Checklist for Working with a Consultant

The following list delineates many of the issues described above and is handy reference for organizers as they consider working with, and then establishing a working relationship with a consultant. (The list is adapted from an article by Barbara Davis published in The Grantsmanship Center News, March/April 1983).

1. Clarify your broad expectations of the work a consultant will do.
2. Decide roughly how much you want to spend.
3. Talk with at least two consultants and check the references they provide you.
4. Ask each consultant you are seriously considering submitting a written proposal summarizing the work to be performed, the time line and the cost.
5. Make SURE that you feel comfortable working with the person you select.
6. Develop a clearly worded, written contract, which should include the following:
   a) a list of ‘deliverables”
   b) a projected completion date
   c) a schedule for payment
   d) checkpoints along the way at which the client and consultant can evaluate progress and resolve any problems that may have arisen.
   e) a mechanism by which either party can terminate the contract before it is completed
   f) identification of the person in your agency who has the authority to agree to expenditures or approve the consultant’s work
   g) an understanding of who will do the actual consulting work.

Consultants bring:

• To have a neutral party help the group address hot issues, touchy issues
• To provide a strategic planning structure
• To facilitate the process
• To highlight the process issues
• To process resistance issues
• To bring expertise and experience on a particular topic, issue process.
• To accomplish a lot in a small time frame

To discuss how you might create a dynamic experience for your next meeting contact us today.