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Use these questions as a guide to help establish reasonable expectations and ensure a good fit between consultants and the organizations they will serve. We recommend devoting time to thoughtful consideration of which of these apply to your particular needs and circumstances and addressing them explicitly as part of the selection process.
Consultant Questions
How do you assess your client's needs?
Skilled consultants should have a system in place to help them determine what their clients’ needs are. Do they have any practices in place to support clients that have varied needs or do they use a cookie cutter system to assess their clients?
What are your most important values when working with a client?
This will help you determine if your consultant’s values align with your own. This will be key to a successful relationship. 100% of your values don’t need to overlap; however, you will want to know that this consultant upholds values that align with yours and those of your organization.
Can you share with me your strategy and process for going about your work?
Responses to this question will help you understand what the path of success will look like from your consultants point of view. This is a great time for you to affirm similar strategies and processes or areas that you feel different about.
What are your expectations of me during this process?
Your consultant should be able to clearly articulate your role in the process and how you can work collaboratively together to reach success.
How do you prefer to receive feedback from your clients throughout your projects?
You will want to have a strong line of communication with your consultant. If they do not have a process or preference for taking feedback from you, this could be a red flag.
How do you approach working with clients from historically excluded communities?
Does your consultant have inclusive, accessible and equitable practices when they approach working with clients from different backgrounds? Does your consultant have any considerations about barriers that certain groups may face as they engage with a consultant?
How do you hold yourself accountable to equity, justice, and liberation principles?
Here, you would want to learn if equity, justice, and liberation practices are an ongoing priority for this consultant? Are they holding themselves accountable for continued education? A good response would include a variety of opportunities for continued education.
What does success look like for you?
You will want to hear from you consultant about what tangible success looks like for them. Does this align with what success looks like for you? Is the consultant’s plan customized to meet the needs of your team/organization?
Organizational Questions
Do I have the capacity to engage with a consultant?
Are you ready to work collaboratively? Do you have enough time in the day to support the process? What is your bandwidth? How can you share this appropriately with your consultant.
Am I ready to do the work? Am I clear about the amount of effort this requires from me?
Consultants typically come to you with a fresh perspective that you may have never experienced. Are you ready to accept feedback and willing to think about the perspective that the consultant is offering?
Have I considered the ways my work style may impact this project?
We all have different work styles, have I shared my style with my consultant? Have I thought about the way my style may impact the project both positively and negatively?
Am I able to clearly articulate my wants and needs as well as those of my staff and board?
This is an important question to consider to ensure that you receive the outcomes that you want. Can you articulate what the needs are and what you hope to accomplish in a clear and concise way?
What do I want to be feeling, thinking and doing differently once this project is complete?
This question will help you understand the change that you want to experience after you have completed your work with your consultant. A good consultant will be grateful to have a good understanding of their client’s needs.
What is my personal timeline for this project?
Having a clear timeline will help you stay the course during this process. We should share this information clearly with our consultant and work closely with them to determine if our timeline is practical for the work that we want to do.
What does success look like?
Have you determined what the outcomes of a successful project would be? What does success look like for you as the client?