Successful Project Consulting

Abstract

Successful project consulting is both an art and a science, combining project planning and project management, communicating the vision of the work while tending to details, and satisfying the needs of executive stakeholders as well as those impacted by the change. Successful project consulting requires that pitfalls are avoided. A consensus and categorized list of seven common pitfalls experienced by consultants identifies scope creep, failure to identify stakeholders, misaligned expectations, miscommunications, lack of ownership, and changing priorities. While pitfalls can happen at each phase of a consulting project, these pitfalls may be avoided through purposeful communication, cooperation, supportive stakeholders, alignment with business objectives, a well-defined and approved project scope, and well-established processes for implementation. Typically, the five phases of a consulting project include 1) relationship building in the initial client meeting, 2) developing a conceptual agreement, 3) creating a scope of work document, 4) implementing the project work, and 5) identifying the completed results and next steps. During the first phase, the consultant and the client must identify the key stakeholders and a plan to build an ongoing communications pathway with the stakeholders. Before implementing the project, the consultant must develop the conceptual agreement and create a scope of work document. The conceptual agreement allows for planning the objectives and measures of success. The scope of work clarifies expectations including the selection of project team members, ensuring that skillsets match the project scope and the organization continues to be developed with a culture that remembers how to avoid common pitfalls.