Procurement for consultant services

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consultants, cost, procurement for consultant services, quality, single source

There are numerous ways to undertake prourement for consultant services. Procurement for consultant services can be confusing especially if you do not have an understanding of the different methods use or the acronyms.  It seems each donor (EU, WorldBank, USAID, DFID)and government Acts and regulations – have their own  procedures for carrying out procurement for consultant services. In undertaking the procurement for consultant services, I have interacted with the following acronyms and thought it ideal to share:

1. Quality and Cost Based selection (QCBS) This looks at both the technical and relevant qualifications of a consultant at the most cost effective number
2. Quality Based selection (QBS) Focuses on the technical and relevant qualifications, the experience, skills, prior work in similar field, fee/cost – generally the overall quality of the individual as a package
3. Fixed Budget Selection (FBS) No room for negotiation the cost/fee is normally known upfront
4. Least Cost (LCS) Based on the least expensive consultant who is still qualified and has relevant experience
5. Consultants’ Qualifications (CQS) Emphasis is laid on the qualifications (Phd, MSc) of the individuals as perhaps there is a laid out minimal qualification criteria required in a specialised field
6. Single Source Selection (SSS) Hiring is to one particular individual or firm perhaps because they are the only ones specialized in a specific area

It is such a balancing act that it can be confusing…what do you think?

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5 ways to get the most out of your consultant

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consultant, deliverables, on the job training, report, TOR

So you hired a consultant, the process was successful and now he/she has reported for the task. Its important to get the most out of a hired consultant because you can actually get them to deliver more value to your firm than they imagine. How?

1. Make them feel welcome by Introducing the consultant (s) to the team/dept in person so that they know who to go for for what information adn so that they feel important
2. Run over the TOR, and deliverables and seek to find out if they have any gaps or clarifications
3. Assign on of your key people to babysit /supervise/ report on the consultant
4. Get the consultant to work closely with your staff as that is how on the job training works
5. Insist that you can provide a helper or assistant  to work with your consultant(s) this way you have information first hand on what is going on and the real progress

What’s worked for you before?

Did your consultant fail to deliver?

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consultant, deliver, poor delivery, TOR

There are many times i have seen a consultant fail to deliver. For some consultants, at the end of their tenure one is not too clear what it is that they delivered yet they were paid/partly paid. Why can a consultant get away with poor delivery?

1. They actually have never landed a job like you before so they are not very sure what is required
2. You hired them based on jus their qualifications and previous clients but didn’t dig into what they have previously delivered
3. They did not recieve the appropriate support  from your end
4. Your TOR was perhaps not as specific as you may have thought
5. The deliverable was simply not clear yet they failed to seek clarification

What has been your experience working with porr delivery from consultants?

As a Consultant, leave your mark | Don’t be irrelevant

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consultant, contract register, procurement specialist

I write this out of frustration because perhaps some people don’t realise what power and blessing you have when you are selected as  a consultant especially to work in a country that has been through hardship like South Sudan. I mean you are one of the few among the many.

Seriously though, the other day we went to one of the Ministries and were consulting with a new Procurement specialist who replaced a previous one. She was having to reconstruct one of the contract registers from scratch because apparently this didnt exist with the previous procurement specialist. It irks me that she was now having to go through 4 year history that she knew nothing about to come up with the register. It was very pro active of her which was great, but why was she having to do this?

On further examination of the situation and consulting (no pun intended) i realised that there was actually no contract register in existence from the 4 years. Well, its a basic procurement tool to have which to me made me begin to question why the consultant left no substantial prourement tools that this Ministry could build on. Many people become consultants in the hope that they will get the hefty pay that comes with it, especially from donors. I don’t think the consultant is to blame, perhaps its the donor to blame. They are the ones who give consultants the TORs so why not include a bunch of deliverables and measureable impact which is supervised by said donor….man, perhaps their too busy spending other funds by hiring more consultants!

Handling negotiation |Consultants

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consultant, negotiation

There are many issues that are brought up in a negotitation process with a consultant. The issues that you should be ready to discuss during a negotiation with a consultant is not simply about the fee or rate. The major pointers that you should be readay with when negotiating a contract with a consultant are:

1. The Terms of Reference of the assignment  and project to be carried out, simple ensure it is crystal clear what the task at hand is and what the deliverables are;
2. The Methodology of the work that shall be used, be sure that you get the consultants way of execution, ask where you do not understand as sometimes consultants may complicate a process;
3. The Staffing in terms of the consultants team players if any and their respective responsibilities this is one place where you can cut costs especially if you have someone already at your organisation who you can assign to work with the consultant; and
4. The Workplan which should also have timelines covering the duration of the assignment, be sure all bases are covered.

At the point where the negotiation is being done, you should already be sure of the experience of the consultant that you are hiring, with all these other factors know what you want before hand and let the negotiations carry on from there.

Consulting fee structures

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consultant, fee structure, witholding tax

   The other day i wrote some entries about consulting, and how it is all together not a bad idea please read them here. When you think of consulting, immediately many think that it has to do with earning tonnes of dollars. Part of it does, though how exactly do you go about coming up with the numbers. The numbers here being your fee more so perhaps if you are just about to pitch to your new client and you are a newbie at this. Numerous opportinuties exist for consulting in so many different fields, procurement being just one of them. There are many ways to come up with your fee structure:

1. Fee can be calculated on a day or hourly rate, which requires presenting to your client your workplan and expected number of days that you will be working on the project;

2. Interestingly, many consultants may negotiate a flat fee based on the job deliverable and payment is done once the deliverable is recieved by the client. This is common if the project already has a stipulated time within which it shall be closed;

3. At times a consultant may come on board for a longer period such as a year and negotiate a monthly fee which is paid at the end of each month sort of as a salary on presentation of a fee note; and

4. In some cases a consultant will provide a fee based on the location of the job. Say for example the job is based in South Sudan, which is considered a hardship area it is easy for a consultant to calculate that based on the cost of living there indeed he/she can only take a certain minimum amount which will cater to their needs or the client may decide to fully cater for travel and accomodation costs.

Fees when earned outside of the country are not subjected to tax. However, for consultants working in Kenya, a certain percentage is normally held back by the client as Witholding tax which is one thing to keep in consideration when you are submitting your proposals, EOIs, etc

This tax rate differs for residents and non residents but can be confirmed on the Kenya Revenue Authority website.

What fee structuring do you use as a consultant? Any Pros and Cons?