The document discusses five discussion questions related to consulting. The questions address negotiation skills, justifying the value consultants provide to organizations, establishing trust and partnerships with clients, tax considerations for consultants, and assessing an organization's readiness for change. Strategies for addressing issues that arise with clients and how to approach stakeholders after both successful and problematic situations are also examined.

1. Discussion Question 1:
Discuss the importance of negotiation skills as they relate to
your interest in starting or continuing to build a consulting
business. Additionally, state how you will sell your skills.
Provide an elevator speech.
What do you see as your strengths and weaknesses when it
comes to negotiation? What tips can you offer your colleagues?
Discussion Question 2:
Based on your research, respond to the following:
Provide an analysis of the value you could or do bring to an
organization as a consultant. Justify your claims.
Identify at least two articles related to value in business in your
area of interest. Compare and contrast the findings.
In what ways does your own experience related to the concept
of value differ from or reinforce the points in the articles you
read? Present a comparison.
Discussion Question 3:
How can one create a strong working client-consultant
partnership?
What tools and techniques might you use to establish the bond
of trust in your relationships with clients?
What strategies have worked or not worked for you in past
working relationships? How might you employ these strategies
differently in the future? Discuss with the class previous and
potential outcomes, good and bad, to such strategies.
Discussion Question 4:
How does the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) view consultants?

2. What are some of the tax and legal considerations of consulting
in your area?
What are the best and worst consulting situations in which you
have been involved or of which you are aware?
What led to these situations?
What is the defining moment or takeaway for you from those
situations?
How did internal and external stakeholders view the consultants
afterward?
How would you approach similar situations in the future to
build on successes, resolve issues, and recover from problems?
Discussion Question 5:
How can the readiness for change be gauged?
If a client is not ready to commit to change, what options might
a consultant have? What are the differences in how an internal
versus an external consultant might address the issue?
Use the organization selected for your consulting project.
Briefly assess their readiness for change. Based on your
determination of their readiness for change, what techniques
would you use to convince them to implement changes based on
your feedback and why?
Grading Criteria
Assignment Components
Max Points
Initial response was:
Insightful, original, accurate, and timely.
Substantive and demonstrated advanced understanding of
concepts.
Compiled/synthesized theories and concepts drawn from a
variety of sources to support statements and conclusions.
16
Discussion Response and Participation:
Responded to a minimum of two peers in a timely manner.

3. Offered points of view supported by research.
Asked challenging questions that promoted discussion.
Drew relationships between one or more points in the
discussion.
16
Writing:
Wrote in a clear, concise, formal, and organized manner.
Responses were error free.
Information from sources, where applicable, was paraphrased
appropriately and accurately cited.
8
Total:
40