Kmg phila presentation 11 nov09

1Copyright © 2009 by Iknow LLC.

So You Want to be a KM Consultant?

Joe [email protected] Iknow LLCNovember 11, 2009

mailto:[email protected]

So You Want to be a KM Consultant?

The Making of a Consultant

The State of the KM Consulting Market

KM Consulting –a Career Perspective

KM Consulting Strategy: 2010 & Beyond

Seven Keys for Consulting Success

Conclusions & Takeaways

Questions



I always wanted to be a consultant.

I don’t know why.


© www.despair.com

http://www.despair.com/


- Worked in “Big KM” – Big 4 in the ‘90’s. The time we fondly remember.

-The eye of the storm for KM at the time

- Everyone wants to get back to that time

-But, IT’S NOT COMING BACK!



With Iknow Since 2005

“A meritocracy of ideas.”

Model has evolved with shifting market.

“KM Dream team strategy”

Experienced consultants and practitioners across the spectrum of KM topic areas.

- Unique combination of business strategy and technical delivery capability across content management, collaboration, and other KM topics (e.g. taxonomy, CoP, org governance.)


The KM Professional Services Market 2009


- Vertical Market Perspective

- Horizontal Market Perspective

- The Bottom Line

KM Consulting – a Vertical Market Perspective

Pharma & Life Science

- AV & BV

Financial Services

Integrated Manufacturing

Chemical and Process Manufacturing

Professional Services

Public Sector

Non-profit


KM Consulting – a Horizontal Market Perspective

Subject matter expertise

Project & Analysis Expertise

Technical/Platform Expertise

KM Expertise (plus…)

Trusted Advisor/Guru


KM Market – The Bottom Line

1) Knowledge Management is still relevant

- Still the best term to encompass the broad spectrum of technologies and disciplines involved in optimizing the value of an organization’s intellectual assets.

2) The strategic justification is a major challenge- Business environment of cost-cutting and consolidation

3) The tactical justifications are driven by- Platform consolidation- The search for “intelligent” life- Public sector-graying workforce

4) Finding the right “internal team” and defining their concept


KM Consulting –a Career Perspective

- Three Words

- Who Gets the Coffee?

- A-B-C

- Guru-dom


Up or Out

- Successful consultants are like sharks – they have to keep moving

- The Big 4 model – up or out – is kind of a constant, either you qualify yourself as a partner, or you eventually land a staff position at a client

- There are staff positions at consulting firms, but it a risky proposition – always the first to go in a downturn.


Who gets the coffee?

- In my experience, the key to long-term success in consulting is SELLING, not delivery

- Once you sell, of course you deliver – but the long-term perspective on business development and closing is the engine for growth.

- Consultants who aren’t good at sales, but who are successful, will have a good sales team at their side

- Successful sales in consulting comes in all forms, from cold calling to 100 percent networking


A-B-C

- Selling in consulting come in many forms:

- High volume, sales as marketing

- Low-key networking, the country club approach

- Proposal machines

- The all important follow-on


Guru-dom

The option to being the big closer/Partner/Principal is to be a Guru.

Requires more of a focus on constantly generating new intellectual property.

Still requires selling and closing, but the IP (books, courses, methods, etc.) are the primary draw.


KM Consulting Strategy: 2010 & Beyond

Strategy as the Optimization of a Portfolio of Intellectual Assets

A Textbook Approach

Strategy and the Sole Practitioner


Strategy: The Optimization of a Portfolio of Intellectual Assets

- E.g., practice what you preach

- Develop and Leverage your own portfolio of assets

- Capture, classify and develop avenues for distribution of as much of the artifacts of your intellectual effort as possible

- Provides the engine for generating the intellectual assets that move your firm forward

For more info, see The June 2005 Harvard Business Review “Surprising Economics of a "People Business” by Felix Barber, Rainer Strack http://bit.ly/2B0Jtt


http://bit.ly/2B0Jtt

A Textbook Five-factor Perspective


Strategic factors driving decisions about allocation of:

- Time/Attention

- Capital (financial/social)

Strategy and the Sole Practitioner

Even sole practitioners faces the need to operate strategically

- “Kill and eat” is not really a strategy

If you’re not operating strategically, you short-change your clients, even if you are totally successful at delivery


Seven Keys to Consulting Success

(1) Winning the Proposal Game

(2) Your Give Away

(3) Dealing with Expectations

(4) Moving In – becoming part of the family

(5) Appearing bigger than you are—project yourself

(6) Eating your own dog food—practicing what you preach

(7) Build your virtual team


Winning the Proposal Game

Successful proposals don’t simply win you business

- They are the blueprint for maintaining the relationship with the client

Successful proposals usually win on the strength of the team, and the demonstration of capability to perform

- You need to document all your past experience (qualifications) rigorously.

You need to run the proposal through an applicable project management method to clarify scope, identify resources and role, and to manage risk.


Your Give Away

You must offer a “freebie” – a lure for potential clients

- A free taste of the services you offer to get them hooked

The BEST charge clients for their give-away.

- It gets the client’s skin in the game.

Make sure that you (and the potential client) don’t confuse your give away with your real offer!


Dealing with Expectations

Winning professional services business requires setting high expectations.

The biggest source of suffering in professional practice is the inevitable divergence of expectations once delivery begins.

The client is always right – to a point.

It’s important to establish a partnership with clients that allows give and take.

Don’t be afraid to fire a client.

- In the long run, it’s more important to maintain your professional integrity than to be abused for billable hours.


Moving In – Becoming Part of the Family

“Be thou familiar but by no means vulgar..”

You want to cultivate a trusted advisory relationship AND maintain your independence.

This is a high-wire act for consultants.

You have to create your own structure that YOU belong to so you’re not dependent on belonging o the client’s culture and structure.

23Copyright © 2005 by Iknow LLC and Incoda Corporation. Company confidential materials. Do not copy or distribute.

Appearing Bigger—Projecting Yourself

One of the tenets of small business is to find ways to appear bigger than you are.

Overinvesting in image – quality of materials, deliverables, web site, etc. is one way to accomplish this.

Pulling in allies from your network to flesh out your team also can be helpful.

Be smart about this, and also be accurate. Leaving people with an impression is different that mis-representing yourself.

24Copyright © 2005 by Iknow LLC and Incoda Corporation. Company confidential materials. Do not copy or distribute.

Eating Your Own Dog Food—Practicing What You Preach

Vexes every consultant – focus should be on delivery and new business development.

But especially in a discipline like KM, it’s important to be able to lead client – to show a vision, to open their eyes.

Practicing KM internally – no matter your size – expands the boundaries of your professional capabilities.


Build your Virtual Team

Consultants are expected to be experts in their disciplines.

- But too often they think that their expertise in a domain extends to other domain.

Beyond your professional cadre, it’s important to build a social network that’s balanced with people who have key skills.

Train your team’s eyes to spot opportunities for you.

- They should be clear about what you do that they can reliably identify an obvious opportunity back to you.


Conclusions & Takeaways


Have an up-to-date, market-responsive strategy

Over-invest in image

Charge for your give away

Maximize your on-line footprint with a digital asset strategy

Questions


Kmg phila presentation 11 nov09

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