what it needs (we need a strategic plan, we need a new building, we need a digital transformation) and maybe some idea of intended outcomes/impacts, but the consultants help to shape the scope of the final project and excavate the vision from stakeholders.

The second type is project planning work. This is a smaller bucket. Some organizations will benefit from using a consultant for specific projects with more defined and shorter term goals every 1-3 years. In these cases the consultant is supplying expertise (including perspective) and additional labor. This may be an organizational structure analysis, a stakeholder needs assessment, leading a search, or assistance with program/exhibit design. In these cases an organization is/should be much clearer about the project scope from the very beginning, which likely means they already have a strategic plan or other guiding documents with clear priorities and desired impacts in hand.

The third type is what I am calling planning micro-consulting. This is more of a water glass than a bucket. Often this is work that is both limited in scale like strategic planning work AND lacking clarity of needs like project planning initiatives. In this case, a consultant is most importantly providing valuable perspective into a situation, process, or potential plan of action. This might be getting to the root of a conflict between board and staff, helping a new ED settle into their role, or helping a board figure out what they need to figure out before embarking on a planning consultant project.

The value of micro-consultants

Many of us are already aware of the value of consultants we can rely on to get a job done. This might be a trusted graphic designer, editor, or technician. These I also count at micro-consultants. But in the age of Zoom and remote work and ever more complicated and demanding organizational needs, we have also entered a new era where planning micro-consultants will shine.

These flex players offer you a thought partner, a gut check, a person who is on your side but not in your chain of command. They can jump into a board retreat for a few hours, have a coaching session with a director or ED, or spend a few hours contextualizing and analyzing a strategy culminating in an emailed memo. Just like with a trusted graphic designer, editor, or technician, we can build relationships with planning micro-consultants that allow them to pop in and out on shorter notice. They can speak truth to power, help build consensus, provide a less biased view of a given situation, facilitate a meeting, design a process, and otherwise help leaders be better leaders while leaving a very small footprint.

Micro-consultants can also provide inordinate bang for the buck. These are cost effective, short term engagements. A planning micro-consultant can help get an organization over a hump so its people can unlock the full potential of an organization by upskilling your leadership team, introducing and modeling new tools for consensus building, helping leadership be more confident in their decision making, and provide that dose of diplomacy and the vote of confidence that sometimes stops a good idea before it can gain traction.