What Should I Look For If I Want Hire A Consultant to Help With Strategic Planning?
Since the strategic planning process is rather complex, and requires the ability to manage input and participation from a wide range of people, it can be helpful to hire a consultant to help out with the process. But, there are good consultants and bad consultants when it comes to leading the strategic planning process.
The first thing, and perhaps the most important, is to find a consultant who specialized in strategic planning. Steer clear of consultants who claim to do dozens of different things and just happen to also offer strategic planning services. Since you want a consultant with extensive experience and knowledge in developing strategic plans, you don't want someone who may work in this area only once or twice a year, and only has a bit more experience than the people already in your organization.
The second thing, and also very important, is to retain a consultant who will a) help you prepare and plan for strategic planning, b) facilitate the actual meeting(s) or strategic planning sessions, and c) provide follow-up and help with implementing the plan.
Almost all strategic planning consultants will offer to to (b). Some will probably help with (a). Very few will offer extensive follow-up and coaching on the implementation side (c). That's a problem since the most common reason why strategic planning get wasted has to do with implementation.
In other words, look for a consultant who understands the importance of all three of the steps above, and is willing to support you throughout the entire process.
There are two other things to consider. The executives and managers need to be comfortable with the consultant, so that means that they should have a chance to talk to the consultant before he or she is hired. And, the consultant should be able to explain the strategic planning model and process he or she will use. Executives and managers should be able to understand that model when it is explained, and see that it makes sense for the organization.