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Ten Things We Look For In A Client

By Michael C. Gilbert, May 9th, 2007
 

A lot of my readers don't know that The Gilbert Center takes on consulting clients from time to time. Every time I travel to a conference, I find myself explaining exactly what kind of clients we take on. So, as part of our continuing organizational anniversary theme, I thought I would share with you ten important qualities that characterize our ideal clients.

Fundamentally, these criteria are about a commitment to learning how to do meaningful work together. Every day I do this, I am humbled not only by how many organizations and individuals meet all these criteria, but how most of them have a great deal to teach me about them.
 

1. Are You Doing Good Work?

We limit our client base to organizations and individuals who are pursuing social objectives and civil society. That doesn't rule out businesses, but it rules out most of them. Nor does it include all nonprofits, since plenty of them serve blatantly private interests (we live in times where an alliance of vivisectionists might call themselves Citizens for A Deeper Understanding of Kittens and Small Children). This is not the place for a checklist, but one of the roles served by ten years of Nonprofit Online News archives and articles is to help provide a first filter expressing the values that we want to support.
 

2. Are You Willing to Invest in Planning?

Investment in good planning pays off. Whether it's a software project, a communication campaign, or a space shuttle, reflection and mindful decision making are keys to success. Sometimes planning is mostly upfront. Sometimes it's built in to agile execution (which itself takes planning). Sometimes both. Regardless of its form, it's a proven predictor of success.
 

3. Do You Work Strategically?

We live in an era where means often determine the ends, rather than the other way around. Those who operate without breathing room are particularly vulnerable to the triumph of tactics over strategy and most are dealing every day with the strategic consequences of earlier decisions. It's easy to pay tens of thousands of dollars for superficial advice, but we would rather not be in that business.
 

4. Do You Like Hard Questions?

Most projects are crippled by something most of us have forgotten by the time we have to deal with the outcomes: the questions that framed the planning of the project to begin with. Organizations and individuals do best when they are comfortable with the process of reframing, the uncertainty of unexpected questions, and the challenge of candid reflection. This reflection starts with (and frequently returns to) an examination of the actual state of affairs. Our focus on communication is a focus on reality as the best basis for moving forward.
 

5. Are You Interested in Ongoing Learning?

Whether it's in our publications, our training programs, or our advice and consulting work, we strive for a balance of short term and long term improvement. Too many communication initiatives fail as a result of an emphasis on quick fixes and a resistance to reflection and experimentation. Furthermore, ongoing learning provides the critical organizational agility needed in today's rapidly changing environments.
 

6. Are You Structured to Make and Keep Promises?

Over the years, we have slowly but surely worked to develop our management systems so that we are able to clearly keep track of the small and large promises that make an engagement move forward. When our clients "have their act together" in this way, we are always able to accomplish so much more than we would otherwise.
 

7. Do You Respect Your Own Time and the Time of Others?

Civil society organizations and those who work with them are notorious for not valuing their time well. This cascades out into relationships with consultants and can be highly damaging to the trust, effectiveness, and sustainability of any project. A healthy awareness of and respect for time contributes to a certain spaciousness, which in turn allows us all to work with vision and integrity.
 

8. Can You Candidly Manage Organizational Politics?

There is nothing inherently wrong with organizational politics. The relationships that give rise to them are almost always the natural outcome of years of getting things done together. But when those relationships can't be discussed or addressed in the same manner as other forces and interests, frustrations and failures often follow.
 

9. Will Your Project Have Potential Benefits for Other Organizations?

Although all projects have the potential for lessons that are of value to a broader audience, some projects are much more interesting than others. If an organization has peers or is itself a funder or coalition, then it's likely that the lessons learned will be more than routine. Obviously, it's also important that the organization be willing to share these lessons.
 

10. Is the timing right?

This last question is something of a cheat, but it captures something important. Even if their essential character makes an engagement with us ideal, organizations and individuals are not always in a place where they can best use our advice. Whether it's a question of resources or leadership or external pressures, sometimes it's better to just batten down hatches and keep sailing until the weather changes.