International Association of Medical Technology Consultants

Why Hire a Consultant?

The most common reasons for hiring a consultant that can bring great value to your organization. are:

• You need specialized skills. To help with a special need; to do the specialized work.

• To bring temporary or on-going expertise that supplements, (not supplants) your staff.

• You need new ideas.

• You need third party objectivity.

• You have a large, complex and/or politically sensitive project.

• You need a task or project done, but you do not have the staff to do it in-house. To obtain expertise that you don't have and to deliver quality that you might otherwise not be able to afford to hire.
• Accountability for results, schedule and costs to achieve an answer - this translates into significant economies when compared to in-house efforts.

• To provide confidentiality or to inject an objective voice.

• To bring in the "outside expert". Sometimes leadership perceives that it's only the opinion of "the expert" that counts.

• To see the situation through fresh, disinterested eyes, without the filters and preconceived notions that internal people may have.

• To gain efficiency: One can:

1. ask a staff person to do something they don't have time to do,

2. hire a mediocre full-time person at a salary below the level of an experienced expert, or

3. hire an experienced consultant.

It is a matter of capacity and efficiency.

• To enable all staff and volunteers to fully participate in a process such as strategic planning, without one of them having to wear a facilitator's or coordinator's hat too.

• To achieve the efficiency of having an expert for a short period of time. Most organizations have needs that require specialized skills, but which are not sufficient in scope to justify a full-time employee.

• To get the job done efficiently. A consultant, guided by expertise and experience, is more likely to get the job done right the first time.

• To model and offer learning - something that a staff person may not be able to do as freely just because of perceived power issues, hierarchical constraints, etc.

• To ask the right questions.
•  No cost of training or “experimenting” on how to complete the assignment -- focused on achieving results.

•  And believe it, at times, it is cheaper and cost effective to hire a consultant.

The right consultant can give you valuable insight into your business, increase productivity and improve your sine qua non

Instructions: The following are just a few thoughts with our 10-point check:

1.     Step 1

Determine what you need in a consultant and write up a description.

2.     Step 2

Assess resources and talent from within your company before going outside for help.

3.     Step 3

Determine whether you need an outside consultant or whether the project can be handled in-house.

4.     Step 4

Ask for referrals at trade groups, the chamber of commerce and from others within your industry for outside consultants.

5.     Step 5

Check the background and references of any consultant you are considering. Make sure he or she has the expertise you need.

6.     Step 6

Meet with the consultant and discuss the parameters of the project - what needs to be done, price and time line.

7.     Step 7

Make sure the consultant understands your expectations.

8.     Step 8

Agree on checkpoints and deadlines for various stages of the project.

Step 9

9.     Check for the way the consultant or the firm operates - review Code of Conduct

Step 10

10.  For all high calibre project needing a consultant, check for any appropriate liability insurance