A consultant investigating one SME process may uncover issues elsewhere. Some deserve additional work; others should be recorded for later rather than absorb the original engagement. A clear change process preserves the value of new findings without turning a bounded assignment into an open-ended review of the whole business.
A consultant investigating one SME process may uncover issues elsewhere. Some deserve additional work; others should be recorded for later rather than absorb the original engagement. A clear change process preserves the value of new findings without turning a bounded assignment into an open-ended review of the whole business.
Ask the consultant to describe the new issue, the evidence behind it and its relationship to the original question. Record it in the issue list. Finding a problem does not automatically authorise the consultant to investigate or implement a solution outside the agreed scope.
For example, a quotation review may reveal inconsistent product information. That may need a separate data-cleanup task, but the business should understand its extent before assuming it is a small addition to the workshop schedule.
Ask whether the existing assignment can be completed without the new work and what limitation would remain. Distinguish a necessary dependency from an optional improvement. The owner should be able to decide whether to expand, stage or defer the additional activity.
If the issue requires specialist advice, identify the appropriate reviewer rather than ask the general consultant to resolve it simply because it discovered the question.
Specify the additional evidence, deliverables, personnel, timing and fee basis. Identify staff time and other purchases required. Ask whether the change alters the baseline or the criteria for evaluating the engagement.
Avoid approving a vague extra workshop when the real requirement is a different investigation. The new scope should be concrete enough for the business to know what it receives and how it relates to the original project.
Record the authorised change and communicate it to staff involved in the work. Preserve the original scope and assumptions so the final review can explain why the engagement changed. Do not allow multiple informal instructions from different managers to create conflicting priorities for the consultant.
At completion, reconcile deliverables and fees to the approved plan. Review whether recurring scope changes indicate an unclear initial brief or a genuinely evolving problem. The process should allow useful discovery while keeping the owner in control of which questions the business chooses to investigate now and which remain future decisions.
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