In my IU Designing Instructional Systems course, we were asked to share some experiences that we have had with consultants. Working in large insurance companies for over 15 years, I have experience working with a lot of consultants – even some long term consultants who stayed around so long they blurred the lines between "consultant" and "employee". In the mid-90's, I was re-engineered into a totally different job when McKinsey came in and reshuffled the deck at a company that is now out of business (any correlation, do you suppose?) However, most of those stories bring back painful memories, so I'll just share my take-away from these experiences:
- When jumping in mid-project: Don't assume existing project members are idiots. They likely have hit on some good (the best?) ideas. The consultant doesn't have to be the one to come up with the best idea, just the one who becomes its "champion".
- When stuck in analysis: Don't be afraid to fall back on the 80 / 20 rule: 80% of your problems can probably be handled by the top 20% of the items on your "possible solutions" list. Sometimes, there isn't much value in dissecting every last possibility and scenario and often the most obvious (yet, well thought out and designed) solutions will do the trick.
- Don't get in the trap of "fixin' what ain't broke": Too often I've seen projects grow into areas far beyond the original scope. Not only does that stall the project, but starts a process of tinkering with things that don't need fixing. It is the consultant's role (as project manager) to manage the scope and scale.
- Don't try to fix what you don't understand: The best consultants I have ever dealt with were willing to admit when they didn't fully understand the problem or the proposed solution. In committing to take on other people's problems, you have to be willing to spend the time and effort that is necessary to get your head around the key issues and come up with solutions that will make sense long after you are gone – which brings up my last point . . .
- Your reputation will one day precede you: When the project is done and gone, your reputation on the project will either haunt you or get you the next job.
technorati tags:project management, consulting