Independent consulting practices rarely develop in a straight line. At different points, the right strategic choice might be to deepen work with existing clients, reach new markets, develop new services, narrow your focus, build partnerships, or deliberately maintain the practice you already have.
This session invites independent evaluators to step back from the day-to-day demands of consulting and think more intentionally about the direction of their practice. Using practical strategy frameworks and reflection questions, Meg Gassanov will explore different pathways available to consultants and the opportunities, risks, and trade-offs associated with each.
The discussion will consider the realities that shape these choices—including changing market conditions, demand, capacity, delivery models, quality, and risk—and the fact that growth is not always the right objective.
Participants will leave with practical questions and tools to help assess where their practice is today, consider where they want it to go next, and make more deliberate strategic choices about how to get there.
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Presenter:
Meg Gassanov is the Founder and Principal Consultant of Strategic Measures, a Canadian consulting practice specializing in evaluation, performance measurement, strategic planning, and applied research. Meg is a Credentialed Evaluator (CE) through the Canadian Evaluation Society and a Strategy Planning Professional (SPP) through the International Association for Strategy Professionals. She holds a PhD in Sociology from The Ohio State University, with graduate specialization in survey research, and has additional training in organizational design, human-centred design, and change management. Through Strategic Measures, Meg works with public-sector and nonprofit organizations to strengthen strategy, measurement, evaluation, and organizational decision-making. Her work often focuses on helping organizations make choices about direction, priorities, capacity, performance, and how best to translate strategy into practice.
In this session, Meg brings together her perspectives as both an evaluator and strategist to explore how independent consultants can make more deliberate choices about the direction and design of their practice.