In a previous life I worked for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City as the Director of Marketing and Communications. I was fortunate to work for the Company at a time when it was investing in artistic quality and preparing for its move from the dusty old Lyric Theatre to the gleaming new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.
My colleagues and I knew that moving into a new venue was a big deal. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to leverage the move to solidify relationships with audience members and donors, while also ensuring we optimized the revenue opportunity a new venue and interest would bring.
We decided to hire a consultant to help us maximize the opportunity.
I was made to feel stupid. I was disempowered.
It felt paternal in all the worst ways.
Except my previous encounters with consultants were … BAD. Before working at the Opera, I had experience with consultants who interviewed me and others in the organization — without the benefit of context or having built trust. It felt like a deposition. At the end of one day’s worth of evaluation, we discovered all the things the consultants said we were doing wrong. I was made to feel stupid. I was disempowered. It felt paternal in all the worst ways. I did not want that experience to repeat itself.
The General Director and I developed shared criteria to evaluate the consulting firms we decided to interview. Our shared criteria included:
- Experience making decisions about pricing and price zones in a new venue, with no attendance data to reference.
- Experience opening new venues with clients to optimize customer-facing communications.
- A price tag that aligned with a gift a Board member committed to donating in support of the project.
My own additional criteria were:
- The consulting work should be done “in the open” so my staff and I could ask questions and learn from the engagement and approach.
- The consulting approach should favor teaching over telling: educating my team and me about WHY certain decisions were made, rather than telling us the final recommendation without context.
- The consulting approach should make us feel like partners, rather than a fee-for-service relationship.
Fast forward to the end of the transition to the Kauffman Center. We selected TRG Arts to be our consulting partner, and it was an undeniable success. Yes, while the business and financial outcomes were the primary focus of the work, TRG and I together ensured that the staff team were educated and invested in during the process. It was a completely different experience than the previous version I mentioned.
Why do I share this with you?
First, I learned that not all consultants are the same, nor are the approaches they take in offering advice and support.
Second, I learned the importance of articulating professional development goals for staff participants in a consulting engagement. While I knew the consulting relationship was short-lived, I hoped the investment in the team would help me retain them beyond the successful completion of the move into the Kauffman Center.
Third, I learned how important it was to ensure every member of my team was aware of the partnership and its parameters. I did a poor job of this initially and we likely did not squeeze every bit of value out of the consulting relationship because of it.
Finally, as a byproduct of point three above, I learned that my team members felt the same kind of “underneath a microscope” evaluation as I felt in my own bad consulting experience. This is because the engagement was “forced” upon them; they were not part of the selection process. Therefore, they did not have an opportunity to advocate for any additional criteria they’d like to have seen in the selection of a consulting partner.
Realizing the “soft” outcomes of an engagement may be as important as financial outcomes was an important discovery for me.
Realizing the “soft” outcomes of an engagement may be as important as financial outcomes was an important discovery for me. With this understanding, I now know that WHO the consulting partner is – what animates them, how they approach coaching, whether they have a sense of humor – is as important as the experience they and their firm bring.
The next time you or your organization are seeking consulting support:
- Quantify not only the financial/business outcomes you desire, but also the professional development outcomes that show your staff you are investing in them for the long-term.
- Be transparent with the team who will work most closely with the consultant. Share your decision-making criteria. Offer to review and potentially add the team’s criteria to your own.
- Allow the staff team to meet with the potential consulting partners before a decision is made. Either involve the staff in helping evaluate portions of the decision, or at minimum be transparent about the decision-making factors you used in making a selection.
- Insist the consultant invest time in building relationships with the staff team; calibrate your own expectations for the speed of financial return to enable this important relational investment.
I would love to work with you and your team. Book a FREE introductory call to explore how I can support your team growing revenue, increasing participation, and up-skilling their contributions.