How Outside Consultants Can Fit In
by John Rossheim
You know the sad story: A project team lacks a key skill-set or needs a broader perspective, so the manager decides to hire a consultant. A free agent with just the right background is identified, and a contract is signed. But it’s all downhill from there: Internal staff is suspicious of the consultant, the role is ill defined, communication breaks down and the company finally severs the consulting relationship.
What can you do to avoid these rocky reefs, which you’re sure to encounter if you serve as an outside consultant on a team that’s mainly composed of internal staff? Here are three key strategies that can help save the project -- and your posterior.
Earn the trust of internal staff
What consulting task begins even before day one of your contract? Convincing the people you’ll be working with that you can be trusted. "When you’re an outside person, you have to earn people’s trust," says Deborah Duarte, a principal at Creative Solutions International, a consulting firm in Herndon, VA. "People think you might not have the company’s best interests at heart, that you’re just in it for the money," explains Duarte, who has advised clients ranging from Whirlpool and Discovery Communications to NASA and the United Nations.
How do you convince colleagues within your client’s staff that you really are on the same team? Assume that they don’t understand your consulting business, and explain the basic tenets: You earn business by word of mouth, so your reputation is paramount. And your reputation depends totally on the results that you produce, project by project, client by client.
Do you suspect that the project manager is holding back strategic information that’s critical to your task? Be proactive and offer to sign a non-disclosure agreement, even if you haven’t been asked to, Duarte advises.
Carve out your role carefully
Another way to earn trust is to communicate to your collaborators that you will complement their contributions to the project, not compete with them. "I would recommended getting somewhere where the whole team can see you," says Duarte. "Then carve out a role for yourself where you’re not encroaching on other people’s responsibilities."
Keep in mind that many project team members may not even know which tasks you’ve been assigned, as set out in your consulting contract. Encourage the project manager to spell this out for the team, or to allow you to do so. See if the manager will share with you the internal structure and dynamics of the team, which often shape your own role.
Don’t take communications for granted
Communicating with your client means more than just returning phone calls promptly. Indeed, you need to manage expectations about your availability to people on your client’s staff who are accustomed to continuous, easy access to one another. " If you’re only on e-mail twice a day, let team members know that," Duarte says. "People who don’t get that don’t succeed," she concludes.
Do take into account your clients’ legitimate need to stay in close touch with you. It may be worth a few hundred dollars a year for an extra voice or data line to your home office, just to avoid frustrating your clients half a dozen times.
Check out the following resources on Monster.com for more tips on effective communication and flexible work arrangements and the virtual office.
