Consulting's dirty little secret

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An angry apathetic writer who doesn't look at himself.

In EVERY consulting project that I've ever done where it went past the expected due date, the fault has always been with the customer. I want to go in, get the job done, so I can then move on to the next client. More often than not, when I'm onsite, the delays are the result of some individual not providing necessary information for me to connect, not being available, running off to meetings, etc.

I can't tell you how many billable hours I've made just sitting there waiting for one of the admins or managers who say, "I'll be right back." and don't come back for 2 hours.

You may think its all about the billable hours, but it isn't. Most of us are consultants because we enjoy implementation projects and experiencing different environments. Keeping us there longer past the expected due date is actually more detrimental to me than it is to the client, because for every hour that I am there, I am not at another client's office, and thus that client has an opportunity at that moment to look elsewhere for a more available consultant.

Benefitting from consulting services requires a commitment from both the consultant as well as the client. Neither of us benefit from an over-extended project.

Next time you write one of these articles, write about what you need to do on your end to get the best service possible.

Thank you.

Posted by: yyuko@...   Posted on: 10/18/07 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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