Who may need consulting services and when? How to conclude a consulting services agreement? Which consulting centers offer favorable terms of cooperation?
Greetings to the readers of the HeatherBeaver website!
Does your company have a problem that cannot be solved by your own employees? Need outside help? A narrow specialist? So it's time to use consulting services. I, Maria Darovskaya, will tell you about their features in this material.
You will learn how to get high-level consulting services in just 7 steps. We will also look at consulting companies you can trust.
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What is consulting in simple words
Consulting (from the commonly used English term consulting) is paid expert advice to the company's management, covering a wide range of issues related to the main aspects of doing business. Their coverage helps optimize the company’s activities, improve its key indicators and find a solution to the current problem.
In simple words, if a company is faced with a problem that cannot be solved internally, without the involvement of outside specialists, management turns to an external professional consultant. And he, in turn, offers a suitable way to overcome the obstacle.
The key mission of consulting is to transfer the client from the current state to the desired one, providing assistance in achieving the intended goals and obtaining the desired results.
Which online cash register is better for services to the public?
The service consumer must receive a cash receipt from the supplier at the time of payment. The legislation has legally equalized the two forms of this document: paper and electronic. Therefore, if the buyer made the payment directly at the seller’s premises, he should be given a paper check, and if the payment took place remotely, an electronic version of this document should be sent. To do this, the supplier must know the consumer's email address or phone number. In addition, the name of the service in the online cash register receipt must correspond to the established nomenclature, and the receipt must contain all the required details. A sample online cash register receipt for services will look something like this:
When deciding which online cash register is best for services, the seller must proceed from the availability of the specific selected cash register model in the Federal Tax Service register, as well as whether he needs to issue checks on paper. If all payments will be made only remotely, then you can choose an online cash register model that does not have a printing device, which means it costs less. The procedure for connecting and registering it does not differ in any way from other models, including in terms of data transfer through the fiscal drive and the operator to the tax authorities.
Tasks and goals of a consulting company
Key goals of specialists in the field of consulting:
- improving the quality of management;
- increasing the efficiency of the enterprise's operating activities;
- optimization of various business processes;
- solving problematic issues in economic, financial, legal, production and other areas of activity that reduce the organization’s profit margins, as well as negatively impact the business as a whole.
In each individual case, based on a thorough analysis of all collected data about the client’s company and its activities, consultants offer unique solutions to improve the enterprise management structure and solve pressing problems.
The key tasks of consulting are a deep, comprehensive analysis of the organization, the consumer attractiveness of its product, the competitive environment, forecasting, justification of development prospects and the introduction of scientific, technical and economic innovations, taking into account the subject area and current problems of the company.
Thus, the main tasks of consulting companies are:
- analysis of the current situation and identification of problems;
- recommendations for improving efficiency;
- development of a development strategy;
- solutions for modernization of the technological process;
- audit of financial and tax reporting;
- assistance in restructuring the organization's divisions;
- personnel training and development of methodological manuals.
The role of a consultant in business
A good consulting company has everything necessary to provide comprehensive assistance to a business at any stage of its development. Once a problem is identified, consultants can focus their efforts on the identified type of problem and develop a specific, workable solution to the problem. Large consulting companies have dozens of specialists with extensive experience, both in general management (masters of business administration) and in a narrow focus (specialists from various areas of business, from legal compliance to financial calculations).
Often, an outside expert’s view of the business as a whole and its individual aspects is more informative. Consulting helps you choose the most effective business model, suggests a way to optimally use the company’s internal resources, and clearly guides you in the direction of potentially profitable areas of growth. When contacting a consulting company, an independent expert assessment of the management team of the customer’s company is of particular value.
It is a fundamental misconception that consulting is necessary only for large companies. Expert consulting will help small businesses show greater flexibility in the rapidly changing conditions of a market economy, rebuild, and sometimes completely re-profile with minimal losses. Professional consultations are also useful at the stage of starting a business, optimizing work activity, and reorganizing an enterprise. The assistance of consultants is also invaluable in matters of marketing and promotion, especially under conditions of severe time pressure and limited resources.
By contacting a consulting company, you can get decent help both in managing specific projects and, if not eliminated completely, then significantly alleviate current business problems.
It is advisable for businesses to contact consulting firms to assess the risks of a particular project. Due to their own rich experience in working with such issues, as well as reference to global and domestic practice, consultants will give an objective independent assessment of the investment object, which may save their client large sums.
Who can work without online cash register
Online cash registers will not be needed when renting out your own housing, as well as when carrying out activities, the types of which are listed in Article 3 of Law No. 54-FZ. These include, in particular:
- sale of newspapers and magazines in kiosks;
- trade in ice cream and draft soft drinks for takeaway;
- sales of products from tank trucks: milk, kvass, fresh fish, etc.;
- sale of seasonal vegetables, fruits, watermelons and melons for takeaway;
- peddling trade in souvenirs and similar products;
- trade at fairs, exhibitions and sales, retail markets;
- sale of medicines in pharmacies operating at paramedic stations in villages and villages, as well as in hospital departments and medical organizations in settlements where there are no pharmacies.
In addition, organizations and individual entrepreneurs working in remote villages and villages or hard-to-reach areas may not use online cash registers for services to the public. Such an area must be mentioned in a document approved by the regional authorities. However, in this case, sellers in hard-to-reach areas are still required to issue their customers a document confirming the purchase - a strict reporting form.
Business entities are exempt from using cash register systems when making payments between organizations and/or individual entrepreneurs using an electronic means of payment without presenting it, that is, when money is transferred in non-cash form from one current account to another. In all other cases, including accepting payments through payment aggregators, for example Robokassa, Yandex.Kassa or similar systems, as well as when working with a payment (bank) card through a POS terminal, the use of cash register becomes mandatory. It is also necessary to issue checks to customers if they make cash payments through the cash desk of a bank or operator such as Euroset salons.
When to use consulting services
It is believed that external consulting is most often turned to by companies that find themselves in a critical situation, which cannot get out of a deplorable situation on their own due to the lack of the necessary experience and internal resources of the organization. However, crisis counseling is far from the main function of consulting. Quite reliable, firmly standing companies also turn to expert assistance for a wide variety of reasons, among which the following are highlighted:
- The management team does not have the proper experience and needs specific knowledge to help resolve issues in the activities being carried out.
- The company needs an open, fresh perspective from the outside to develop new ideas.
- When disagreements arise among managers on any issue, an objective assessment from the outside is required in order to come to a common opinion.
- If managers lack knowledge to make a decision in a situation of failure on a serious and important project, qualified outside assistance is required for the successful completion of this project.
- The company requires a specialist who will set up internal communication channels between divisions and departments.
- The company needs a full or partial audit of its activities with the involvement of independent experts.
- The company needs to recruit a number of qualified specialists.
The list of reasons for turning to consulting is much wider and is not limited to the above list.
Who may need consulting services?
Employees of a consulting company must have higher education, work experience, and the necessary knowledge. Consultants must be not only qualified, but also objective, and act only in the interests of the customer.
The company must have an independent status, not related to clients.
Consulting services are used by:
- public and private enterprises providing services or producing products;
- foreign companies operating in the domestic market;
- government organizations, public administration bodies.
The above enterprises, companies, organizations most often need legal, financial, and management types of consulting.
Consulting is expected to provide an objective analysis of the situation, develop recommendations for further steps to resolve a specific situation or the situation as a whole, and search for effective strategies and development prospects. Consulting is often sought when there is a need for tax advice or resolving labor and debt disputes.
When choosing consultants, enterprises or organizations should focus on their characteristics, the range of problems that need to be solved, and the type of consulting required.
Consulting services are needed if it is necessary to attract a specialist to coordinate company structures, if managers cannot come to a consensus on a specific issue, if an objective assessment of the situation is needed.
Example
The director of a building materials production company turned to a consulting agency due to a crisis situation—a drop in sales, an increase in debt, and problems in working with dealers.
The consultants diagnosed that the problems lie in the lack of strategy, plans for the future, sales skew towards the corporate segment, and the cessation of development and product improvements.
Other shortcomings have also emerged - the lack of a system in working with clients and monitoring the competitive environment.
As a result, the director of the company, together with the consultant, jointly worked out a strategy, developed a mechanism for adjusting and tracking plans, reworked the management system, created a marketing department, and revived the development department.
At the same time, the consultants, in collaboration with the company’s management, created a staff motivation system, revised the pricing policy, redistributed sales managers regionally, and developed a set of measures to reduce debt.
After six months of operating in this mode, the company got out of the crisis situation, changed its operating principles, reduced debt, and replaced part of the staff.
You can find out what financial consulting is from a special publication on our portal.
Types of consulting
There are two main classifications of consulting:
- on the subject of counseling - subject;
- according to the method of consulting - methodological.
The subject classification of consulting is most widespread due to the ease of understanding of its essence by the end user of consulting services. Thus, depending on the aspect of the business it is aimed at, consulting can be divided into the following types:
Managerial
This is a whole range of services to ensure the company’s stable position in the market and improve its key indicators. The key tasks of management consulting are the timely detection and elimination in their infancy of problematic issues that impede the targeted development of a business. Management consulting is intended for the management team of an enterprise; it allows you to take the business to a new level of development, making good competition with other market players, increasing the client base, assessing the profitability of projects under development, reducing costs and optimizing internal communication channels.
The purpose of this type of consulting is to get a complete picture of the current state of affairs and determine how to increase the profitability and competitiveness of the company. The consultant develops and monitors the implementation of a business development strategy, as well as the compliance of actions with its long-term goals.
Strategic
It is in strong connection with management, being essentially its logical continuation. The main task of strategic consulting is to develop an effective step-by-step business development strategy. Without it, it is not possible to solve existing problems and provide the company with a stable and strong position in the market.
Marketing
To apply the developed strategy, a methodology for promoting the enterprise and its goods/services on the market is developed, a detailed portrait of the target audience is described, the most effective advertising channels are determined, etc. All this is done by marketing consulting, which is dedicated to increasing the profitability of the company, customer loyalty and reducing the costs of production.
Thus, management, strategic and marketing consulting often complement each other and are important parts of a single mechanism.
IT consulting
Consulting in the field of IT technologies involves the development of effective solutions for the implementation of digital technologies in various business processes of a company in order to improve their performance.
This could be the development of unique software, testing the effectiveness of existing hardware and software. Due to the prevalence of hacker attacks, it increasingly also includes the implementation of effective protection and computer security.
Financial
Financial consultants are engaged in comprehensive improvement of the financial position of a business. This includes:
- recommendations on ways to manage expenses and financial planning;
- development and planning of the company's investment activities, assessment of investment risks;
- designing the financial, investment and budget management structure of the company;
- advice on corporate insurance, tax issues and everyday financial expenses.
Financial consultants will help you efficiently distribute financial resources, estimate implementation costs and payback periods for various projects, calculate financial risks and draw up a financial strategy for effective cash management.
Personnel
HR consultants focus their attention on the corporate life of the company. They give their assessment of the company's personnel composition, identify problems in internal communication between departments, hire new personnel and build a corporate culture.
Personnel consulting carries out testing, development and implementation of motivational and incentive systems for personnel, resolves conflict situations and works to prevent them.
Legal
A legal consultant provides assistance and support in the legal field exclusively through consultations. Its main tasks are to identify, resolve and prevent legal problems. The range of issues resolved with the help of legal consulting is quite wide - this includes qualified legal assistance on issues of employment, paperwork, intellectual and corporate property, real estate, etc.
Accounting
Accounting consultants provide assistance in structuring and setting up accounting, preparing the necessary reports, looking for ways to reduce the tax base, analyzing accounts payable and determining the profitability of the business.
Transport (logistics)
This type of consulting deals with solving problematic issues in the field of logistics. Logistics consultants help companies determine the most appropriate transport policy, highlight the strengths of the enterprise's existing logistics and eliminate its shortcomings through a thorough analysis of the current situation, development and implementation of strategic solutions to optimize activities in this area.
Educational
A relatively recent, but actively growing type of consulting in Russia. Educational consultants help the client:
- determine the main issues of retraining and advanced training of company personnel;
- provide an objective assessment of existing plans and training programs;
- will prepare recommendations for choosing an educational institution and course, taking into account the basic level of knowledge of employees and the existing needs of the enterprise;
- if necessary, they will create an individual program;
- will select experts and conduct corporate training in the format of a training session or a series of educational lectures.
Forms of consulting
Consulting can be implemented by providing the customer with various types of services; usually the choice of one or another form of consulting directly depends on the client’s expectations and needs.
Among the key requests of organizations turning to consulting companies are the following:
- Develop a business plan to increase the competitiveness of an enterprise, based on an analysis of direct competitors and an assessment of their actions according to certain parameters.
- Suggest measures that should be taken to improve the quality of service.
- Develop a marketing strategy to increase the average check.
- Conduct a one-time expert consultation on the issue of tax reporting.
Based on such requests, the list of which can number tens or even hundreds, consulting services can be provided in the following basic forms.
Analytics
Analysis of existing business processes and the company’s current position in the market, the effectiveness of internal interaction between its divisions, the study of competitors and market demand, the overall competitiveness of the company and its individual advantages, possible ways of development and scaling.
A comprehensive study of the company’s activities, assessment of its work, research of sales markets, projects requiring large investments and assessment of investment risks, profit growth rates or, conversely, the dynamics of the enterprise’s unprofitability.
As a result: the client is provided with a list of recommendations for improving business processes, increasing operational efficiency, optimizing and developing the company.
Forecasting
Based on the analysis, consultants make their forecast of the client’s economic and financial prospects, identify possible options for the development of new directions and sales markets. If the customer has independently developed and plans to launch a new production project, but does not know what results to expect, consultants will calculate the targets and risks that may be encountered in practice.
Forecasting is carried out using scientific methods and the consulting company’s own system developments, having a clear evidence base.
The consulting forecast itself is always justified and supported by specific figures and facts.
Audit of activities
An independent audit of the company’s current activities, aimed at identifying problem areas. For example, checking accounting, efficiency of the sales department, assessing the quality of technical support.
Sometimes a company needs an independent audit of its own assets or production. And a good consulting company will cope with this work like no one else.
The results of the audit are presented in the form of a detailed report; in addition to listing the established facts of the audit, consultants provide a list of recommended actions to optimize and modernize the organization’s work processes.
Expert advice
Consultations are carried out both on a one-time basis and on the basis of a long-term cooperation agreement.
In accordance with which area of the company’s activity needs expert information support, the customer is immediately determined on the direction of consulting services.
One-time consultations are definitely cheaper than repeated requests for advice, however, no one guarantees that the need for such consultation will not arise after some time. Large companies initially prefer to work with consulting companies under long-term contracts.
Direct work in the project
Consultants are invited not only to analyze, audit or make recommendations, but also to directly participate in complex projects along with the customer. This could be the implementation and/or testing of new software, employee training, litigation, etc.
Direct project assistance is the elaboration and implementation of certain actions aimed at increasing the efficiency and quality of activities in the company. Consultants carry out detailed planning and, together with the client, step by step, ensure greater productivity, since the joint efforts of both parties are able to quickly select suitable solutions to the assigned tasks.
Zero form 1-Services
The Statistics Service provided for the submission of a report on services even if activities were not carried out or suspended during the year.
If an organization or individual entrepreneur has not worked all year, then they submit a report in the general manner, but enter zeros in the lines.
Organizations that have been operating for only part of the year submit the form on a general basis and indicate since when they have not been operating.
If an organization or individual entrepreneur did not provide services to the population in 2019, then instead of a form, you need to send an official letter to Rosstat about the absence of the event under study.
Types of consulting companies and their operating principles
There is no single correct classification as such, but among the variety of companies in consulting, the following main types can be distinguished:
- The largest international companies with a large developed network of representative offices around the world, large consulting agencies.
- Subject-oriented companies specializing in certain areas: management, financial, IT consulting, etc.
- Leadership organizations - a company is formed around a strong personality, a first-class specialist. In exceptional cases, the leader forms a company of followers of up to 20 employees.
- Partners are a group of consultants, each of whom is a professional in his field with his own clientele and can work independently of others, but prefers to work on equal terms with colleagues, sharing an office and sometimes projects.
- Independent individual consultants.
In consulting activities, there are certain well-established operating principles that every consulting company tries to adhere to.
Among them are:
- Scientific validity. A self-respecting consulting company uses only scientifically based data and facts confirmed by expert assessment. In this work there is no place for speculation, professional “feeling”, intuition, only facts that have a strong evidence base.
- Using information technology and the latest software as additional tools. Every company should have not only modern technological solutions, but also various latest versions of software in order to increase productivity in the tasks performed.
- Dynamism, which is not only demonstrated to the customer during the initial consultation, but is also used in the company’s activities after completion of the work.
- Scientific perspectives. Consultants can offer clients their own scientific ideas that will help in identifying the optimal and most promising direction for the development of the customer company.
open individual services to the public
Advice from lawyers:
Help me to understand. I am an individual entrepreneur, providing consulting services to the public for a fee.
1 answer
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1 answer
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1 answer
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1 answer
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1 answer
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1 answer
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2 answers
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Stages of consulting activities
The main steps when a client contacts a consulting company are:
Customer awareness of a problem
At the first stage, the customer must recognize the impossibility of solving the existing problem on his own and realize the need to attract outside expert help.
For example, a business owner is determined to dramatically increase production volume, but neither he himself nor his staff have such experience and do not have the knowledge of how to implement this in practice.
In such a situation, turning to a third-party consulting company is the optimal and reasonable solution.
Initial consultation and conclusion of a cooperation agreement
Having chosen a suitable office, you need to hold a preliminary meeting with potential consultants, during which the main request of the customer company will be formulated and the main direction of the consultants’ efforts will be determined.
The agreements reached during the negotiations are recorded in the relevant agreement.
Main points of the agreement:
- duties of the parties;
- terms of service provision;
- their list and cost;
- conditions for changing the amount of remuneration as work progresses;
- circumstances of contract termination, force majeure.
Legally, the standard form of such an agreement is most often formalized as a contract for scientific and technical work. At the same time, it is possible to conclude both one-time contracts and long-term ones, according to which a certain number of client requests to the contractor per year is recorded.
Data collection and problem definition
In collecting data for subsequent analysis in order to determine the nature of the problem, consultants are guided by the terms of reference clearly stated earlier. Specialists develop a plan for a detailed study of the problematic issue, attract the required resources and technical support. At this stage, the main task of the performer is to determine the causes of the problem.
Development of solutions and presentation of them to the management of the customer’s company
Main stage. Consultants clearly describe the problem and its cause-and-effect relationships, and also develop a set of measures designed to help eliminate the problem and optimize the work process in the enterprise as a whole.
Company managers get acquainted with the proposed action plan and give the go-ahead for its implementation.
Implementation of solutions and monitoring their implementation
Approved activities are implemented by consultants or client personnel under the supervision of experts from the consulting company.
During the implementation of business improvement measures, it is also possible to train the customer’s employees. Any obstacles that arise are eliminated under the strict guidance of consultants.
Evaluation of project results
An objective assessment of the result is possible only after some time.
The results are summed up by both the management team of the customer company and representatives of the consulting company.
Final financial settlements with the customer
The planned set of measures was carried out within the specified time frame, preliminary results are already known in the form of a tangible improvement in production indicators, and, accordingly, an increase in the profitable component of the business. We can summarize that the project was a success and it’s time to pay the bill.
The customer pays the previously agreed upon amount of remuneration, and the parties part ways until the next meeting.
How to choose the right consultant or consulting firm
The cost of consulting services is quite high, so it is important to take a responsible approach to choosing a company in order to receive qualified assistance that can have a beneficial effect on the efficiency of the enterprise and increase its profitability as a whole.
Based on the above, when choosing, you should take into account the maximum number of factors.
Time of existence and experience of the consulting company
Preference should be given to those companies that have a decent working time and solid experience behind them. So, there is no point in contacting a company that has not worked for a year, and you should take into account the total number of successfully completed projects - here it is important not only to know about their existence, but also to become more familiar with the details of the cases. It is advisable not to apply to a company with a weak portfolio.
Additionally, you can track the company’s positive reputation in the consulting services market; this can be done quite simply by looking at reviews on the Internet.
Cost of services
The average cost must be at the market level and must be commensurate with the business segments that are its main specialization. So, too low, or, conversely, exorbitant prices for services are initially alarming, hinting at some kind of trick.
Timing of work
In many ways, the period for fulfilling the contractor’s obligations depends on the type of services that need to be performed. Sometimes it’s a few days, other times it’s a couple of months.
Staff of specialists
Large consulting companies have a large number of qualified specialists, often not of a general profile, but of a rather narrow specialization.
Thus, by contacting such a company, there is a high chance of finding a professional who will provide qualified assistance exactly in the niche required by the customer. You should not opt for a company that employs mostly generalist consultants, or, even worse, uses the labor of one-time freelance specialists.
Changes from July 1, 2020 that you need to know about
Previously, individual entrepreneurs and some organizations that provided services to the public had the opportunity not to use an online cash register. But from the beginning of July this benefit ceased to apply. Now the “smart” cash register should be at:
- organizations and individual entrepreneurs when selling tickets (travel documents) in transport, including public transport;
- Individual entrepreneurs and organizations on UTII, simplified tax system or OSNO, offering the following types of services: household and veterinary;
- repair, maintenance, washing of vehicles and parking areas;
- transportation of passengers and cargo;
- distribution of outdoor advertising using advertising structures;
- advertising on vehicles;
- temporary accommodation and accommodation;
- transfer for temporary possession or use of trading places and land plots for trade;
- hairdressing, cosmetic, veterinary;
At the same time, new benefits appeared. Until July 2021, an individual entrepreneur without employees who sells goods of his own production, performs work or provides services will be able to manage without online cash register until July 2021. Also, organizations providing services in the field of education, culture, and sports will not need an online cash register if they receive payments by bank transfer. However, sometimes it will be needed if the client decides to pay for classes with a bank card.
How not to make a mistake in choosing a consultant?
A competent specialist in the field of consulting understands the nuances and subtleties of the area in which he provides consultations. Bears full responsibility for his actions and guarantees the quality of services provided. His work results are quite measurable.
Basic parameters for choosing a consultant:
- Specific results. The effectiveness of consulting services is determined by easily measurable indicators. If a consultant cannot demonstrate specific numbers, his qualifications are low.
- Thorough study of the client's problem. A professional in his field will familiarize himself with the customer’s problem in advance. By offering the client original and working solutions that he had not previously suspected, he will show confident knowledge of the specifics of the issue and his professionalism.
- Flexibility. A professional has his own point of view, but shows tact and respect for the client’s opinion. Flexibility is the main quality of a competent consultant.
Also, the mandatory qualities of a good specialist undoubtedly include objectivity of judgment, impartiality, and expert independence.
Example of a consulting company's work
The chocolate candy factory is developing a new line of products - chocolate based on 100% natural ingredients. The company cannot independently calculate potential indicators and assess the prospects of launching a new project.
In this regard, the management team of the enterprise decides to contact a consulting company to calculate the profitability of the new direction and assess the compliance of the existing material and technical base with the minimum requirements for launching the line into production.
Consultants analyze the company's assets, technological and material resources, study in detail the competitor market and demand for products, calculate the financial costs of launching a new line and come to the conclusion that the new direction of the company's development is promising, as well as the potential profitability of the project in the region of 15-20%. The factory pays for the services of consultants and launches a new line of products into production.
Consulting can quickly help resolve issues that have already arisen, as well as identify problems that have not yet been formulated, overcome a crisis, strengthen the client’s position in a market economy, differentiate from competitors, and much more. However, such a service often costs a lot of money, so you first need to make sure that such treatment is appropriate, as well as ensure a certain degree of involvement of the employees involved, since without their active participation (especially for managers) it is difficult to solve some pressing problems.
Consulting - solving any business problems
In conclusion, let us summarize all of the above.
Consulting is a type of activity aimed at solving a number of issues and problems related to doing business. There are a total of 14 types of consulting services provided by consulting companies. The service itself is provided by specially trained consultants.
You need to resort to consulting services when a company or business begins to have problems in the field of management, competition, finance, investment, accounting, logistics and other areas.
Consulting helps to quickly solve problems that have arisen and restore the stability of the company. However, such services are not cheap and require some effort, since without the active participation of the manager it is difficult to solve all the problems.
