Getting the best out of a consultancy

Consultancy costs can be a large budget item for many NGOs and so getting the best out of it is essential.

This guide provides tips that will help you learn from good practices and avoid common mistakes. It is for staff involved in commissioning and managing consultants, particularly in programmes, grant management and monitoring, evaluation and learning.

This guide is a summarised and updated version of a longer publication produced by Oxfam. It follows a sequence of steps in managing a consultancy, but each can be read as a stand-alone section:

1. The reasons for the consultancy
2. Defining the consultancy
3. Terms of reference
4. Contract and budget
5. Finding and recruiting a consultant
6. Managing the consultant
7. Feedback, finalising and follow up