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Wrong!
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Right!
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Consultant
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Client
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Consultant
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Client
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Sell in simple project with the aim of expanding it later
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Don't think through the real project
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Ask what really is the problem? Probably not the symptoms being discussed.
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Be clear about what you feelk the problem is. Don't present the solution as the
problem.
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Have many people analysiing data
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Assume that volume = useful information. Don't make decisions based on data
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Starting at the end - what do I need to know?
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Be clear about where you want to end up. An as-is analysis is good money for the
consultancy and only useful if you intend using the detail in your plans
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Produce lots of reports
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Volume = work done it doesn't necessarily = value
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Have the client write any critical reports about how they are addressing theri problem.
Avoid everything else
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It's your problem so it's your report. Probably only useful at major milestones
when you need the next step of funding or design/implementation sign off.
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Product lots of PowerPoint slides
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Feel good marketing
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Use PowerPoint to sell the project story. Teach the client horizontal and vertical
logic for PowerPoint
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Use PowerPoint to communicate. You will only need three presentations
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Have many meetings
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Don't make many decisions, probably due to weak governance
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Identify the decisions, decide if a meeting will help resolve then meet. Only have
the key people present. Use project meetings to make decisions and communicate to
other members of the team.
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Meetings are huge drains on scare project resources. Only meet when you can justify
it
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Bring in partners for 'important' meetings
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Everyone feels important - so what?
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Only use those necessary to make the planned decisions. Can you really justify the
overhead?
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'partners' are either a critical resource or not. Decide if they are in the project
or not. 'checking' how their team is performing if their cost!
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Be on site and work late into the evenings. Create a huge sense of urgency near
the deadlines
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Ask when people will be on site. Rush around getting last minute resources
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Focus on getting the results. Build trust with the client. Does it matter where
you are physically? (get the right measures of performance)
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Focus on the result, follow an established project process ( such as Project Architect).
Don't let the consultants poor planning become your emergency (same applies to
your poor planning!)
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