The Manager's Pocket Guide to Using Consultants

Alternatives to Using Consultants

You don’t have to hire an outside consultant to do everything— particularly if you don’t have an unlimited budget. One option is to contract out only portions of the project or study to consultants and have some tasks performed in-house. (This also helps an organization develop its internal capacity.) Management and staff do not necessarily need to be involved in the same project activities, however.

Here are some sample tasks that can be assigned in-house:

•   Managers, staff members, key stakeholders, and/or partner organizations can conduct literature reviews or secondary research.

•   Management and staff members (or even graduate students) can systematically examine available data or launch a survey to generate ...