Month: September 2018

Many companies would off-hand dismiss their need for a consultant in regards to their business. I know I have been in their shoes.

As a consultant that produces a hurdle for me to either break through or jump over. Having given the idea some thought I have come up with 3 reasons why a company (any company) might want to find and hire a great consultant.

Reason 1. The company knows what they want to accomplish but do not have the time or resource available.

Explanation 1. Consultants provide a readily available resource that will allow a company to produce the desired goal in a short period of time. They are, in general, well-educated, well versed and experienced individuals who have the knowledge and wherewithal to provide companies with talent that is needed in the short-term. There exists no overhead, no taxes and no insurance needs just a straight cost resource to accomplish a specific task.

Reason 2. The company knows they want to improve in a given area but aren’t sure how to accomplish that goal.

Explanation 2. As mentioned previously, consultants are individuals with varied backgrounds and experiences that can be adapted to meet many needs. The consultant can provide insight and direction for the company and assist in defining the steps necessary to meet the desired goal. Further the consultant can, through their experience, provide development, documentation and training to create a process that can continue to meet the goal for many years to come.

Reason 3. The company knows they need to improve but are not sure where to start or how to change.

Explanation 3. The stated issue is right in the wheel-house of a good consultant. Through years of experience the consultant can provide bite-size projects to get the company started down the road to future success. The beauty of this methodology is that the company can see immediate returns and then use that data to decide, with the assistance of the consultant, how to proceed. The consultant can, in a short period of time, provide education in process development, documentation and training that will help the company stay on a path of continual improvement. In addition, the company will have found an invaluable resource that they can use as needed to insure they are on the path to greatest success.

Conclusion: Before dismissing off-hand the need for a consultant take a minute to consider the value proposition. A consultant can effect maximum change in a minimum time frame with maximum effort and at a reasonable cost.

The center of Mearig Business Consulting is processes.

Every company has processes. The challenge for many companies is to recognize their existence and their importance. The main charter for Mearig Business Consulting is to assist companies to change that mind-set.

Processes define how a company operates. How their employees perform their job function and at the core determine the level of company success. In years of experience with processes and process development I usually find the following systems:

First is “word of mouth“. These are the processes that have been defined and placed into existence through the knowledge of the creator. Rarely are these processes documented. The company expectation is for managers and supervisors to train existing and incoming employees to the processes that were explained to them at their own introduction to the company. The problem with this approach is akin to the Telephone Game where knowledge starts at the source and by the time it goes through 8 to 10 people the output is often vastly different from the input. The result is often unhappy upper management and unhappy employees as mistakes are made throughout the organization even though all have been trained to the processes.

Second is single effort documented processes. These start well and produce an employee base that is going the same direction with the same instructions. The issue arises when these processes change without changing the documentation. Personnel find a better way and implement a new process and the company finds themselves in a similar “word of mouth” situation. However, the condition may be even worse as new employees are trained to old documentation and mistakes occur due to improper process document control and new employees not being told about the “new” processes.

Third is companies who document processes and maintain a control system that allows process changes to drive documentation changes. These companies rarely deal with mistakes due to lack of information. They find their employees, throughout the chain of command, to be more aware and responsive to the companies goals and direction. This leads to employee longevity and increases job satisfaction. Employees throughout the organization are happier and more involved as they take ownership of process and process change. Control brings freedom.

Here at Mearig Business Consulting our goal is to move all companies to the third system.