What’s the difference between consulting and staffing, also known as ‘staff augmentation’?
Depending on the location, the assignment and the culture of the company sometimes there’s no difference between consulting and staffing. And sometimes depending on the same list above, it’s a hybrid mix.
Because I believe everything I read on the Internet, I found great definitions of staff augmentation at Management Consulted:
Staff augmentation – The least impactful role that consultants can play…Companies often have short to medium-term staffing needs… due to a variety of factors (e.g., recent downsizings, sudden expansion). Consultants in this situation “plug a hole” for the company by filling the role of full-time employees.
Staff vs Consultants? Dogs vs Cats?
There are lots of ways to grow healthy companies. In my experience, staffing should be limited to the above roles. Many consultants have unwittingly fallen into staff augmentation roles when projects aren’t clearly defined. And when that happens, you ultimately end up with the people who have created intellectual property on how to get things done for your company walking away with that knowledge at the end of the assignment.
The Bookey practice: We get it and we get it done.
We consult to grow your company’s best practices and internal intelligence in the field of marketing, business development and sales enablement. Sometimes that requires filling an interim role as you grow. That means we train our permanent replacement and sometimes even recruit them for you if necessary.
The Bookey Group works with companies to build strategies that support their efforts to increase revenue and market share. Ideally, consulting is a short term engagement that allows us to transfer knowledge to internal employees in a cost effective way. If we’re working with a lean startup, it makes sense for us to augment their team and get the work done, giving companies a cost-effective way to launch and gain traction.
Our best engagements are ones where we collaborate on project definition and desired outcomes – and then we measure as we go along. When the client, and our firm both agree when a project is done, you can take over the reigns or call us back in for the next version or product. We want to be part of your successful network AS NEEDED, rather than always onsite.
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A serial entrepreneur with a passion for technology and education, Linda develops marketing strategies for companies interested in widening their reach into new markets. Her interests include workforce development and STEM outreach to grow the pipeline for women, and underrepresented populations. Linda has built deep relationships with tech influencers, educators, authors and developers and is highly regarded in the community for being a “master connector.” Contact Linda to learn more about The Bookey Group.