TIPS ON EFFECTIVE CONSULTING

For Galveston Bay Section

29 May 2014

T. Scott Atkinson, LSMSouth Area ChairIEEE Region 5

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE CONSULTING

Taken from 30+ years of providing consultative services to employers and clientsSome major consulting assignments:– Tenneco Inc, Houston, TX– USAA, San Antonio, TX– Premiere Network Services, Dallas, TX– Pfizer Pharmaceutical Warehouse, Memphis, TN

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE CONSULTING

# 10

HAVE GOOD PRESENTATION / WRITING SKILLS

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE CONSULTING

# 9

MAINTAIN CONTROL OF ALL FINANCIAL MATTERS– PERSONAL AND BUSINESS– BILL CLIENT’S ON AN HOURLY BASIS– PROVIDE DETAILS OF BILLABLE WORK.

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE CONSULTING

# 8

BE A PROGLEM SOLVER– IDENTIFY PROBLEMS QUICKLY– PROVIDE MULTIPLE SOLUTIONS WITH PROS &

CONS– DOCUMENTING THE BEST ONE– ONLY IMPLEMENT AT THE REQUEST OF THE

CLIENT.

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE CONSULTING

# 7

BE ACKNOWLEDGED AS AN EXPERT IN YOUR FIELD VIA – LICENCES– TITLES– CERTIFICATIONS– SPEAKING AT CONFERENCES / MEETINGS

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE CONSULTING

# 6

MAINTAIN CLOSE COMMUNICATIONS WITH YOUR CLIENT– PROVIDE PROGRESS REPORTS AT LEAST BI-

WEEKLY– KEEP CLIENT INFORMED OF THE PROGRESS

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE CONSULTING

# 5

CONTRACTS NEED TO BE IN WRITING AND AGREEABLE BEFORE WORK BEGINS– RECOMMEND A MASTER CONTRACT– INDIVIDUAL JOBS/TASKS ON ADDENDUMS.

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE CONSULTING

# 4

FOCUS ON THE CLIENT– BE A TEAM MEMBER– KNOW THE CLIENT’S BUSINESS

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE CONSULTING

# 3

MAINTAIN LONG TERM RELATIONSHIPS

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE CONSULTING

# 2

ENSURE YOU HAVE AND CONTINUE TO MAINTAIN A GOOD REPUTATION

TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE CONSULTING

# 1

NETWORK– NETWORK – NETWORK

QUESTIONS?

Thank You