| | By Mick James
... continued from
page 14
“For example, we
recently had a firm of
accountants who wanted
access to a bigger
consulting resource, so
they formed a
relationship with the
Richmond Group to
increase their associate
base,” says Markham.
Although the group
facilitates this kind of
relationship it does not
act as a brokerage or
takes a fee.
“The object of the
group is not to be a
virtual consultancy but
to spawn and encourage
virtual consultancies,”
says Markham. One
example is the BeeAgile | |
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| | change management
consultancy which
contains a number of
Richmond Group members.
Although
professionalism is a
core theme of the
Richmond Group it has
relaxed its rules on
membership—for many
years there was a
requirement that members
not only be in the IMC
but hold the CMC
(Certified Management
Consultant)
qualification, but the
Group rethought this
when the IMC itself
decoupled membership and
CMC.
“We recognized that
there were a lot of good
consultants that were
not members of IMC,”
says Markham. “Now you
can be a member as long | |
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| | as you are a member of a
recognized professional
institute with a code of
conduct and standards of
competence, such as the
CIPD or CIMA.”
This has made the
Richmond Group, which
now has nearly 60
members, not only more
diverse but will,
Markham hopes, attract
some of the newer
entrants to the
profession.
“This year there will
be quite a lot of people
turning to consultancy
who will find belonging
to a group enormously
supporting,” he says.
“People who’ve been
thrown out of firms or
corporate roles and want
to operate as
consultants may find
they need the nurture | |
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| | and support of a group
of people who’ve already
been down that road. The
IBC runs courses for
people who want to get
into consultancy but I
don’t think the world is
oversupplied with
support at the moment.”
The Group also runs
its own active mentoring
schemes to help members
with their professional
and practice
development, but
fellowship is one of the
most immediate
benefits:
“It can be very
lonely being a
consultant so the
opportunity to mix with
like-minded folk is a
useful one, also, you
can just vent,” says
Markham. “It’s important
that people don’t get | |
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| | too desperate or too
optimistic: a lot of
people starting out say
they’ve got all this
work, but there’s an art
in turning interest into
an invoice.”
Not that the Richmond
Group membership is a
one-way street.
“We’d welcome an
influx of people with
new ideas, because we
thrive on innovation and
freshness,” says
Markham. “It gives you
more confidence and
helps you to push the
boundaries a bit.”
Visit the Richmond
Group at
www.rgconsult.com. | |
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