Obsoletism and Inefficiency are two of the worst things that can happen to any business. And the consulting industry is no different. Storefronts with their sunk costs, utilities, and employees working eight-hours are becoming more obsolete with the introduction of technology. Many businesses are going online as a way to reduce costs but also to improve the quality of work. That is where Consulting 2.0 comes in.
What Is Consulting?
Consulting is when a business needs management and legal advice from experienced and experts on what recommendations for direction would result in the best outcomes. There are two fields, in-house and external. External is seen as the better opinion since it is an outside eye with no connection to the business that is narrowed internally. The old method of consulting is when a firm would, at times, fly out their consultants to work on a project. This is expensive not only for the consulting firm in terms of compensation but also the business incurring additional costs from travel to accommodation hiring their services. Many consulting firms would charge six to seven figures that many small to medium businesses do not have the budget for. This old way would cut out a lot of businesses, making the pool of clients for the firm a lot smaller, especially in modern Socio-political and environmental shifts.
However, besides the cost, other issues have arisen such as an increase in anxiety and stress from the consultants’ point-of-view. Stress and anxiety due to deadlines, working conditions, toxicity in the environment, and always on the go livelihood that can weigh heavily on anyone in the field that requires robust focus and attention to market and sector details. According to Hassan Fadhil Al-Shama, Founder and President of HYLMAN and Consulting Centrale, “the stress of working day and night sometimes has determination and ambition side effects.”
Consulting 2.0
Through his analysis on Consulting Centrale, Hassan Fadhil Al-Shama mentions that “[Consulting 2.0] can be made with artificially intelligent and smart technology” that brings together the pool of talents worldwide to companies of all industries. As indicated by Hassan Fadhil Al-Shama in his piece on Tomorrow’s Generation Corporate Environment, the blending of the old way of consulting with technology can help both the businesses as well as the consultants. Blending experience and expertise that build through experience with a comfortable and flexible hub of working remotely and online. This can decrease stress, given that employees would have more time to do the projects in a proficient way, allowing for a significantly better outcomes.
Plus, since it is on the internet, consulting firms would be able to gain more and other types of experienced individuals to create a more diverse workforce. In return, this could lead to an increase in clients, since every country worldwide has a different way of doing things. The associated costs would also decrease, allowing for smaller businesses to use the services invariably. The quality of work should increase from the autonomy and flexibility that can allow for deeper analyses and research methods. As explained by Hassan Fadhil Al-Shama in “Resolving Obsoletism for the Effective Consulting of Tomorrow,” Consulting 2.0 is vital for businesses and consulting firms seeking live to tomorrow.