Thinking Like a Management

Consultant

Dr. Joe O’Mahoney

joeomahoney@gmail.com

Introductions

1. What does a consultant do?

2. How would one consult a school?

3. Project management.

4. It’s about the people.

5. Example Projects.

Agenda

NAHT

Consultant Thinking

What does a

consultant

do?

A Consultancy Methodology

1. Goals?

2. How are you doing? - Benchmarking.

3. What works? Review the evidence.

4. Program governance � Project identification.

5. Project prioritisation.

6. Project delivery.

Goals

please!

What makes

a difference?

Like consultancies,

schools are about

the people…….

Soft leadership for good

performers

Mentoring, coaching &

rotation

Training on the job

Professional development

Listening…….

“too many schools are run like

police states”

“give good teachers more

freedom”

“get out of the office and into

the corridors”

“support teachers’ discipline”

“say thank you more often”

Two Project Examples

• Process Engineering

– Top down.

– Identifying end-to-end processes.

– Walking the process through.

– Shortening, automating, adding value.

• Quality Management

– Bottom up.

– Enabling & supporting the front-line.

– Micro-level changes

– Internal customers

Review

• A people business

• Evidence for what works

• Project orientation

• Process engineering

• Quality management