Business Consulting – How a Consultant Can Facilitate the Use of Organizational Goal Setting

The theory of motivation that many in the business consulting world find really useful in predicting employee behavior is the Goal Setting Theory. They believe that goal setting is an effective way to motivate groups and individuals. It seems natural to assume that by setting goals that are unambiguous, measurable, achievable, significant, and within a time limit, we shall be motivated to achieve our mission.

The elements of the theory most consultants find most fascinating, based upon they are personal experiences in the workplace, are the principles of goal setting.

For you, the idea behind goal setting maybe the motivation that would direct your behavior in order to facilitate success, and you immediately committed yourself to achieving those goals. Accordingly, you ensured that conditions surrounding the goals would not hinder the accomplishing of the objectives of the department. Apart from being intrinsically motivated, there are principles that must be considered in goal setting in order to be motivated to successfully accomplish tasks. This is one topic many consulting practitioners focus on in the business consulting arena.

In your position, you may ensure that a department was supplied with the material and human resources necessary to achieve success. You may have also ensured that tasks were measurable, clear and with a time set for completion. with the help of a business consultant, you may have established clear expectations and this served as a motivator for you. Another motivating aspect for you possibly was that the tasks were challenging; you may love a challenge and have risen to the occasion.

The Administrators in your organization possibly where amazed at how much you were able to accomplish in such a short time. You subsequently may revise your job description in order to bolster commitment to your work and enlarge the service of your department in your pursuit of excellence in service.

If you are out to increase the effectiveness of your online exposure and attract prospective online customers, you owe it to yourself and the financial future of your business to learn everything you can about effectively using a business consultant to facilitate company growth.

Do you want to increase the effectiveness of your online marketing techniques to dramatically grow your bottom line?

Business Consulting – How to Use a Business Consultant to Facilitate Competence Motivation

Many in the business consulting world have found that competence motivation involves a concern with mastery. Research in the organizational setting has revealed that employee engagement and willingness to exert effort on job-related performance tasks can be enhanced by social motives, such as the desire to work with friends and peers, to please their supervisor and to please their family.

When you were being raised you hopefully received praise from your parents, teachers, friends, and peers, and you felt competent, worthwhile, and good about yourself. What motivates you possibly is when individuals who know you best tell me you am not capable of doing a task, which in turn makes you want to prove them wrong.

As an example, and one which many consultants who focus on business consulting face routinely is when a person moves to another state, say California, and as the desire to start their own clothing boutique. One of the main areas the prospective entrepreneur or faces is dealing with competence motivation, that is, motivating themselves to learn the skills needed to achieve business success.

Their family, mother and close friends may not support the idea and said they would fail. They ignored their family and friends negative outlook and proceeded to use their education and put it to good use. Not only was the business a success, they continued on to open two more boutiques, which totaled to three beach city locations. It was not until they were a success that their family and close friends said they were proud of them.

In business consulting, consultants routinely assist business owners with not only forming strategic plans and goals, but also creating the mindset needed to achieve them.

If you are out to increase the effectiveness of your online exposure and attract prospective online customers, you owe it to yourself and the financial future of your business to learn everything you can about effectively using a business consultant to facilitate company growth and competence motivation.

Do you want to increase the effectiveness of your online marketing techniques to dramatically grow your bottom line?

If so, read about and download my new free ebook How A Business Consultant Can Increase Your Marketing Effectiveness.

Business Consulting – Using a Consultant to Facilitate Personal and Professional Goal Setting

One of the main areas consultants who specialize in business consulting focus on is organizational and personal motivation, mostly women when you and your organization have goals that you want to achieve. Some people have long and short term goals. A personal goal that you may want to achieve is finishing your bachelor’s degree.

When you initially thought about going back to school, you have to first motivate yourself to enroll back into school. This may seem like an easy step, but to the business consultant who sees this a daily basis, the easiest goals and steps to take to achieve them, at times, are some of the sticking points business professionals face.

It may half taken you a long time to decide what you were going to study. You may have made up all kind of excuses that stopped you from going back to school. You may not have motivated yourself hard enough to start with. You possibly thought about all the school work you would have to do while also working a full-time job.

Your goals may be medium range goals, mini-goals, or micro-goals. All goals that people set are worth achieving. Since you started back going to school you know you must now finish. You are hopefully not the type of person who starts things and don’t finish them. You will receive your bachelor’s degree no matter what. You just have to continue to work hard and stay focused.

In the organizational setting, consultants are often called into the business consulting role to assist employees with setting not only workplace performance goals and assistance in developing a plan to successfully complete the, but also professional development plans and goals such as achieving a certain level of education.

If you don’t motivate yourself you will easily give up and you won’t get anything accomplished. It is better to set goals that are realistic and attainable. Having more than one goal is also good. Once one goal has been achieved just start focusing on your next goal. Always stay motivated. Without strong personal motivation your chances of achieving your goals may fail.

If you are out to increase the effectiveness of your online exposure and attract prospective online customers, you owe it to yourself and the financial future of your business to learn everything you can about effectively using a business consultant to facilitate company growth.

Do you want to increase the effectiveness of your online marketing techniques to dramatically grow your bottom line?

If so, read about and download my new free ebook How A Business Consultant Can Increase Your Marketing Effectiveness.

Business Consulting – How to Use a Consultant to Facilitate Communication in the Workplace

One of the areas a business consultant is used in the corporate world is to facilitate communication change in the workplace. When looking and looking to integrate business consulting with you in your professional environment, some criteria you need to look at in choosing a professional consultant is their experience, publications they have written, degrees they have obtained impossibly with a teach for universities or not in the specialty you are looking to hire an to consult on.

In a study on communication it was discovered that without it, the workplace would be a very difficult place to be. Researchers described the environment as “harmonious” when there is good communication between employer and employee. The article stated that statistically, 62 percent of employees do not feel they are well-informed by there superiors, 64 percent feel as though they are not involved in the communication process, and 68 percent do not believe the information they are told because of the previous two concerns. When employees do not feel as if they are completely and consistently informed, they feel insecure which causes a break down in communication and ultimately cause disgruntled workers.

The business consultant also assists in facilitating communication between employees. In a collaborative work environment where open communication is encouraged, a more relaxed culture is created. This effort has been viewed as one of the main keys to employee retention. In this type of environment you find workers who are more open and willing to speak on what problems may be building that management may not be aware of.

Also, it leaves room for potential problems between employees to be headed off before becoming too serious. For example, if a coworker seems unfriendly or distrustful, and the culture is an open one, management or another employee can feel at ease going to that person to inquire about what the issue might be. Without this openness, grudges may be held, negativity will grow, and therefore a little issue somehow becomes a huge problem.

If you are out to increase the effectiveness of your online exposure and attract prospective online customers, you owe it to yourself and the financial future of your business to learn everything you can about effectively using a business consultant to facilitate company growth and competence motivation.
Do you want to increase the effectiveness of your online marketing techniques to dramatically grow your bottom line?

If so, read about and download my new free eBook How A Business Consultant Can Increase Your Marketing Effectiveness.

Business Consulting – Using a Consultant to Facilitate Decision Making in the Workplace

One of the areas the business consultant is used in the corporate environment is to facilitate decision-making. The consultant can help out with brainstorming, facilitating decision-making meetings and in the development of a strategic integration plan.

The decision-making environment in the modern workplace is becoming more complex every day. Strangely, this complexity is symptomatic of an information rich, highly automated society. Information technology and all forms of automation, while aiding the worker, also serve to compass space and time and thus make a more complex worldwide market economy possible. The unavoidable consequence is that more people need to make decision-making systems of work.

In decision making in the workplace, an emerging theoretical framework called Image Theory (IT) as a means of advancing behavioral decision science to address this problem. Like many others in recent years, the classical foundation in decision science, which has led to subjective Expected Utility theory, is cast in a way that renders it impotent for many decision environments like ones typically encountered today. In business consulting, the consultant uses their own personal toolbox of techniques and strategies to implement when working towards decision-making issues. They can face these tools on grounded theory, competency development and possibly strategic interviewing techniques with integral employees in the decision-making process.

Decision making in the workplace attempts to reorient behavioral decision research toward understanding decision strategies and away from understanding only what factors influence the calculation of utilities. It is a commendable effort that shows the why the what and the how for advancing scientific understand taken lightly, due to its limited state of maturity and its willingness to embrace nontraditional scientific methods.

Now more than ever, business consultants are used to facilitate training employees in the development of decision making skills, which are of great importance in the corporate setting. This is the first time in history we have four generations working together. Unfortunately, as more and more young adults grow up hooked to the Internet, their smart phone, video games or other distractions, they are not developing the social skills to the degree needed, to later become successful in the workplace.

If you are out to increase the effectiveness of your online exposure and attract Prospective online customers, you owe it to yourself and the financial future of your business to learn everything you can about effectively using a business consultant to facilitate company growth and competence motivation.

Do you want to increase the effectiveness of your online marketing techniques to dramatically grow your bottom line?

If so, read about and download my new free eBook How A Business Consultant Can Increase Your Marketing Effectiveness.

Marketing Consultants Can Help You Increase Your Online Conversion Rates

Online marketing consultants can help with various aspects of building a business online. They can help you in many ways, including measuring and increasing your conversion rates. Read on to learn more about how important the conversion rate can be to your company and find out how a marketing expert could take your reporting and improve your rate of conversion from visitor to buyer.

What’s Your Conversion Rate?

If you have 100 visitors to your website and 1 person buys something, that’s a conversion of 1%. Is that a good conversion rate? That depends. A successful rate of converting visitors to customers at 1% may be good or could be not so good. This is subjective and based on many things, such as:

  • How many visitors you get
  • How much money each sale results in for you
  • How much it costs your company to attract each visitor.

If you get thousands of visitors each day, a sale per one hundred could be considered decent. If you only get a few dozen, this isn’t going to be as profitable for you.

If your profit margin is large enough, a lower conversion rate could equate to success for you. If you are an online business selling products at a low commission rate, this isn’t as good, of course. Analysing your conversion and determining what a healthy % is for your business depends on what you’re selling, how much you’re earning, how many visitors you get, how many visitors bounce from the page they land on without digging deeper, what sort of keyword phrases your website is ranking for, and what the overall advertising costs for your desired keyword phrases are.

How much does it cost you to attract website visitors? If you are doing a pay per click campaign, for instance, your conversion rate is going to be more important to you than if you are someone doing an organic search engine optimisation campaign and not relying as much on paid traffic. If relying mainly on increasing your organic traffic, you aren’t going to be spending as much on advertising as someone doing paid search engine marketing campaigns so you won’t necessarily feel as anxious about the convert rate as someone spending fifty pounds sterling a day and getting almost nothing in sales.

A marketing consultant’s expertise can help you analyse your conversion rate compared to your advertising costs and can also help you to maximise that spend through careful analysis of your reports so that you are spending less and earning more.

Marketing consultants have the know-how that can help you analyse specific website attributes that tell you how to improve your customer’s experience, which can increase the chances of making more sales. Some marketing consultants can extract data rapidly from analytics reporting, trends analysis for search engines like Google, and could even help you parlay that into double digit conversion growth. Imagine 10 sales per 100 visitors rather than 1? Imagine lowering your cost of advertising and obtaining more free and organic traffic than paid traffic? Whether your business exists online alone, in a bricks and mortar store only, or through both methods, marketing consultants can use your website reports along with other reporting available through areas, such as Google AdWords reporting, to help you make an action plan that can increase your rate of conversion and maximise the earning potential that exists with every visitor to your website.

Why Hire a Landscape Professional Consultant?

As a landscaped designer and consultant, people frequently come up to me with numerous questions regarding their garden problems and what they can do to solve them.

Since I tend to be a social kind of guy, I usually take some time to try and answer their questions for them on the spot, but most of the time it is best that I visit their home and see for myself what the underlying issues really are.

I often hear about the hard work they put into gardening, and the woes that seem to mount up every year, and how discouraged they become watching their lawn develop browning out areas, or how their rhododendrons suffer so much die back during the winter, or when should they cut back their deciduous shrubs because they are growing at a rapid rate and are becoming unsightly.

These are questions that have numerous causes as to why they develop in the first place, and oftentimes are difficult to answer in a simple few minutes of time spent in a grocery store parking lot.

Normally I suggest an on site consult so that I can see for myself the circumstances they are up against, and can come to some conclusion as to what the problem is, why it happened in the first place, and how they can remedy the situation themselves.

This is where my story begins.

Countless times, I find that people are intrigued with free information and think that gardening and planting should be simple to accomplish. but it’s not that simple. It involves lots of hard work and lots of research in planning and executing the final results.

I try to convince people that a quick consult will save them time, effort, and money in the long run, however when it comes to talking money, all of a sudden the garden isn’t such a project after all.

I shake my head in amazement at how they can be so concerned about their gardens and property, but when there is a price tag attached to information, they become squeamish and shy away from making any sort of commitment to the solution of their troubles.

So, they go on their way and who knows what ever happens.

At that point, I have given them about a half hour of free time and come away without any compensation for my experience and knowledge as a horticulturist.

What are people thinking when they approach an expert and begin loading them down with questions, then walk away free as a bird not offering any compensation for the time that I have spent with them? Do people not understand that as an expert in my field that this is my life’s work and what I depend on for my income?

Folks, landscaping is a science, an art form, and a tangible end product that results from experience and sensitivity to the special environment of your home in particular.

Every property owner has different issues that can propose future problems if not approached properly. Every land form and property changes from one yard to the one next door. It is not a wise decision to make, that any plant will work, or I can grow what I want and I expect it to grow. Not so…

You need to make proper decisions as to what will grow in your yard. Are there any land formations that could possibly cause drainage problems and cause my birch tree to die unless I rectify the problem?

These are questions that can be answered and should be answered by an expert, one who knows for certain if and what your yard will accommodate for plantings and design.

I speak with people all the time about consulting a professional, be it myself or someone else in the field, which can solve issues before they happen.

When making a consideration to spend a large amount of money, anywhere from a couple thousand dollars to a much larger amount of money on their yard, does a couple hundred dollars for a design and consultation seem so outrageous to make sure the job is planned and planted properly to begin with?

Think of it as an insurance policy that unlike most policies, end at the end of the year and you have spent hundreds of dollars for nothing but assurance that your home or life will be protected.

This is an insurance policy that comes with expert advice and an on going relationship with an expert that can and will sacrifice time to answer your questions, simply because you made a wise decision to hire him in the first place.

With this said, you now have a landscape you can be proud of and will grow proportionately over the years. In 3-5 years you won’t be ripping your hair out because your lawn guy planted a 40 foot arborvitae in from of your picture window.

I would urge you, as a professional and one who cares about your home landscape, to consider consulting a professional consultant prior to hiring or deciding on someone to plant your landscape for you.

Management Consulting – Understanding the Ins and Outs of a Management Consultant

Management consulting is the practice of helping certain organizations improve their performance through analysis of business problems and creating plans of actions for improvement. Management consulting has grown quickly particularly in the United States. The industry has grown at least 20% in the last couple of years.

Organizations who are hiring management consultants usually look for external help or objective third party who can share their ideas about business plans. As these consultants were exposed with different organizations and problems related to business, they are expected to bring in expertise that can help their clients solve their problems in half the time.

Management consultants may also be called in as a temporary help for a one-time projects. Consultants are expected to provide assistance in development of coaching skills, organizational change management, technology implementation, operational improvement services, and strategy development. These consultants are also expected to bring in their own methodologies when identifying and resolving the problems within the organization.

Consultants have the option to specialize. They may opt to focus their attention on particular industries such as telecommunications, retail, etc. They are encouraged to choose their areas of specialty based on their educational background, preferences, and relevant experiences. These people charge based on the size of the project and the amount of time needed to finish it. Consultants who have been around for years and who were already considered industry leaders can charge up to $25,000 per client. While those people who are just starting out usually charge $1,500 – $10,000. This can indeed be a lucrative field to individuals who got the expertise and skills.

Make Money Instead Of Losing It With The Help Of A Business Plan Consultant

Opening a business without any planning often ends in disaster. Unless a person is business-savvy, most first-timers wind up losing money rather than making anything. This is the reason small business consultants exist. They are here to make life easier for people who cannot seem to get things started. Individuals like this have years of industry experience. Why risk your funds when you can have a structured organization that will ensure positive results.

One thing that a business plan consultant takes care of is a company business plan. This is the framework of how your organization should operate. A plan like this is never permanent. It serves its purpose while the company is in its early growth stage. As things progress, expect the structure to change as well. As the client, you need to provide all your relevant information to this person. Your business plan is based on this as well as an assessment of your industry.

For small business consultants to stay on top, they must stay ahead of everyone else. To do this, they have to compile industry reports, conduct feasibility studies, and profile potential consumers. Aside from this, they also analyze consumer trends and gather legislation reports. All this information will have a future impact on your intended venture. Businesses that prove successful are those that learn from past mistakes while building on a foundation of tried and tested results.

One area that you must focus on is your competition. The business plan consultant you hire will study your chosen location carefully. Let us say Starbucks is the existing coffee shop on your block. People frequent this place based on brand name alone. How do you challenge an industry giant like this? You need recommendations from small business consultants. They will tell you what services your competition is lacking. It is then up to you whether you choose to incorporate these or not. One way to bring in new clients is to telecast live NBA games for free.

In case your investment is a coffee shop, a business plan consultant will figure out a possible location. Knowing that this kind of place does well, they will have to figure out whom to sell your products to. In this case, who are these potential customers? Are they office workers? Are they students? These are questions that need to be asked carefully.

You need this if you want to source funds from a bank or lending agency. Calculating costs and projecting profitability studies are what small business consultants do best. They will prepare all your pertinent financial documents to ensure that you get that loan. Aside from this, they can devise business strategies that helps you stay ahead of your competition.

In the end, you will not regret hiring a business plan consultant. This person is the key to your long-term business life and success. Listen to what they have to say carefully. All your long-term and short-term goals should be set and implemented in a timely manner. With this in mind, you may involve him or her in your daily operations.

Do You Need an MBA to Be a Management Consultant?

An MBA can be a good route into a consulting firm as an associate. Associates receive training and on-the-job apprenticeship at many of the big firms. Associates are the ones performing background research and analysis. Combining problem solving skills and technical experience is common for associates. Well-performing associates then often receive promotions after a few years of experience. However, to succeed as a consultant, experience is what counts.

While many consultants entered firms such as McKinsey holding MBA degrees, not everyone who consults has an MBA. While education is important, it does not solve complex problems the same way experience does. Those serving as consultants rarely go to business school to get the job. On the other hand, consultants with years of real-world experience sometimes go back to get their MBA degrees. Why? For one, holding an MBA commissions a higher salary. MBA degrees combined with real-world experience bring together the best of both situations.

Someone with five or ten years of experience and an MBA degree is more capable of handling complex projects and has more tools at her disposal than someone with either the experience or the MBA. Second, the MBA degree helps garner respect from those not familiar with a consultant’s experience or industry. When a new client or firm sees the combination of experience and degree, it helps build their confidence. An example of a place where having an MBA in addition to experience helps is when applying to a consultancy like McKinsey & Company. When hiring, McKinsey looks for strength in four areas: Problem solving, achieving, personal impact, and leadership. Holding an MBA helps with problem solving skills, and can help with personal impact (especially if service projects or volunteer work was completed).

Experience is irreplaceable and demonstrates a history of achieving and leadership positions. Some companies, like BCG, will sponsor high performing associates wanting to pursue MBA degrees. This is a valuable option for those wishing to pursue an MBA, but who aren’t sure how the degree will be paid for.

The downside is that many experienced consultants apply to top MBA programs. While employment at a top management consulting firm is helpful, those who are self-employed, or who work at smaller consultancies must work hard to make themselves stand out. Having a specific focus, leadership experience, and clear goals all are helpful.

Moreover, if you are self-employed, be sure to write detailed accounts of whom your clients were and how you served them. This demonstrates to employers that you were employed. If deciding to obtain an MBA is on the table, be sure to study for the GMAT and carefully research prospective schools (and the companies recruiting from those schools). Carefully construct the application and essay. Make sure you recognize, going into an MBA program that it is a demanding career move and a large financial investment and plan accordingly. While an MBA degree is not necessary for a management consultant, obtaining an MBA can help your prospects of finding gainful employment-especially when combined with industry or consulting experience.