If there’s anything I’ve hated about a consulting project, it most likely stems from the organization I worked with, and less about the actual project.
In some ways, the process of securing a new consultant or consulting team mirrors the process of recruiting and onboarding a new employee. You’re assessing whether this candidate can perform the job description and fit into your organization’s culture.
Beyond task descriptions and deliverables, how often do organizations choose a consultant and consulting team that understands and fits into their organization’s culture?
On the flip side, some organizations are aware of their culture and its toxicity. From micro aggressions, lack of diversity (in all the ways diversity looks), low wages, and micromanagement, if a job candidate knew this about your organization, of course they wouldn’t want to work with you.
Try as you might to shield candidates from these toxic aspects, your new hires will eventually notice them.
If that’s the case for an employee, wouldn’t this be the same for your consultants?
While your project may be amazing, if consultants are experiencing any of the red flags below, the chances of them returning for a new project is not likely:
Staff aren’t clear on how to interact with the consultant
Regardless of the service I’m hired for, I try to make my processes as collaborative as possible while being mindful of staff capacity. I avoid asking for too many meetings, and I also invite staff to self select into various processes (whether it directly relates to their job or if it’s something they’re interested in learning about).
The downside: Sometimes the person overseeing the project doesn’t articulate to staff their expectations for working with a consultant.
In many cases, consultants are viewed as people who take tasks off staff’s plate, freeing up their time to do other things. When staff have this expectation, yet you and I are anticipating a more collaborative process, it leads to confusion.
Before choosing a consultant, make sure your staff knows what the consultant’s role is, and how they are expected to engaged with them. Also, ensure that your staff will have the availability to engage in the manner expected.
You micromanage staff AND consultants
One of my earlier consulting projects involved working with a staff member who appeared to be resistant to working with me. I was initially hired to support the staff member, but when the staff member was fired, the executive director asked me to take over the entire project.
In a confusing turn of events, the fired staff member was rehired, while the executive director was terminated.
Regardless of whether I worked from home or worked with the staff onsite, the staff member micromanaged the process. Not only with me, but with other staff. As this was one of my earlier projects and I was trying to establish myself, I didn’t have the confidence to confront this person.
Sure, many managers don’t actively intend to micromanage; however, you hired staff who should have the competence and confidence to complete their job tasks. The same goes for any consultant you hire.
You’re not transparent about organizational decision making
When engaging a prospective client organization, I asked about expectations for how decision-making happens, both organizationally and project-specific.
I asked this to get a sense of who will be involved in various aspects of the project, particularly around any deliverables I have to produce.
Some tasks only require the review and sign-off from maybe 1-2 people, but when your decision-making processes involve multiple people and the consultant isn’t aware, this slows progress towards task completion. Adding unexpected delays to any decision-making aspect builds up delays overall.
You limit staff interaction with consultants …
Staff are integral to design and implementation, and consultants rely on them for guidance to develop appropriate research, evaluation, and strategic planning processes.
While capacity is a major issue for many organizations, when staff aren’t involved with a consultant in ways that showcase their expertise and honors their capacity, it can make the consultant’s job difficult.
Work with both staff AND consultants to create the balance needed so that consultants get what they need and staff feel their time has been used wisely.
…and you take the word of a consultant over your staff
It’s very disheartening when leadership consider the word of an external person as gospel over staff.
If staff know your programs and services better than you do, the consultant’s perspective should only help to reinforce what your staff see in the day-to-day operations of your programs.
Staff are all too eager to speak to me about your programs and their experience with everything that comes with it. It helps to better inform what I’m seeing and sheds light on why the program is operating as it is.
You don’t take into consideration the consultant’s time (and other projects)
There are multiple reasons why a consultant takes on your project or declines it.
The timing of your project is a major one, and this is an issue with independent consultants AND consulting teams.
Your project is placed among a collection of other projects, all at various stages. Where other projects are can dictate whether the consulant or consulting team has the bandwidth to take your project on.
Starting delays, activities delays (such as extending the deadline for the survey due to not getting as many responses as you expected), and (as mentioned above) delays in receiving feedback on deliverables all contribute to the consultant’s inability to move your project and all other projects forward.
Life happens, but when a project gets delayed, it runs the risk of delaying other projects for the consultant.
Delays without communication may be routine with your staff, but this won’t fly with with someone that isn’t an employee.
If you anticipate any delays, communicate them with the consultant as soon as they’re detected.
Key takeaway
If your organization is experiencing any of the above, figure out a way to work through them so that you, your staff, and consultants have the best experience possible. Get to the root cause(s) for why they’re occurring. How your organization engages with a consultant largely impacts how they’ll feel about working with you in the future.
Raise Your Voice: How can your organization be more transparent about your organizational culture to external consultants? Share below in the comments section.
Was this useful? Subscribe to the Raise Your Voice newsletter, and explore my consulting services.
