CHAPTER 4
CONTRACTING OVERVIEW
At the beginning of every workshop we conduct on consulting skills, we ask people what they want to learn about consulting. The first wave of answers is very reasonable and task oriented:
- How do you set up a project?
- How do you measure consulting effectiveness?
- Can you act as an umpire and helper at the same time?
- What do you do to elicit client expectations?
- How do you get in the door when you are not welcome?
- How do you establish trust?
- What are consulting skills anyhow?
- When do we break for lunch?
. . . and on and on.
As we get into the workshop, it is easy to see the real desires that underlie these wishes. What do consultants want to learn about consulting? We want to learn how to have power over our clients! ...
