Thomas Kerscher Capacity Building Specialist

In the daily practice of development work, the three models described in the post on consultation modes (the expertise model, the doctor-patient model and the process consulting model) interrelate with four types of consultants:^[1] extra-pairs-of-hands, training specialists, technical specialists and organisation development consultants.

Extra-Pair-of-Hands

An “extra-pair-of-hands” is a person who replaces staff that is temporarily absent or in process of acquiring the necessary skills to fit new job requirements, helps to catch up on temporary backlogs of work, or is temporarily paired with existing staff to serve as a model for dealing with certain responsibilities. In contrast to an “independent” consultant, an “extra-pair-of-hands” is supervised and evaluated as a regular employee in a comparable position. The following criteria can be used to identify the conditions in which deploying an “extra-pair of hands” is appropriate.

• The assistance is a strictly temporary addition to an existing workforce:
• The consultants fit in the existing workforce; they are “producers”;
• Line managers determine what the consultants are expected to do, and how they will do it;
• Consultants are expected to accept the objectives and schedules given by management;
• Managers actively supervise the consultants;
• The consultants will be supervised against the same standards as permanent staff in comparable positions;
• The client struggles with a deficiency in essential information, knowledge, or behavioural and technical skills.

Training Specialist

Training specialists assess the training needs of an organisation’s staff. If the underlying root causes of insufficient organisational capacity are clearly linked to a lack of knowledge or skills that staff needs to perform their current or future tasks effectively, training specialists can design and conduct technical and behavioural skills training programmes. More often than not, however, participants are unable or unwilling to apply their newly acquired skills at their workplace. There follows a set of criteria used to identify the conditions which justify deploying a training specialist:

• The knowledge currently lacking is needed on a continuous basis, now and in the future;
• Individuals who will be trained are highly motivated and eager to learn;
• Individuals will have little difficulty applying their acquired skills at their work place;
• Management will support staff in applying their newly acquired skills;
• Management is committed to removing obstacles to applying participants’ newly acquired skills;
• Training will not disrupt essential activities;
• Management is aware that training might disrupt non-essential functions;
• Management believes that training cost will be recouped in a reasonable period of time.

Technical Expert

Technical Experts have in-depth information and knowledge in their relatively narrow area of specialisation. Some examples are lawyers and legal experts, information technology experts, public relations specialists, etc. Technical experts are most appropriate when an issue is non-recurring and highly specialised. They usually work following either the doctor-patient model, or the expertise model (see section 5.2 above), presenting their findings, conclusions and recommendations in certain intervals and/or at the end of their assignments. Technical experts face one major paradox: in presenting their elegant technical solutions they build up resistance that frequently renders the implementation of the solution impossible. The following criteria describe the nature of assignments, which can be associated mainly with Technical Experts.

• The issue is one-of-a-kind, non-recurring;
• Management is able to define the goals to be achieved by the consultant;
• The relationship between management and consultant is not of utmost importance;
• The development agency/consultant takes primary responsibility for the success of the assignment;
• The development agency/consultant has technical control over the project;
• The development agency/consultant has full responsibility for analysing the situation;
• The development agency/consultant derives conclusions and formulate recommendations;
• The development agency’s/consultant’s responsibilities will end when they communicate their recommendations;
• The development agency/consultant will view disagreement as unjustified interference or lack of trust in their competencies;
• The development agency/consultant will expect that their recommendations are implemented swiftly.

Organisation Development Consultant

Organisation Development consultants operate on the assumption that their client system’s leaders and managers already have the essential technical skills and information they need to deal with their organisation’s issues. Their services are most appropriate when management intends to achieve a set of specific results and increase internal capabilities for dealing with similar issues in the future. Organisational development consultants would normally follow the process consulting model. Their main skill is in creating opportunities to involve clients actively in analysing their system and finding solutions. There follows a set of criteria used to identify the conditions in which an organisation development consultant might be able to help:

• The same or similar issues are likely to occur in future; the issues will mainly relate to “process”, i.e. the way the client organises itself around the tasks to be completed;
• The development agency/consultant and the client jointly determine the goals to be achieved and the measure to achieve them;
• The development agency/consultant and client strive toward a relationship of trust, in which all parties provide information in a timely and transparent manner;
• The development agency/consultant share joint responsibility for the capacity development effort;
• The development agency/consultant will decide jointly on what kind of data will be collected;
• The development agency/consultant will work together to draw conclusions from the data collected, identify priorities and formulate action plans;
• The development agency/consultant support the implementation of action plans;
• Disagreements between clients and development agencies/consultants are treated as sources for innovation;
• The development agency/consultant assist client management in gaining acceptance for the implementation plan.

Multidisciplinary Teams

The author believes that too many development agencies and client organisations do not make informed decisions about the type of consultant they need. On the other hand, many clients are disappointed with the work and results of consultants. On an aggregate level, there are concerns that programmes labelled “capacity development” are often no more than “capacity substitution”, i.e. once the assistance stops, capacity would go back to pre-assistance levels. Or else, programmes needed to be extended endlessly in order to meet expectations toward organisational performance. Giving the right type of support will depend on the nature of the capacity issue and a number of process variables. The following chart^[2] may help leaders match the types of consultants available with the needs of the client system through assigning them to consulting purposes in which they play a primary role.

An Extra-Pair-of-Hands will normally concentrate on providing requested information and assisting implementation, but more rarely on other objectives. A Training Specialist will seldom provide information and implement solutions, but more often address other purposes as they relate to training, e.g. a training needs assessment. The main role of a Technical Expert will be to provide information and solutions, conduct diagnosis and develop recommendations. An organisation development consultant will concentrate on building consensus and commitment and facilitating continuous learning, and ensure that clients lead the diagnostic process, and the development of recommendations and implementation of specific solutions for particular situations.

Each type of consultant has certain capabilities and limitations and is able to serve some, but not all of these purposes. The author believes that clients should consider the potential synergies that arise from multi-disciplinary consulting teams when designing and implementing capacity development programmes. The role of development agencies would be to assist client organisations in making conscious decisions about the combination of consultants, which is most appropriate for a given capacity development assignment.