Before a visit

All advisors will conduct preparatory research and planning before meeting with an SME. Part of this is regular technical preparation. For example, in the case of low carbon advisors, you would be considering what the major sources of environmental impact, and what the most cost-effective opportunities for savings are likely to be.

In addition, you can use the pre-meeting stage of the engagement to do some initial research on the competing values you are likely to encounter, and start thinking about how you might bring values into play in order to achieve a more successful outcome.

When it comes to engaging with business, we can encounter values from three distinct sources (Figure 1).

These three sources of values are constantly interacting. For some individuals, the three sets of values might be in perfect alignment, while for others there may be conflicts and tensions at play. These can make it difficult for advisors coming from outside. Nonetheless, understanding the values of your audience, and tailoring your message to speak to those values, can help advisors to be more effective in their work.

The table below helps you to think about what competing values might be at play in the impending meeting, by separately considering the organisation, the role and the individual (Figure 1).

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