Consultation Guidelines

BEST PRACTICE GUIDELINES FOR CONDUCTING EXPERT CONSULTATIONS

We have put together these guidelines to help you get the most from your consultations.

You can assume when starting, that your Expert will have read your questions in advance, but beyond that Experts will expect you to direct them on how to spend your consultation time together.

As with any such call, the more you are able to prepare in advance, the more you will get from your time!

Suggested timing for a 60min consultation:

Timing (mins.)	Section	What to cover
0-5	1. Introduction	Expert: Background, areas he/she knows best Interviewer: Context for call, what you know already
5-30	2. Cover main questions	Try to cover most of your main questions, to understand answer at high level As you discuss at high level, flag topics of greatest interest where you want to go into in more detail in 2nd half of call
30-55	3. Probe deeper on most important areas	Probe Expert more deeply on 2-3 topics of greatest importance Address additional topics of interest that may have come up
55-60	4. Wrap up	“Was there anything else we should have asked?” Agree on any action items discussed (e.g., any data to exchange, other people to contact) Thank Expert!

 

Best Practice tips to get the most from your consultation:

1. Send written questions in advance (these do not have to be highly detailed, but should state your main goals/questions for the call as directly as possible)
2. Meet for 5 minutes beforehand to agree main questions/objectives [if more than 2 people conducting call]
3. Feel free to interrupt Expert and guide them towards most important topics – this is your time!
4. Ask Expert to provide data by email where helpful (e.g. key figures, documents, articles mentioned during call)
5. Spend 5 minutes after call to discuss and write down key takeaways [if more than 2 people conducting call]
6. Give direct feedback to OnFrontiers on what was helpful/not helpful about call or Expert (please fill out survey, and follow up with OnFrontiers by phone as convenient)