{"id":27423,"date":"2024-04-10T14:12:36","date_gmt":"2024-04-10T13:12:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/?post_type=article&p=27423"},"modified":"2024-04-10T14:12:36","modified_gmt":"2024-04-10T13:12:36","slug":"only-solicited-advice-please-5-tips-for-consultants","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/only-solicited-advice-please-5-tips-for-consultants\/","title":{"rendered":"Only solicited advice, please! (5 tips for consultants)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Only solicited advice, please! (5 tips for consultants)<\/h2>\n

When someone shares a problem with you, your first reflex is probably to offer advice. You want them to get out of their predicament. Why? Because you like to fix what\u2019s broken. Right?<\/p>\n

Well, you\u2019re not alone. But the question is whether this is a desirable response.\u00a0According to psychologist Thijs Launspach, we collectively suffer from \u2018the solution syndrome.\u2019<\/a>\u00a0We have a tendency towards providing unsolicited advice, while sometimes people just want you to listen.<\/p>\n

Even though Launspach is referring to problems in the personal realm, we couldn\u2019t help but take note of his piece. The ability to provide advice is in every consultant\u2019s toolkit. In our case, however, it\u2019s usually solicited. But even then, we tread carefully. Nobody wants to be the know-it-all whose \u2018nuggets of wisdom\u2019 are too much.<\/p>\n

So, in the spirit of being constructive, let\u2019s have a look at how consultants can avoid providing unsolicited advice. Here are our five tips!<\/p>\n

1. Be a good listener<\/strong><\/p>\n

Before you share any advice, it\u2019s paramount that you listen to people. It can be very useful to conduct interviews with employees across the organization. This will help you get to the bottom of the issue and build trust (the latter is important if you want to implement changes later on). Plus, you make sure people\u2019s answers to your questions are reflected in your advice.<\/p>\n

2. Help people draw their own conclusions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Supporting people isn\u2019t the same as telling them what to do. Sometimes, you can best help clients by facilitating difficult conversations. Ask them crucial questions that no one dares to ask. As an external party, you can be critical and sharp without disturbing the social situation. In fact, you\u2019ll help keep things pleasant on the work floor, since people won\u2019t have to criticize their co-workers\u2019 decisions or strategies.<\/p>\n

3. Provide plenty of information<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a consultant, you\u2019ve seen a variety of organizational structures, ways of working, processes, and policies. Moreover, you possess a ton of expertise. Rather than flooding people with recommendations, you can share some examples, discuss the different options they have, and point out any risks. By arming them with knowledge, you\u2019ll help them make well-founded decisions.<\/p>\n

4. Make sure to co-create<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you do have to provide advice, you will need to incorporate well-substantiated recommendations. In that case, be sure to include people from the organization in every step. While formulating your advice, stay in contact with them and ask if you\u2019re on the right track. That way, they\u2019ll feel that your recommendations are in line with their situation.<\/p>\n

5. Dare to refrain from giving advice<\/strong><\/p>\n

Are you dealing with a client who doesn\u2019t yet have a clear idea of what they want? Or are they requesting advice on a topic that doesn\u2019t reflect the\u00a0actual<\/em>\u00a0problem? In these cases, tell them and help them map out their issue. Good consultants refrain from giving advice if they believe it\u2019s not beneficial.<\/p>\n

Consulting is more than providing advice!<\/strong><\/p>\n

As these five tips demonstrate, consultants operate within a broad scope. We facilitate complex conversations, identify (underlying) problems, share knowledge and information, help implement solutions, and initiate change in the organization. Advice is a means to an end: we use it to improve situations. And if the assignment solely consists of providing advice, we make sure to co-create proposals with our clients!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":27430,"template":"","categories":[],"region":[256],"class_list":["post-27423","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOnly solicited advice, please! (5 tips for consultants) - Argon & Co<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This article describes 5 tips on how consultants can improve their skills with customers.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/only-solicited-advice-please-5-tips-for-consultants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Only solicited advice, please! (5 tips for consultants) - Argon & Co\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This article describes 5 tips on how consultants can improve their skills with customers.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/only-solicited-advice-please-5-tips-for-consultants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Argon & Co\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/shutterstock_373672702-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1554\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/news-insights\\\/articles\\\/only-solicited-advice-please-5-tips-for-consultants\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/news-insights\\\/articles\\\/only-solicited-advice-please-5-tips-for-consultants\\\/\",\"name\":\"Only solicited advice, please! (5 tips for consultants) - Argon & Co\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/news-insights\\\/articles\\\/only-solicited-advice-please-5-tips-for-consultants\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/news-insights\\\/articles\\\/only-solicited-advice-please-5-tips-for-consultants\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/shutterstock_373672702-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-04-10T13:12:36+00:00\",\"description\":\"This article describes 5 tips on how consultants can improve their skills with customers.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/news-insights\\\/articles\\\/only-solicited-advice-please-5-tips-for-consultants\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/news-insights\\\/articles\\\/only-solicited-advice-please-5-tips-for-consultants\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/news-insights\\\/articles\\\/only-solicited-advice-please-5-tips-for-consultants\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/shutterstock_373672702-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/04\\\/shutterstock_373672702-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1554},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/news-insights\\\/articles\\\/only-solicited-advice-please-5-tips-for-consultants\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Articles\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/news-insights\\\/articles\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Only solicited advice, please! (5 tips for consultants)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Argon & Co\",\"description\":\"We help clients achieve their strategic and operational objectives, working together to transform their businesses and generate real change.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.argonandco.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Only solicited advice, please! (5 tips for consultants) - Argon & Co","description":"This article describes 5 tips on how consultants can improve their skills with customers.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/only-solicited-advice-please-5-tips-for-consultants\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Only solicited advice, please! (5 tips for consultants) - Argon & Co","og_description":"This article describes 5 tips on how consultants can improve their skills with customers.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/only-solicited-advice-please-5-tips-for-consultants\/","og_site_name":"Argon & Co","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1554,"url":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/shutterstock_373672702-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/only-solicited-advice-please-5-tips-for-consultants\/","url":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/only-solicited-advice-please-5-tips-for-consultants\/","name":"Only solicited advice, please! (5 tips for consultants) - Argon & Co","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/only-solicited-advice-please-5-tips-for-consultants\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/only-solicited-advice-please-5-tips-for-consultants\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/shutterstock_373672702-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2024-04-10T13:12:36+00:00","description":"This article describes 5 tips on how consultants can improve their skills with customers.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/only-solicited-advice-please-5-tips-for-consultants\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/only-solicited-advice-please-5-tips-for-consultants\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/only-solicited-advice-please-5-tips-for-consultants\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/shutterstock_373672702-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/shutterstock_373672702-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1554},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/only-solicited-advice-please-5-tips-for-consultants\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Articles","item":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/news-insights\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Only solicited advice, please! (5 tips for consultants)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/","name":"Argon & Co","description":"We help clients achieve their strategic and operational objectives, working together to transform their businesses and generate real change.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/27423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/27423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27423"},{"taxonomy":"region","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.argonandco.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/region?post=27423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}