The added value of a consultant

At Bee Granted, we are firm believers in collaborative innovation and sharing expertise. For this reason, we decided to kick off a series of articles on recurring problems our clients face. We will offer tips, tricks and open methodologies we developed in-house to stimulate the creative process in strategy design, for both academia and industry (particularly small and medium enterprises – SMEs).

---

The first resource article is focused on the added value of a consultant, both for projects with a fixed deadline (e.g. European subsidies within the Horizon 2020 funding scheme – ERC grants, SME Instruments, etc.) and those with a flexible deadline (e.g. market analyses, business model selection, etc.). In our view, and based on feedback rounds with our collaborators, we identified the top 5 advantages of teaming up with a Bee Granted consultant:

1. Specialized skills. Our core belief is that consultants join teams as team members, rather than subcontractors. The project with the highest likelihood of success is one where technical insights are provided by our collaborators, and our contribution consists of blending those with the specific questions of the project. For instance, in the case of European subsidies, ensuring the technical information is consistent with the call text and eligibility conditions is a must-have. This requires critical thinking and the ability to propose a complex vision.

2. Concept ideation and definition. The first step to a great subsidy proposal is a great idea. Similarly, to obtain meaningful (market) data that can adjust business (models), one needs to identify a specific gap and come up with the correct questions that can guide strategy. In all our projects, we implement a ‘design 4 success’ approach, in which ideation of concepts and questions through innovative approaches takes center stage early in the process.

3. Wide network with various stakeholders. The most important step after a project is done is its implementation. Usually, this relies on a wide ecosystem of stakeholders who cover the entire value and supply chains. The trademark of a good consultant, and something that we value at Bee Granted, is involvement after a project is finished. Facilitating connections and ensuring access to the relevant experts or organizations (e.g. patient organizations in the case of biomedical projects) are essential elements of all the projects undertaken by Bee Granted.

4. Project management. Consultancy projects are never about writing a piece of text. They are always about describing ideas and results in an exciting way, about obtaining relevant feedback from stakeholders, about facilitating the collaboration between multiple partners and about ensuring it is only the most valuable input that makes its way into the results. All these require excellent people and project management skills, cornerstones for any outstanding consultant and a key criterion in the selection of our team members.

5. Reduced administrative burden. Particularly relevant to subsidies, it is our conviction that an excellent consultant ensures that project coordinators face less, not more of an administrative burden. This relates to gathering administrative information from participants, filling forms and submission portals. This is often overlooked by consultants that only focus on proposal content. Bee Granted values a holistic approach to project development, where the consultants are process oriented and experienced in overseeing large projects.

Three additional skills we continuously train make the difference in project success (as illustrated by our high success rates), particularly in non-dilutive funding, where competition is very high and proposals need an extra oomph to stand out:

6. Helicopter view. A paramount skill for a consultant is their ability to maintain objectivity. The key to success in most projects is an outside perspective and not succumbing to the pressures of the loud voices that push a specific agenda. This goes hand-in-hand with the people and project management skills because navigating stakeholders does not mean ignoring opinions but making an independent and objective analysis while making hearing everyone.

7. Adaptability. Consultancy projects rarely progress as planned in the kick-off meeting. As work advances, new questions or problems always arise. Quickly identifying and prioritizing them, and breaking them down into manageable parts is crucial in ensuring timelines are not affected. At Bee Granted, we stimulate this skill internally through role-playing scenarios in brainstorm meetings.

8. Expectation management. For a service, there is nothing worse than promising something that cannot be delivered or delivering a sub-par report. This is prevented through open communication lines with our collaborators. Things can go wrong, results can be unfavorable, but it is paramount that our team members are able to not only bring forth problems, but also mitigation and workaround strategies.

If you want to learn more about our approach to projects or what we could do for you, please send us a message through the contact form or info@beegranted.eu.