Critical Factors on which your future as a Consultant rests

A consultant’s credo is that he or she, quite simply, delivers. And delivers on-time quality work that is hard to find within the organization. If you cannot deliver on time, you shouldn’t be doing the work in the first place because no organization wants a consultant that behaves worse than an employee! This calls for meticulous planning of the assignment; something that both companies and consultants frequently overlook in their zeal to get the project on the road and in the earnest desire to see results as quickly as possible. Milestones, checkpoints and reviews (see “Setting up Roadmaps and Reviews”) that have been planned at regular intervals will act like safety nets should you need them.

Not everything will go your way as a consultant on an assignment: the cause behind this could be that you’re an ‘outsider’ and may not have ready access to information and resources that you otherwise would if you were on the rolls of the company. A common pitfall that consultants tend to fall into is that of complaining about this lack of support (in terms of data, resources, time etc). If inputs required for the project are delayed because the concerned person does not have the time to spend with you, the consultant, the issue needs to be handled tactfully before it blows out of proportion and root cause analyses are called for. Addressing these challenges may not be easy – as you do not have the luxury of the official machinery that an employee does. You must have the foresight to build buy-in from project owners, senior management in the organization, who have the necessary will to drive a project that a consultant is piloting. Getting the employer’s team and all those who will play a role in the project’s success on board and on the same page in advance will assist the project in the future.

A consultant, fortunately, is not weighed down by the ‘organizational view’ of an issue. Therefore he or she is free to think independently and recommend solutions that are not necessarily politically correct. If companies wished for consultants that just reinforced their faith in their own (sometimes incorrect) beliefs, they would go with their employees for all such projects. Your integrity as a consultant will shine through when you honestly recommend or implement solutions that are truly best for the company and its needs, not necessarily what has traditionally been done or believed in. An unbiased opinion is a rare thing in today’s rarefied corporate world. Subordinates often reiterate beliefs of their superiors because going against them may just not be worth the effort. But as a consultant who understands the problem better than anyone else and possesses the expertise to solve them you do not come with this baggage. Your unbiased opinion driving a solution or a recommendation may actually assist the employee better than those that toe the official line.

Your qualifications will play a key role in your success as a consultant. With the body of knowledge available to a professional constantly increasing, you will need to keep abreast both in terms of replicable skills as well as credentials that indicate your worthiness for a particular task at hand. The wider the spread of your knowledge, the better it is. Your success will be measured on how quickly and flawlessly you are able to deploy your skills and expertise to create lasting solutions to aid the businesses you are working with. If this means spending time and effort in gaining qualifications that speak volumes of your capabilities, you must invest for your future consulting career.
Reference visit consultgenie.com