A consultant cannot be a Swiss army knife. An agency is
Companies are increasingly looking for people who can do everything as part of their digital transformation. People who can think conceptually and specialize deeply at the same time. Unfortunately, not everyone is a Ź½homo universalisā who can do it all. Fortunately, there is also a solution to this challenge: the agency model. An agency brings the strengths of several people together in one cohesive team, allowing transformation projects to proceed faster and with more quality.
Category
Stories
Reading time
6 minutes
Implementing technology at organizations is a complex undertaking. Whoever ventures into this must have an eye for technical, business, and human aspects. At ACOMPANY, we occasionally receive job descriptions for which organizations just canāt find suitable candidates. The organization has thought very carefully about its digital transformation, the result areas and the goals to be achieved. And they are willing to pay good money for a consultant who can take it all in hand. Dissecting that job posting, it turns out that the organization actually needs seven different specialties, something that one consultant cannot possibly provide. In other words, looking for the impossible. Do they grow on trees? Unfortunately not. In fact, theyāre as scarce as henās teeth.
Companies with generous budgets sometimes choose the solution of bringing in multiple consultants, each of whom are top performers in their field. Unfortunately, this is no guarantee of success. Not only does someone from the company have to manage those consultants, they have to get them aligned and working well together. A High Performance Expert Team, like the one ACOMPANY deploys, works in a very different way: we make sure the various experts on that team work like a well-oiled machine. I briefly outline why a High Performance Expert Team is a good thing:
T-profiles cannot be stretched endlessly
In the recruiting world, people sometimes talk about T-profiles: the vertical stripe then represents the depth of someoneās skills, the horizontal stripe shows that someone also has knowledge of other fields. To some extent I can go along with that, but there is a limit to the breadth of expertise one person can have. For example, if you are an enterprise architect and like to look at things holistically, you can do project management for a short period of time, but you will never be as good at it as a true project manager who kicks ass at getting all the details right. You canāt be a āhigh performerā in all those areas.
Shorter time to value
A team that comes through an agency like ACOMPANY starts at the client perfectly prepared, and can hit the ground running. We invest a lot of time in āpreppingā a team: all angles have been gone through, everyone knows exactly what is expected of them. Once such a team starts working for a client, they immediately achieve results and add value.
Jupiler Pro League versus Red Devils
When footballers from various top clubs start playing together in their national team, it takes a while before their interplay is perfect. Within their own club team, they know blindly where the striker wants a cross, and itās ingrained in everyone what their position is when in possession of the ball and how to act when the ball is lost. When they join the Red Devils, those automatisms fall away. This is also how it works when the stars of the consultancy are fitted into a new team, especially if the ācoachā is also new. Within an agency model, though, they are used to working with each other, and also speak with one voice to the client.
Cost efficiency and scalability
In a digital transformation, you donāt need an enterprise architect at the same intensity all of the time. Nor do you need a full-time change manager at the very start. If you hire several consultants, you will tend to use them all the time. Within an agency model, experts show up only when they are needed. Thanks to orchestration by the Team Lead who serves as a Ź½single point of contactā with the client, they are still perfectly informed about the entire project. The flexible deployment of the various profiles also makes it easier to scale up when the job requires it, or scale back when needed.
Better knowledge transfer
Members of the High Performance Expert Team work closely with the clientās own people. Change management, for example, uses the communication channels managed by the internal communications team. As a result, our team members transfer knowledge to the customer. Also because they have worked at various customers in different sectors, gaining a wide experience, that they can then share.
More innovation
Because of the external perspective, and the experience of other projects, an agency can bring in new ideas, and will be more likely to stick its neck out than an internal employee, or a hired sole proprietor who mainly wants the contract to last as long as possible.
Concrete results
An agency focuses on deliverables that provide an integrated solution to a problem set, not on simply performing hours for a client.
A High Performance Expert Team, like the one ACOMPANY deploys, works in a very different way: we make sure the various experts on that team work like a well-oiled machine.
Everyone agrees that there is a huge shortage of talent, of people whose unique skills add value to an organization. That search is difficult enough. If we want to combine too many skills in one single person, it becomes even more difficult. One consultant cannot be used like a Swiss army knife. An agency, however, can provide all the specific skills.
Contact us if you are looking for that āSwiss army knifeā. that elusive multitasker!
Frequently asked questions about digital transformation
Why doesnāt a single all-round consultant usually work for digital transformation?
Digital transformation requires a combination of strategic insight, technical expertise, and attention to people and change. That combination is rarely found in one individual. That is why organizations increasingly choose an approach in which multiple areas of expertise are brought together, for example through a multidisciplinary team. In practice, this aligns better with a structured approach such as a thorough business analysis and strategy development, in which both business and IT are considered together.
What is the advantage of an agency model compared to individual consultants?
An agency model ensures that different experts are not only present, but also aligned and working together. Instead of coordinating separate profiles yourself, you get an integrated team working toward a shared goal. This aligns closely with activities such as managing programs and transitions and change management and communication support, where both the content and the collaboration are critical to success.
How does a High Performance Expert Team deliver faster results?
Because the team is well aligned and prepared in advance, it can deliver value immediately once the project starts. There is no startup phase in which everyone still needs to get to know each other. This significantly accelerates time-to-value. Combined with a clear transformation roadmap, in which priorities and dependencies are clearly defined, this speed is also sustainably embedded within the organization.
Is an agency model more cost-efficient than hiring multiple consultants?
Yes, because expertise is deployed flexibly where and when it is needed. You do not pay for profiles that are temporarily less relevant in a certain phase of the project. In addition, everything is coordinated from a single structure, which avoids inefficiencies. This happens, for example, in phases such as defining a transformation roadmap and budget, where not only the content but also the cost and phasing of the transformation are optimized.
How does an agency support knowledge transfer and sustainable change?
A strong team does not operate separately from the organization, but works together with internal employees. Through training, coaching, and support in change management, knowledge is actively transferred. As a result, the organization remains stronger even after the project is completed. This fits within a broader approach in which execution and guidance are central, and where change is not only designed but also truly embedded in the organization.
Reliable partner
Ready to face the digital future with confidence? Then we are here for you.
Recent stories
Stay informed
Would you like to know more about strategic advice, pragmatic implementation, and tangible results of a digital transformation? Sign up for our newsletter now.
