Question 1

How long does a typical assignment last?

Accepted Answer

Three orders of magnitude: an institutional or organisational diagnostic runs four to eight weeks; support to a reform, a restructuring or the roll-out of a monitoring and evaluation system spans three to twelve months; an executive coaching cycle usually means six to ten sessions over four to six months. The actual duration is fixed at the end of scoping, based on scope and on the availability of the client's own teams.

Question 2

Do you work on site, remotely, or in a blended format?

Accepted Answer

Diagnostics, feedback workshops and work with operational staff take place on site, including in the provinces when the mandate requires it. Follow-up between milestones, individual coaching sessions and document reviews are handled remotely. Most assignments are therefore blended, with an on-site calendar agreed during scoping.

Question 3

Do you work outside Kinshasa and the DRC?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The firm is based in Gombe-Kinshasa and works across the provinces — notably in South Kivu and wherever our technical partners run their projects — as well as in the sub-region, alone or in consortium with partner firms.

Question 4

Which languages do you work in?

Accepted Answer

Assignments are delivered in French and English. Workshops with operational and community-level participants are held in Lingala or Swahili where that is what real listening requires; deliverables remain in the contractual language of the mandate.

Question 5

How do we know which mode fits our need?

Accepted Answer

The criterion is the nature of the blockage. If the capability exists inside the organisation but is not being deployed — a deferred decision, a misaligned executive team — the lever is coaching (Uongozi). If a decision needs to be informed while the client keeps control of execution, it is counseling (Ushauri): analysis, options, reasoned opinion. If the expertise or production capacity is missing internally — an evaluation, a procedures manual, a monitoring system — it is consulting (Usaidizi).

Question 6

Can several modes be combined in one assignment?

Accepted Answer

That is the most frequent case. An institutional reform typically combines a consulting diagnostic, counseling support to the trade-offs, and coaching of the executive team during implementation. The combination and its sequencing are written into the scoping note.

Question 7

Can the mode change during the assignment?

Accepted Answer

Yes, provided it is formalised. A diagnostic sometimes shows that the problem is not technical but relational or decisional. We say so, we propose an amendment setting out the new scope, and the client decides.

Question 8

What if you are not the right firm for the mandate?

Accepted Answer

We say so at scoping rather than after signature. Where the need calls for expertise we do not hold, we state it and, if the client wishes, point to a firm or expert whose practice we know.

Question 9

How is the information we share protected?

Accepted Answer

A confidentiality undertaking is signed before any access to data, and it binds every consultant assigned to the mandate, associated experts included. Working documents are held in assignment-specific spaces and returned or destroyed at closure, according to the option chosen by the client.

Question 10

Can our data or our name be used as a reference?

Accepted Answer

Never without written authorisation. The references published on this site appear with the agreement of the clients concerned or in generic wording. Raw data, interviews and internal documents never leave the perimeter of the assignment.

Question 11

How do you handle uncomfortable findings?

Accepted Answer

They are reported. A report that leaves out what is awkward is of no use to the institution that commissioned it. Sensitive findings are first presented to the client in a restricted session, with the supporting evidence, before being included in the deliverable.

Question 12

How do you manage conflicts of interest?

Accepted Answer

They are examined before a mandate is accepted and declared in writing where a prior relationship exists with a stakeholder in the file. If the conflict cannot be neutralised, we decline the assignment.

Question 13

How is an assignment steered?

Accepted Answer

Every mandate has an engagement manager accountable for the client relationship, a milestone structure with dated deliverables and, for long assignments, a steering committee bringing together the firm and the client's designated leads. Decisions and schedule variances are recorded in writing.

Question 14

Who actually works on our file?

Accepted Answer

The team is named in the proposal: consultants of the firm and, depending on the speciality required, associated experts from the COACH Sarl pool. Any replacement during the assignment requires the client's prior agreement.

Question 15

Do you respond to tenders and donor procedures?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The firm is registered with the RCCM and holds the identifiers required to contract with public administrations, companies and technical and financial partners. Administrative files and certificates are provided on request.

Question 16

How are fees set?

Accepted Answer

On the basis of the scope agreed at cadrage: volume of expert-days, travel, workshops and expected deliverables. The financial proposal itemises these lines; it is firm for the scope described and changes only through an amendment accepted by both parties.

Question 17

What remains once the assignment closes?

Accepted Answer

The deliverables, but above all their ownership: tools handed over with instructions for use, teams trained to keep them alive, and a final debrief with the client. A follow-up point is offered a few months after closure to check what has actually held.

What clients ask us before signing

Recurring questions

A question that is not covered here?

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What clients ask us before signing

Recurring questions

01Delivery arrangements and timelines(4)

How long does a typical assignment last?

Do you work on site, remotely, or in a blended format?

Do you work outside Kinshasa and the DRC?

Which languages do you work in?

02Choosing between coaching, counseling and consulting(4)

03Confidentiality and professional conduct(4)

04Assignment governance and contracting(5)

A question that is not covered here?

Move your next strategic step forward