Global Community

My team and I at Concentric Global held a "Fireside Chat" this week prompted by this topic:  Building a Practice (or a Career) in Management System. 

The response was very interesting. I wanted to bring some of those questions over to the Exemplar Community to get feedback from a large pool of management system pros. Feel free to pick one or more of the following questions and then give your answer(s). 

Questions:

1. What is the most frustrating part of starting up your own career in management systems work (auditing, training, consulting, etc.)?

2. What has been your most EXPENSIVE lesson in your career as an employee or business owner?

3. How has the profession and industry changed in the past decade or two?

4. How much money does it take to jump from an employee role to a business owner?

5. How much should I charge per hour for my consulting?

I look forward to your answers. This should be fun!

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All the best,
James

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James R. Thompson
COO/CIO & Technical Leader
Concentric Global | Office: 843.608.0127
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The hardest part when I started out was realising the work is sold on trust rather than on qualifications. I had the certificates and the technical knowledge and still spent the first year wondering why the phone was not ringing, when the real answer was that people hire the auditor or consultant they have already met or been referred to. My most expensive lesson was underpricing early work to get a foot in the door, because those first clients quietly set the reference price for everything that follows and it is very hard to move them later.

On how the profession has changed, the biggest shift I see is that clients now expect you to understand their business, not just the standard. Being able to quote a clause is the baseline. What gets you invited back is talking about their process risks in their own language, and that is the part I spend most of my time on with the people I train.

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Dilawar Laghari
Auditor, Consultant and Trainer
Audit Workshop
https://auditworkshop.com/
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I have been operating my consulting, auditing and training firm for 24 years and the lessons keep coming. The most expensive lesson x 2 was my website. I learned that investing in a corporate looking website that would stand-up against the established firms and certification bodies to build credibility did not have the impact that I thought it would. My take away has been that the website is a marketing tool and the budget should be proportionate to its intent - a website has not won me a client or a project, but it did open the door.

I have coached many people who have come to me expressing interest in joining the profession and the number one issue I see is that most people like the idea of being a consultant but cannot make the transition from being an employee. Being a consultant means that you are walking the line between responsibility and collaboration (this is critical for your client's sustained success with their management system). While you do not have authority on the client's organizational chart, it is your job to do what it takes to accomplish the goals of the project. There is no manager assigning tasks, you are determining what the tasks are and assigning them. When they fail to get completed by the assignee, you need to find the solution. No matter how much a client may appear to understand the project, they don't know what they don't know and you must fill in the gaps. Sometimes this means having difficult conversations and having the courage to identify what the issues are preventing completion.

Good luck!

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Lisa Velanoff-Wynne
President
The ISO Edge
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