Using, Choosing, and Using an educational consultant

Introduction

The aim of this document is to provide advice and guidance in choosing a consultant in the field of education. You may be the headteacher or principal of a school or college, an officer in a local education authority (LEA) or school district, or the director of a private company wishing to undertake work in the educational sector. This article focuses mainly on information and communication technology (ICT), but the underlying principles also apply more generally.

Using a consultant

Consultants, at least in the UK, have a poor reputation as a species, and yet they are in greater demand than ever. Why? Why would any organisation elect to use a consultant rather than hiring someone? There are several reasons for this.

Short-term work

Some work is, by its very nature, short-term. If, for example, you are having a new computer suite installed, you might want some advice from an external person who has no axe to grind ? and whom you can blame when half the staff complain about the design, the equipment and so on!

Expertise

In a specialist area, such as ICT, it's quite likely that the school doesn't have the expertise in-house to do what it needs to do within a particular time scale.

Cost

Although consultants can be expensive, it is (or should be) a relatively short-term expense. And don't forget that you don't have all the on-costs, like pension contributions. These can add up to 20% of the salary costs. Also, if the consultant goes on holiday or falls ill, you don't incur any extra expense.

Choosing a consultant

When choosing a consultant or adviser to assist your school in ICT, whether for Hands-On Support, training, strategic development or any other aspect of ICT, it's important to get the right person or company for the job.

To help you do so, here is a list of questions you may wish to ask before hiring someone. You are unlikely to find any person or company who can answer "yes" to all of these questions, so you will need to bring your own professional judgement to bear on your decision.

1. Is the consultancy independently accredited by a quality assurance scheme, such as by NaaceMark or similar scheme? If not, is it seeking accreditation? Note that an answer of "No" in either case is not necessarily a bad thing. In my own experience, the work itself is so time-consuming that it's quite difficult to go through the hoops required to prove that you can do what you're doing! That's why the next few questions are important too.

2. Is the consultant a member of a relevant organisation, such as (in the UK) Naace or the Society for Education Consultants? These types of organisation provide a certain degree of quality assurance in the sense that they won't accept just anybody as members, although they will give no guarantees about the quality of work undertaken by their members. Also, they often provide useful information about the sector in which the consultant works, which in theory at least keeps the consultant up-to-date on current developments in the field.

3. Ask for details of similar work undertaken by the consultancy, and for details of satisfied clients ? but bear in mind that a reluctance to supply such details may be due to considerations of confidentiality.

4. Ask for references, testimonials, or details of evaluations, ie evidence of quality assurance of the consultants' work.

5. You can also ask how the consultant gets most of its work. Word of mouth is a good sign.

6. Ask for the CVs of the consultants who will be working in your organisation if you decide to sign up this consultancy.

7. Is the consultant qualified to undertake the work? This could be an academic qualification, accreditation as an inspector or training provider in one or more schemes, or qualification by experience.

8. Has the consultant been on relevant training in the last year?

9. Ensure that the consultancy agrees not to subcontract the work without prior discussion with you, the client.

10. If you are considering the consultant for staff training, ask if you can attend one of their training sessions in another school.

11. Ask for other evidence that will help you decide if the consultancy is the best for this particular work in your school, such as a client list (but note point about confidentiality above), examples of video work, published work or a website.

Using a consultant

Once you've decided on a particular consultant, have an agreement drawn up that ensures, for example, that you will be kept informed of progress. For example, it may not be unreasonable to ask for a summary every 2 weeks, if you are an LEA and the consultant is working in your schools.

Once you've hired a consultant, make sure you get the best value for money. This means some or even all of the following, depending on the particular circumstances:

Have a clear set of aims and objectives that you are both agreed upon. This may be developed in discussion with the consultant before signing on the dotted line, but there must be a clear set of expectations by the time the consultant starts work.

Make sure that the consultant has the tools needed to do the job effectively. This could mean access to the computer network, desk space, essential contact information and so on.

Ensure that you have all the contact information you need too: phone and fax numbers, a mobile phone number too, perhaps, with the facility for leaving messages, and an email address.

Put in place whatever is needed to enable the consultant to "hit the ground running". If, for example, you spend the first morning discussing what the consultant should do, you're throwing money down the drain: all that should have been agreed beforehand ? unless, of course, there is a need for a sudden change in plan, although even in those situations there should have been a contingency plan (a "Plan B") in place.

Don't keep asking the consultant to do more and more in an unplanned kind of way. If more work is needed, discuss whether it could feasibly be done well in the agreed time, or whether more days need to be allocated for it.

Conclusion

With proper groundwork when choosing a consultant, and sound planning, hiring a consultant to help you with your ICT work can be an excellent means of achieving the aims of your organisation.

http://www.ictineducation.org

Based in the UK, Terry Freedman has nearly thirty years' experience in education. Specialising in information and communication technology (ICT), he has taught in inner city schools, been Head of Department, worked at the Qualification and Curriculum Authority (a non-departmental government body) and held a 3rd tier officer post -- Head of E-Education -- in a London local education authority (LEA). He is also an Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education) inspector for ICT and Business Education, has worked with the private sector on devising ICT courses and bidding for government funds, and advises schools and LEAs on educational technology matters.

In his spare time, Terry is currently the Vice Chair of the Executive committee of the advisory body, Naace, in which capacity he has edited British Educational Computing Technology Association (Becta) newsletters for ICT teachers, and is a member of the British Computer Society, having previously been invited to join the British Computer Society's Schools Experts Panel. He is a Mirandanet Fellow, has been an e-mentor, and is now a train

---

Plan for Business Success - 6 Reasons to Succession Plan

Succession Planning provides many valuable assets to your business. Yet... Read More

Does Your State Like To Keep Your Workers Compensation Secrets Hidden?

Workers compensation secrets are hidden deep within piles and piles... Read More

What Cross-cultural Training Can Do for You

International business is more complex than ever before. Success in... Read More

Business Innovation ? Value versus Quality

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Innovation Management ? Good Leadership

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Make Change Easy - Get Involved!

There are wild variances in how much involvement organisations are... Read More

Innovation Management ? the power of decision makers

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

How to Overcome Your Fear of Firing

OVERCOMING FEAR OF FIRING "It was obvious that this employee... Read More

Running Successful Meetings - The Key Steps To Getting It Right

We all complain about meetings which are a waste of... Read More

Employee Discipline: How to Nip Problems in the Bud

Are you uncomfortable with delivering disciplinary action, even involving employees... Read More

Manage Your Business from the Rockies, not the Prairies

The day job as a manager is all about managing... Read More

7 Tips for Growing Your Business You Do Not Want to Ignore: Business Strategies To Easily Implement

Growing companies must always be ready for the next challenge.... Read More

Creativity and Innovation Management ? Feasibility

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

The Importance of Business Goals

For you to get where you want to go, there... Read More

Objects in the Mirror are Further Than They Appear

Definition From http://www.merriamwebster.com -- "Virtual: - being such in essence... Read More

Lets Make Training More Interesting!

Many HR managers believe that by sending their workers to... Read More

Riding the Waves to Success

Last week I was confused and frustrated about a few... Read More

Successful Managing Through Delegation

Managers should avoid the tendency to constantly delegate to the... Read More

Just The Facts

Attitudes are more important than facts. Dr. Karl Menninger... Read More

Business Innovation ? Tacit Knowledge

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Difficult Employees-Poor Performance - 10 Tips for Dealing with it in the Workplace

I personally struggle with the term 'managing people' - because... Read More

Knowledge Management - Capturing And Structuring Knowledge Into Reusable Assets

Many organizations have an approach for identifying and recording lessons... Read More

A Leadership Lesson: Two Guys With Guns

PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters... Read More

Make a Difference - Sweat the Small Stuff First

My background is in retail management - yes, running stores,... Read More

New Job, New Culture: Do You Fit In?

It seemed like a good decision at the time. A... Read More

To Thine Own Self Be True--Its Better for Business: What Arthur Andersen Would Say to His Company

As a child, you probably heard, "to thine own self... Read More

Five Ways to Increase Profitability By Doing The Right Thing

1. Base your business in the Magic Triangle. Honesty, integrity,... Read More

The Ten Keys to Maximizing Employee Performance

1. Let people know what you expect. If people know... Read More

Score the Rainbows Pot of Gold: Become the Boss That No One Wants to Leave

Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the... Read More

Creativity Management - The Value of Being Prolific

When asked his secret to success, the author Graham Green... Read More

Action Learning: Its More Than OJT

For centuries companies have used on-the-job training (OJT). OJT works... Read More

Organisational Culture for Continuous Improvement

I have been working with leading Business Improvement guru, Tim... Read More

How to Deal With Salespeople

If you are an executive, you may sometimes feel like... Read More