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Community Consulting Project
Consulting Teams
Project Teams
A CCP Consulting Project Team typically consists of 3-6 consultants, selected from the pool of CCP Volunteer Consultants.
CCP Consulting Teams are made up of ODN-Oregon Members. Participation in CCP is directly aligned with the tree major reasons members join ODN-Oregon:
- Learning – CCP mentoring provides significant learning opportunities for members wishing to expand their consulting skills. Working together alongside other members and under the leadership of a Senior Consultant provides a rich environment for professional growth.
- Networking – Members who participate in CCP build a close network with other members of their team. Working together, they have a significant opportunity to demonstrate competence and gain the confidence of others to refer them in the future.
- Serving – CCP provides the ultimate opportunity to serve, both for those members wishing to give back to the COMMUNITY, as well as for those seeking to give back to their PROFESSION, by mentoring others.
ODN-Oregon members interesting in participating may download and complete the Consultant Application.
How Teams Function
Each team of Volunteer Consultants works closely with a Senior Consultant whose role is to guide the team and ensure that the client receives quality consulting services.
Teams are basically self-managed; and the participants decide how they will work together. They set meeting times and places with each other and the client. Teams stay together until the project ends. In extreme situations it may be necessary to add/replace members of a team in order to meet project needs. These decisions are made by the Core Team in consultation with the Senior Consultant leading the project.
CCP is maintained by a core group of consultants that meets 6 - 9 times a year. The necessary skills for this team are primarily leadership, planning, and management. This team recruits and coordinates the involvement of many volunteers necessary to make the CCP successful.
The Core Team markets the CCP services, performs the initial screening of potential clients, and recruits and orients volunteer consultants. The Core Team oversees the formation and launch of each consulting team/project. Then, monitors team progress from a distance (through the Senior Consultant assigned to the project); the Core Team only becomes involved with a particular consulting project if problems arise.
Volunteer consultants are drawn exclusively from the membership of Oregon ODN.
Required Skills/Background
Volunteer consultants bring diverse backgrounds, interests, and experience to each team. There is often a good representation of graduate school students who have academic grounding in OD or Training and Development. Others new to our organization, or perhaps exploring career changes look to this experience for career confirmation. In some teams there are veteran CCP participants – volunteers with one or more CCP projects under their belts. This variation in participant backgrounds makes for a fair amount of diversity of opinion and can be an interesting, fun and challenging part of the learning experience.
In general, volunteer consultants are members who want to:
- Develop new consulting skills or gain experience;
- Give back to their community/profession by sharing their skills experience with other consultants and our clients;
- Collaborate effectively with others;
- Openly give and receive feedback;
- Be tolerant of ambiguity and receptive to change;
- Commit the time necessary for the team to succeed (see below).
Required Commitment
We welcome anyone who wants to improve his or her organizational development and training consultation skills and is willing to:
- Meet with their Consulting Team regularly throughout the project
- Attend the two CCP Retreats held during the year for orientation, project review and team formation
- Commit 40-80 hours during a 3-4 month project
Participants need to think carefully before committing to this process. Once selected for a project, they must participate in a weekly face-to-face meeting with their team. Typically that will be 1 - 2 hours. Additionally, there will be ad hoc work and deadlines, since it is impossible to fully anticipate the demands of a consulting project. Volunteer Consultants average about five hours a week on CCP projects. Over the course of 3-4 months, it is common for individuals to give 40 - 80 hours to their project...often during periods they did not anticipate when they signed up.
The biggest issue regularly faced by team members is the amount of time this important work takes. Team members who benefit the most are those that give CCP a top priority during the life of the project.
Cost
Everyone involved in CCP activities participates on a purely voluntary basis. There is no exchange of money for workshops, coaching, or consultation. Volunteer consultants are asked to contribute $20 each to cover expenses. This is collected with their application. Fee waivers are possible.
Process To Volunteer
Those interested in being on a consulting team declare their interest by filling out a CCP Consultant Application. This form collects information about past experiences and current skill sets, and asks what the volunteer wishes to learn or gain from participating in the CCP.
Semi-annually we gather interested consultants for an Orientation and Planning Session during which we talk with them about the CCP process and the prospective clients for that cycle. Teams of 2 - 4 volunteer consultants are then formed based on skill sets, personal development goals, and the client project/needs.
There is no guarantee that a volunteer consultant will be assigned to a project team. However, all CCP volunteers are invited to participate in the two retreats held each year.
Each team works closely with a senior consultant whose role is to guide the team and ensure that the client receives a quality consulting service.
We have a "bench" of seniors who have expressed interest in serving the community and helping volunteer consultants learn new skills. Senior consultants are recruited directly by the Core Team. They must have 10 or more years of consulting experience and command credibility with clients as well as volunteer consultants.
The Senior acts as a lead consultant and project manager. As a shadow consultant to the team the Senior provides coaching, mentoring, and problem solving assistance to the team. S/he may have limited interaction with the client depending on the project and his/her availability; this can allow team members to have the experience of working with their own client from start to finish.
No project will be accepted without a committed Senior who has already met the client and agreed to lead the project.
Seniors are responsible for the overall quality of the project, our mission of community service, and for providing a basis of team and individual learning around consultancy skills. How seniors exercise their role is flexible. We pick them because they've been successful consultants often for decades. We value their range of experience and the unique approach they bring to CCP and to the clients they serve. Seniors take an active role in meeting with the team, and they stay in touch with the client. They also work with other Senior consultants to orchestrate the bi-annual retreats for all volunteers.
To Learn More or To Get Involved as a Consultant or Client:
Contact Dan Vetter, 503-449-8173, dan@vettersolutions.com.
Testimonials
After significant initial success as an advocacy coalition, our 10-year-old
organization faced a crisis in future direction. We were fortunate to
be selected as one of CCP's first clients. CCP consultants helped us identify
core issues, plan a board retreat, and then ably facilitated a highly
successful meeting where we addressed issues critical to organizational
growth and development. Their support allowed us to get the basics under
control so we could move ahead as an organization.
- Kathryn Firestone, Director, Coalition for School Funding
I just want to send a big thank you to you and your associates for
your help with our retreat. I think that it was an easier and more productive
exercise for us with your expertise and guidance. We really appreciate
your help, and we look forward to following up with you as we move forward.
Thank you.
- Ellen Margolis, Board Chairperson, ASIA
You each know we have gone through a two-year process to complete
the national Alliance of Information & Referral Systems Accreditation.
We passed. Thank you, Community Consulting Project! They loved the dashboard,
and they were very impressed with the new report I'm using based on the
goals we defined. Thanks again for your incredible support -- please join
the staff in feeling incredibly proud.
- Jeri Shumate, Executive Director, 211info