A huge advantage of hiring highly skilled and experienced corporate communications consultants is that they are truly able to “hit the ground running.” But there are also some smart yet simple ways to make the consulting onboarding process even faster and more effective. Check out these handy tips on setting the stage for a great partnership that helps your new consultant start making substantive contributions in no time:
Equip the consultant with some insider insights (and a computer)
Experienced consultants who specialize in corporate communications are not only highly resourceful, but they’re also quick learners. But even the most adept self-starters can still benefit from some insider info. If you or another trusted member of your team has the bandwidth, pull together for the consultant a list of helpful links to intranet articles or videos – or any other pieces of existing content that cover key organizational processes or aspects of the company’s history or culture. To make even lighter work of the orientation process, consider whether you can send the consultant to attend certain regularly scheduled employee onboarding presentations. And if your company will provide the consultant with a computer, it’s a good idea to contact your IT team and ask how that process works as soon as possible. We find that getting the computer (and access to all the necessary collaboration tools and programs) is often what can slow down the start-up of the consultant’s work.
Run through goals and encourage connections On the consultant’s first day on the job, it never hurts for a leader to provide a quick big-picture overview of the engagement, reiterating core project objectives and expectations. Depending on one’s bandwidth and personal style, we see clients provide consultants with written direction. Other leaders might request that the consultant schedule a series of one-on-one meetings. For example, it may make sense for a new consultant to meet with various communications colleagues or business partners who they’ll be collaborating with to parse their work — and then check in with the person supervising that work to ensure alignment.
Assign a “buddy”
If you know that your schedule is too packed to meet with the consultant as often as you feel is necessary, tap a member of your team to serve as a dedicated liaison and “buddy” to the consultant. Facilitating this type of setup enables busy leaders to reserve calendar time only when it’s necessary to provide direction to the consultant on the most critical items, answer the most vital questions or review key ideas, plans or materials.
Again, consultants are resourceful and often research or network their way to the right answer anyway, but it’s always nice to help them by connecting them with a go-to resource. In addition, it also presents a great professional development opportunity for one of your employees to work with a talented consultant and trade knowledge.
Partner with the pros
Time is indeed money. And the faster a consultant gets oriented to your company, the faster they begin delivering value. A major benefit of hiring consultants through Evo Communications is that they have a depth and breadth of experience to onboard quickly. They intimately understand the world of large companies and the nuances of corporate communications.
At Evo Communications, we streamline the process even further for our busy clients. We take the time to thoroughly brief our highly vetted consultant candidates on matching project opportunities that we identify for them. Prior to even interviewing for a consulting role with clients, we conduct an information-sharing prep session covering details about the organization, as well as background on the project and the pivotal players involved. This allows clients to spend more time asking questions of the prospective consultant, and less time explaining the assignment.
Furthermore, when a consultant begins an engagement, we check in during the first week to ensure there’s been a smooth integration and then again at the three-week mark. Our high-touch approach with our clients and our top-tier consultants is what enables us to continually drive business results for communications departments across a wide range of industries.
Considering hiring a specialized consultant? Reach out to me to book a discovery call.
About Evo Communications
Evo Communications knows that strategic communications has the power to drive business results. That’s why we help you fill your temporary communications roles with highly qualified professionals who can onboard themselves and get to work right away!
We are a certified woman-owned virtual agency of independent corporate communicators. We work alone, in pairs or in curated teams to meet the specific needs of our clients. With foundations in Fortune 500 companies, we leverage our collective strengths to meet your needs, acting as a seamless extension of your team.
From supporting your entire corporate communications function, focusing on one specific area of need, and adding temporary bandwidth to your team, the Evo team is motivated to offer innovative solutions that drive results.