Developing Better Client-Consultant Relationships

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JRC Training Solutions

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It’s no big secret that the client/consultant relationship is fraught with potential pitfalls, disappointments, and frustrations. It’s very success or failure hinges on the delicate balance between expectations met versus expectations which remain unarticulated or unanswered.

Frequently, by the end of a project, both clients and consultants wind up with legitimate gripes. Let’s take a closer look at what’s really going on.

Management hires an outside training consultant with a particular area of expertise … needs assessment, course development, multimedia, etc. … to undertake a project. Yet by the time the job is completed management often ends up feeling that the consultant:

Has provided a solution which differs from what was originally promised.
Was insensitive to the budgetary and political realities under which management must operate.
Is, in the final analysis, most interested in prolonging or expanding the consulting assignment.

Consultants, on the other hand, regularly see clients as:

Reluctant to make needed decisions.
Unable to maintain firm commitments in such critical areas as schedules, resources, and scope of deliverables.
Only interested in ‘‘quick and dirty’’ … i.e., low cost … fixes at the expense of longer-range and more far-reaching solutions.

Gaining Clarity

So where does the truth lie? Obviously, somewhere in the middle. The significant question, though, is not ‘‘Which side is right and which side is to blame?’’ but rather ‘‘How can we maximize the relationship between clients and consultants by reducing or eliminating the problem of unmet expectations?’’

To consistently satisfy … and exceed … management expectations, thus promoting opportunities for success, training consultants and clients must set up in advance, both verbally and in writing, what is expected from the consultant during all stages of the relationship. Then expectations can … and must … be mutually reviewed at key points during the life of the project and redefined as appropriate.

Stages Of The Consulting Process

Since there are many ways of perceiving the consulting process, the following is offered as a simple, straightforward 5-step model which can serve as a framework or ‘‘roadmap’’ for both consultants and their clients. In the real world, of course, the time required for a particular phase may be either as brief as a telephone call or as lengthy as many months of concentrated effort.

Step 1: Engagement

Purpose: Due to some perceived existing problem, anticipated problem, need, or opportunity, the client organization desires to engage a consultant. After contact is established, initiated by either the client or the consultant, the client’s situation and requirements are jointly discussed; potential solutions are addressed; roles, responsibilities, and relationships are clarified; resource parameters are established; and methodology is clarified.
Output(s) which increase opportunities for success:
- A detailed and comprehensive written contract.
- An explicit verbal statement of the relevant underlying psychological issues and/or assumptions.

Step 2: Analysis

Purpose: This involves a more detailed study by the consultant of the client’s situation and requirements. It may include such activities as interviews with a wider range of client personnel, review of relevant client documentation, and attendance at selected client events (meetings, classes, etc.). While analysis generally begins with an understanding of the situation as expressed by the client, it concludes with the consultant forming his/her own perceptions and articulating them back to the project sponsor.
Output(s) which increase opportunities for success:
- A written project plan.
- Supporting project management documentation (schedules, resources, budgets, calendar views of the project, etc.).
- A presentation and discussion of the project plan and supporting materials with key client personnel.

Step 3: Implementation

Purpose: This step is the ‘‘main course,’’ as it represents the focal point of the consulting engagement. Building upon what has come before, the consultant undertakes a particular course of action to deal with the client’s situation and address the organization’s needs. Essentially, this is why clients shell out their money.
Output(s) which increase opportunities for success:
- Periodic project status meetings involving key personnel.
- Written sign-off documents at identified project milestone points which authorize the consultant to proceed to the next project event ... for example, sign-offs on first draft materials, second drafts, etc.
- Controlled, trial run-throughs of designated project events before the actual formal event takes place ... for example, conducting a developmental test with a sampling of students who represent the target audience for whom a course is intended in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the course design objectives.

Step 4: Disengagement

Purpose: This involves a postmortem or evaluation of the project results to determine the extent to which anticipated goals have been achieved. Based on this assessment, planning for continuous maintenance and improvement is undertaken. At the conclusion of this step, the consultant may either move on to another project for the client or exit the organization in order to move on to another assignment elsewhere.
Output(s) which increase opportunities for success:
- Formal written evaluation documentation, including evaluation criteria, data, measurement and trend tracking tools, and analysis and summary reports.
- Informal debriefings … what worked well, what didn’t, why, and how things can be made to go better in the future.

Step 5: Maintenance

Purpose: It isn’t over ’till it’s over ¼ and for successful consultants it’s never over! This is the period during which consultants should develop a post-project strategy for maintaining client contact, protecting their investment, and migrating their involvement to other areas within the account.
Output(s) which increase opportunities for success:
- A summary letter to client management explaining important things which are happening or could be happening. (This letter should be the result of mutual discussion and agreement with key project personnel within the organization.)
- Articles in company newsletters, both print and electronic; joint presentations at trade shows and conferences; etc.

Earlier I said that the stages of the consulting process can serve as a roadmap for consultants and their clients. Although foreknowledge of these phases is not a sure fire guarantee of project success, when both parties in a consulting relationship can see the end of the road, as well as all the bumps and stops along the way, everyone can certainly be assured of a more mutually satisfying experience.