Professionals from many different disciplines now serve as internal consultants to leaders, managers, and teams in their organizations. Their role is to help clients to achieve a specific outcome desired by that client or the organization. The process of consulting always involves facilitating change: technical, organizational, or behavioural. As an internal consultant, your ability to influence strategy, tactics, decisions, and behaviour is based on both your expertise and your relationships. Consulting on the Inside ™ requires you to walk a fi ne line between your role as an insider, understanding the culture and the business, and your value as an outsider with a more objective view and broad knowledge.

In this workshop, based on the book, Consulting on the Inside: A Practical Guide for Internal Consultants by Beverly Scott and B. Kim Barnes (ATD Press, 2011), you will develop a greater understanding of your role, the consulting process, and how to use specific skills and tools to create an effective and successful internal consulting practice.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Identify consulting roles that are the best fit for you and your organization
• Gain tips and approaches to building and developing your internal consulting practice
• Apply the consulting process model to your own organization consulting initiatives
• Practice key behavioural skills that contribute to consulting success
• Assess your level of consulting mastery and establish clear development goals
   

Who Should Participate

This class is designed for anyone with an internal consulting role and/or responsibilities in fields such as Human
Resources, Finance, Strategy, Change Management, Internal Auditing, Information Technology,
Organization Development, or Training and Development

What You Will Learn

Introduction

• Establish a climate for learning; clarify expectations
• Establish a common set of definitions and identify challenges
   

Opening Exercise

• Real-world baseline consulting experience
   

The Phases of Consulting

• Review and brief discussion of each phase
• Apply phases to listed challenges
   

Contact Phase

• Observation and practice of Contact Phase
• Overview of communication skills: Receptive tactics; focus on Inquiring and Listening
• Structured skill practice, feedback, and review
   

Agreement Phase

• Demonstration and discussion of key elements of Constructive Negotiation™
• Overview of communication skills: Expressive tactics; focus on Telling and Selling.
• Skill practice, feedback, and review
   

Information and Assessment Phase

• Demonstration and discussion of methodologies for gathering information
• Designing your assessment methodology
   

Feedback Phase

• Review of Expressive and Receptive influence tactics
• Skill practice, feedback, and review
   

Your Role and Consulting Practice

• Review competency assessment and discuss next steps to design your role and build skills
• Discuss self-management: The five challenges
   

Committments and Wrap-Up