ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a systematic way of helping the team to assess whether a particular external facilitator is likely to have the skills needed to help a specific team. It also provides a methodical framework for assessing the suitability of an external facilitator for a particular team-building assignment. An effective consultant is a person who has self-knowledge, gained from a breadth and depth of personal experience. Effective consultants have a foundation of practical theory. A good consultant will be open in giving feedback to others and will be quite explicit about their own values. When an organization has no need for a consultant, it may be assailed by publicity material promising dramatic consulting results in every field conceivable – from accounting to Zen meditation. Consultants work under many different titles with the commonest being: group facilitator, group-training specialist, change agent and personal-skills specialist.
