Four Ways Adults Learn

I believe that consulting is a skill and not simply a body of knowledge. It is like playing a musical instrument or playing a sport: all require continual practice to remain competent. This is where qualification standards are not enough. Many years ago, I passed a piano exam-but if I haven't practiced in the meantime, there's little hope that I will pass it now. Continuing professional development is needed-but what kind?

We provide training in five major areas:

*Personal skills-Operating in the world of consulting requires personal skills that differ from those needed in other business spheres.

* Interpersonal relations and communication. These are taught as part of the foundation training in most businesses. To do well as a consultant, these skills need to be developed beyond the basics.

* Generic skills-The consulting process incorporates generic skills and techniques in such areas as problem solving, analytical tools and techniques, and facilitation skills

*Client relations-This area concerns the commercial relationship between consultant and client. At the basic level, it covers client handling skills, but it also deals with selling and account management.

* Delivering and managing services-This is how consultants provide value, usually in the form of projects.

Both competencies and the processes used to gain them can be recorded in each cell of the competency framework. For example, a performance review might lead to the conclusion that a consultant needs to become more adept at making persuasive presentations to clients. This need could be met in various ways, including a presentation skills course, observing experts making excellent presentations, coaching at work while preparing and delivering a client presentation, and reading how to do it. The choice would depend on the consultant's learning style, the available opportunities for training and practice, urgency, and perhaps other factors.

We helped one client firm generate its own descriptions of competencies. To identify the qualities that truly made a difference to consultant performance, we trained a team of their people to conduct structured interviews with practice managers and clients. We used the results of this research to complete their framework, which they used to profile individual consultants and identify where they would benefit from development. Incidentally, achieving the level of "master" was seen as neither necessary nor desirable in all cases; it all depends on the role of the individual.