Herb Cannon

As Architects and Engineers, we are constantly choosing consultants to work on our projects. It might be a mechanical consultant for a K-12 school or an elevator consultant for our office tower.

When it comes time to reach out and get some help running our firm, we have far less experience and unfortunately the wrong choice can be costly. -- Herb Cannon

In many cases we have a long-standing relationship with our consultants. We have a comfortable relationship and work together to produce quality projects. Occasionally, we need to choose a consultant we have no experience with. It seems to me that for the most part we do a pretty good job of choosing qualified consultants. Over the years firms have developed an informal process of finding qualified consultants, evaluating their qualifications, checking references and making the appropriate selection.

When it comes time to reach out and get some help running our firm, we have far less experience and unfortunately the wrong choice can be costly. Here is some advice on choosing a management consultant.

Is the consulting firm dedicated to the A/E industry?

For most assignments a management consultant that is dedicated to serving the A/E industry will best serve you. It takes a long time to fully understand the special requirements of running an A/E firm. Simplistic and canned approaches developed by a management consultant working with other professions and industries often fall short of what is required. While there are exceptions to this rule, don't take a chance.

Does the consulting firm also do recruiting?

Don't fall into the trap of retaining a consultant only to have them recruit away your key people. If this sounds unethical that's because it is. It happened to me when I was running a 100 person architecture firm. I retained a consultant well known in the industry (you can find them in the back of the phone book) to help with some human resource issues. The next thing I know, key people in my firm were getting calls from the management consultants recruiting division! When I confronted them, all I got was a commitment not to recruit my people while they had an "active assignment" with my company. I don't know if this sounds like extortion to you, but it sure did to me.

If you are considering a consultant that is also in the recruiting business, do yourself a favor and find another consultant. If for some reason you can't resist, at least get them to sign a commitment to never recruit or place people from your firm.

Who will be assigned to my project and what are their qualifications?

Don't let them use the bait and switch. Get a firm commitment as to who will be working on your project. Find out what positions they have held in the industry and for how long. Don't settle for someone with consulting experience only. Someone with an MBA and little or no experience in running an A/E firm (you can find them in the back of the phone book) is not your best choice. Most of the answers are not found in the textbook, they are found in the trenches. Find someone who has held a senior position at an A/E firm with at least 15 years of "hands on" experience.

Get references for the consultant assigned to your project - not references for the firm in general.

While general references are nice and lend credibility to the consulting company, but what really counts are references for the consultant assigned to your project. Get a list of references for the consultant and make those calls. When talking to references, be specific about your needs and ask their opinion about the consultant's ability to solve the problem. Find out if they were timely and provided a good value for the money invested.

Don't mistake the high price for quality of service.

As you know, setting a price for professional services is not an exact science. In the management consulting business, there are many factors that go into quoting a price. A short list of considerations are, how close the assignment is, availability of staff, prospects for continuing work, how large the client is, prior relationships, strategic value, cash flow needed to fund their direct mail campaign and so on. Quality service can come at a variety of prices.

With a little bit of time invested up-front you can find a management consultant that is right for the task at hand. Please send me your thoughts and stories to AEC Management Solutions

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