ProKo's "Sweet Spot" Philosophy
At ProKo we believe that one of the keys to a successful consulting project is finding the right fit between a client’s culture and needs, and a consultant’s experience, skills, and style. One of the ways to make this happen is for a consultant to be aware of their own “sweet spot” and to stick to those types of engagements.
A “sweet spot” is where a combination of factors results in a maximum response for a given amount of effort. In tennis, a given swing will result in a more powerful hit if the ball strikes the racquet in the athlete’s sweet spot. At ProKo we believe this principle applies to consulting as well.
For example, over the course of her career, ProKo Consultant Jennifer Jackson has developed deep expertise in creating and implementing end user training programs for large-scale systems projects. Could she create a diversity & harassment training program? Sure – certainly some program fundamentals would apply – but she hasn’t created that type of training before so it’s not her sweet spot. If this were a tennis match she could hit the ball but probably not as well as Karen Feeley, another ProKo Consultant with nearly 20 years of experience creating workplace learning solutions for clients.
Or look at it from another angle. A ProKo Consultant was on a project where the client brought in former company employees to fill several senior consultant roles on the project. While very familiar with the client’s business and culture, in many cases the former employees had never done that type of work before. For example, a former finance director was brought it to handle the project management for country deployments but he had never before used the Microsoft Project tool. Clearly project management wasn’t his sweet spot and he certainly wasn’t as efficient as a 15 year project management veteran. It’s easy to assume the client was not spending their money wisely.
The ProKo consulting network fosters this sweet spot mentality. We pay a sizable referral bonus to any ProKo Consultant who refers a project that is won by another ProKo Consultant.
A case in point: ProKo Consultant LaNette Parker had been contacted by a friend/colleague at a Fortune 500 investment firm and they were discussing having LaNette create and lead the organizational change efforts for a massive technology upgrade. LaNette, a professional coach and employee communications expert, certainly could do the work but she realized that leading change on technology related projects was not her forte so she referred the project to PrōKo who had the perfect person for the job. The client got an experienced consultant, the consultant got a terrific new project, and LaNette got a $2,000 referral bonus. That’s the ProKo “sweet spot” philosophy!
Or look at it from another angle. A ProKo Consultant was on a project where the client brought in former company employees to fill several senior consultant roles on the project. While very familiar with the client’s business and culture, in many cases the former employees had never done that type of work before. For example, a former finance director was brought it to handle the project management for country deployments but he had never before used the Microsoft Project tool. Clearly project management wasn’t his sweet spot and he certainly wasn’t as efficient as a 15 year project management veteran. It’s easy to assume the client was not spending their money wisely.
The ProKo consulting network fosters this sweet spot mentality. We pay a sizable referral bonus to any ProKo Consultant who refers a project that is won by another ProKo Consultant.
A case in point: ProKo Consultant LaNette Parker had been contacted by a friend/colleague at a Fortune 500 investment firm and they were discussing having LaNette create and lead the organizational change efforts for a massive technology upgrade. LaNette, a professional coach and employee communications expert, certainly could do the work but she realized that leading change on technology related projects was not her forte so she referred the project to PrōKo who had the perfect person for the job. The client got an experienced consultant, the consultant got a terrific new project, and LaNette got a $2,000 referral bonus. That’s the ProKo “sweet spot” philosophy!