i-adopt solution is a consultancy methodology especially created so the architecture, engineering, construction, product design and process plant industries can all design a better world. Created by us here at Baker Baynes, i-adopt is a roadmap to business success broken up into three pillars: Assessment, Education and Consultation.

Here, we’re taking a look at the final pillar of i-adopt: Consultation. We’ll take you through what this stage in the game has to offer you as a business, plus give you our expert mentoring tips that you’ll be able to utilise today.

The i-adopt consultation pillar

The purpose of this stage is to capture the work that has been covered in the previous pillars – assessment and education – and give guidance to how the learnings can be implemented going forwards. However, i-adopt is not a rigid structure and customers can pick and choose what’s relevant to them, which may be just consultancy.

This comes in the format of on-site coaching and mentoring, regular check-ins and technology support. We’ll customise your technology to meet your needs through data migration, content creation, libraries and templates. What’s more, our support desk is available to all Baker Baynes customers on-site or remotely and through telephone and email.

Consultancy: The good, the bad and the ugly

Unfortunately, consultancy can sometimes have a bad reputation. The ‘bad’ and ‘ugly’ sides of it include projects losing focus, moving out of scope and becoming expensive. Another negative is that consultants often miss the point and don’t understand your business.

However, at Baker Baynes we are aware of these perceived downfalls and strive to make i-adopt ‘the good’ in the consultancy world. The i-adopt structure allows flexibility, which can help with price, but it is also a ‘structure’ that we recommend every client follows.

Giving consultancy a structure stops consultancy projects losing focus and moving out of scope. As we’ve covered in our previous blogs, assessing and then educating a business comes before any consultancy – this dramatically reduces the risk of us not understanding your business. In fact, our outside view will give a fresh perspective on how you work and how you can improve.

A big part of what we provide is mentorship. But of course, on a day-to-day basis it’s not always going to be us doing the mentoring. Coaching and mentoring is a big part of running a business, being a leader or a manager so here are some helpful tips that we use as part of our good consultancy, which you can take away and use today.

Our expert mentoring tips

Approach every mentee differently

Everyone communicates differently and has different ways of working so adapt your style appropriately.

It can be useful to get your mentee to do a work personality and communication style questionnaire so you can both find out how you each prefer to work and communicate. It’s one way of preventing any future misunderstandings!

Don’t make any assumptions

Following on from the above, because everyone communicates differently, it’s important to not make any assumptions. Instead, always ask “why” and always give your mentee time to speak. It’s very easy to think your mentee means one thing, when in fact they mean something totally different.

Be open and honest

Mistakes are there to learn from but it’s far more advantageous if you can learn from other’s mistakes without having to make them yourself! If you’re open and honest with your mentee then they will be the same back. Plus, if you openly share experiences where things have gone well and not so well at work then they can only learn from this.

Ask open-ended questions

Try to reduce the number of questions that only require yes or no answers. By asking open-ended questions, you will get more information from your mentee, which will help you both.

Always think upskill

If your mentee shows skills in a certain area then do your research to find them any tools, training and resources that will excel this skill. Not only will this help their career development, it will also provide expert skills for your business.

Be a sounding board

Last but by no means least, be that sounding board your mentee is going to need from time to time. Allow them to vent any problems and always be on-hand and ready to listen if they need someone to talk to.

This means you will be aware of any issues they may be having and can provide the necessary solutions. Your mentee will also know they always have someone to confide in and talk to.

More on i-adopt

We’re sad to say that this blog concludes our i-adopt series. However, it doesn’t have to be over. If you’d like to learn more about our consultancy methodology i-adopt then please get in touch.