What makes someone a good consultant?
A good consultant is analytical, knowledgeable, empathetic, honest, cooperative, reliable, flexible, and, above all, critical. After all, it’s no use to have advisors who only talk down to you. Competent consultants also have a sharp focus. An involved and driven consultant makes organizations, people, and systems function better and brings (back) peace to your company. Thanks to balanced strategic IT advice, supply chain advice, data governance advice, CRM advice, or legally watertight privacy legislation advice.
Advisors who are practical and also make a strong case for the implementation of the advice they present are scarce. Whether it’s strategy advice, digital transformation, or BI advice, it doesn’t matter. Such top consultants can be found with us. Our consultants focus on the proven concept of The intelligent, data-driven organization. Passionned Group consultants also have a clear, distinct vision of data-driven work, the concept of continuous improvement, change management, and everything related to it.
What is organizational consulting?
So what is a good description of organizational consulting?
Organizational consulting is providing a contribution, on behalf of a client, to the determination, analysis, and resolution of issues of governance, policy, organization, and functioning, which occur within and/or with respect to an organization and/or between organizations (source: Ooa).
This service, formulating strategic advice, is always done from an independent position in relation to the client. Core values are expertise, reliability, diligence, and professional independence. Consultants who not only endorse these core values but actually propagate them always earn their fee back.
3 tips for dealing with a strategic consulting firm
The delicate relationship a client maintains with an organizational consulting firm and its consultants is based 100% on trust. After all, you don’t let just anyone look into your kitchen. But even once the atmosphere is familiar, it is wise to remain alert and businesslike. Three practical tips help.
- Demand achievable results from your advisor. An advisor with integrity feels co-responsible for the end results. Therefore, our consultants’ ambition level is a lot higher than stated in the definition above. Passionned Group consultants do not just want to ‘contribute’, but explicitly take responsibility for the roll-out and implementation phase, including the end results based on SMART goals. ‘Don’t base your decisions on the advice of those who don’t have to deal with the results’. In other words, do not accept non-binding advice from consultants who have never “stood with their feet in the mud” themselves.
- Let well-founded advice sink in first. Let the conclusions and recommendations sink in. Above all, do not react right away. Let the advice sink in, because as English clergyman Jeremiah Seed knew: “Advice is like snow – the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind. Freely translated: receive advice with an open mind. But also read between the lines and then act not only to the letter but also in the spirit of the advice. This is how you get maximum return from strategic organizational advice. Or as American author Harper Lee pithily put it, “Many receive advice, only the wise profit from it”.
- Make conclusive agreements about dealing with data. Organizational consultants often manage clients` and employees’ sensitive data and, in addition to the risk of a data breach, they also run the risk of losing data along the way, which increasingly also poses considerable business risks. A major data breach can even put your organization’s reputation at risk and lead to bankruptcy. Always have a data advisor, data governance advisor, and/or privacy law advisor prepared, and make proper arrangements with the external advisor on how they will handle your data.
Passionned Group: the best choice in organizational consulting
You want to be sure that you not only make the right choice but also the best choice and receive corresponding integral advice. Whether it’s CRM software advice, process advice, new business advice, or customer experience advice, the consultants and organizational advisors at Passionned Group will be happy to help you.
Strategy & Consulting: these are our specializations
Passionned Group’s consultants and data specialists are experts and provide consulting in the following areas, among others:
We do not advise from one domain or silo. We are used to looking at issues integrally. This automatically makes the solution more sustainable.
Smart advice: make your company work smarter too
Our consultants specialize in organizational consulting with a focus on building and creating an intelligent, data-driven organization. But of course, you can also come to us for organizational advice on specific aspects. The advantage for you is that we always go the extra mile. An integral vision and a pragmatic approach significantly increase the success rate of your projects.
Every year we invest a lot of time in research & training
We work almost exclusively with senior consultants who have more than earned their spurs in countless consulting projects in various sectors. Every year we invest a lot of time and money in research and training to ensure that our (organizational) advice remains of high quality.
Strategy and advice: opt for a clear advisory process in 4 phases
In every advisory process, we go through a number of concrete phases that will lead to the desired clarity. Depending on your situation, your desired advisory role, and the type of advice (organizational advice, strategic advice, software advice, et cetera), we can work out the specific phases in more or less depth. Or less deeply or broadly. Tailor-made, in other words. Step by step, we arrive at objective, well-founded and independent advice:
- Clarifying the issue: based on interviews, workshops, and documentation, we gain more knowledge of the exact issue. We also delve into the underlying issues and the desired future situation and why (necessity).
- Contextual analysis: if relevant, technology, industry, and market developments are included and weighed. After all, the world around us is changing at an increasingly rapid pace, and not taking this into account can be disastrous.
- Analysis of the situation: based on the results from steps 1 and 2, we make an initial analysis that we discuss and have tested by various stakeholders and domain experts. We then write up our findings, conclusions, and recommendations. Where necessary, we review various possible solutions and scenarios. These too are first tested with those directly involved.
- Presentation of the advice: the final advice is drawn up, including a summary of the steps taken. We present the advice in the form of a mini-conference to you as the client, the people involved, and the decision-makers.
This is followed by an evaluation and we determine any follow-up steps, such as the start of the implementation of the advice.
The result: independent consulting with a silver lining
“In my view, in consulting projects, we always create the desired clarity together – client and consultant. Where at first the situation seemed diffuse and the various options were not clear, at a certain moment everyone has a clear picture of which choice the organization must or can make. We give advice with a silver lining. Moreover, the why becomes clearly visible. And that is also crystal clear to everyone involved. This prevents noise during implementation.” — Daan van Beek, Managing Director Passionned Group
Choose from different consultancy programs
Depending on your situation and the scope and impact of the choice to be made, you can choose from various consulting roles and consulting processes:
Figure 1: You have a choice of multiple advisory roles with us.
The more you move to the right, the more solidly we fill the advisory role, and the closer the collaboration is with your organization and your people. For large-scale projects, we often choose interim management.
The advantages of Passionned Group
- 100% independent from suppliers or third parties
- Integral approach, so you can be sure of the feasibility of our advice
- The consultants are also implementers and know where advice can fail
- You can also contact us for a second opinion or implementation of the advice.
Do you want objective advice?
Are you looking for strategic management advice, data science advice, digital transformation advice, strategic ICT advice, lean six sigma advice, or process optimization advice? Our advice always makes sense and can really make a difference. Because of our integral approach, the recommendations are widely supported in your organization and are easily implementable. Please feel free to contact us for more information or make an appointment to get acquainted.
About Passionned Group
Passionned Group specializes in advising and implementing data-driven, intelligent organizations. Our passionate consultants help larger and smaller organizations in their transition into intelligent companies. Every other year we organize the Dutch BI & Data Science Award™, the award for the Smartest organization in the Netherlands. 
