There are many reasons to seek out external support for your business and individual needs.  Maybe you have a gap in your company’s expertise and need to hire an outside consultant to fill it.  For example someone to lead a due diligence effort, or implement an IT transition.  Maybe your company has been losing market share and you need someone to come in and conduct internal and external surveys of the situation making recommendations for a strategy to rebound.  Maybe your company has gained some new contracts and it makes more sense to hire temporary experts to fulfill them rather than increase your permanent workforce.  Maybe you are having difficulty transitioning your company or department to where you need them to be and require a seasoned professional to coach you through how to make the changes more effectively.

Whatever the reason for external support, there is a growing trend to bring on the expertise needed to make positive changes in your organization, or in you.  It can be intimidating bringing in an outsider; not having a long-term relationship with them requires a lot of trust without a lot of time to build it.  Here are some suggestions to find the external support that best fits your needs:

• First identify what challenges you or your company face and then seek out professionals who can best support your efforts.  They may be local or national, do not limit yourself when starting your search.  Experience is more important than location.
• Interview several and check references.  Make sure you feel very comfortable on a personal level to ensure that trust is something that can be built quickly.
• Work together to create/document a very specific term sheet for the working relationship including budget, timeline and type of interaction, definition of the support needed, deliverables and success parameters.

Finding the right match between you and a professional consultant or coach could mean great success for your company.

You can check out our comprehensive list of Consultants & Coaches right here on ManagingAmericans.com.  Click here to see what is available to you.