The main question data professionals have when considering the switch from the corporate world to a consulting career is what the day-to-day will look like: What project will I be working on? Who will my team be? When and where do I need to do my work? What does the process look like for accessing the files I need for the client?
Another question that is often overlooked but plays a huge role in the day-to-day is: What role do I really play as a consultant? Understanding that role can be imperative to the success of a project. Over the course of my 8+ years of consulting, I have picked up on some fundamentals that answer that question and could be helpful for any new (or even some seasoned!) consultants to learn or get a refresher on.
Our role as consultants
Put simply, our job is to gather information, make recommendations, and implement. Consultants tend to put most of our time in the implementation bucket. However, gathering information and making proper recommendations are the more important pieces of the puzzle. Those steps provide more value in the implementation process by innately setting a foundation for efficiency and by minimizing (or eliminating) risk.
Learn the client, not just the project
In order to make the proper recommendations for a client, the consultant should strive to understand their company as a whole and not just at a project level. Your information gathering should include learning their mission, vision, culture, environment, and how things function within the organization. Understanding these facets of the organization will also help you set up your implementation roadmap in the most efficient way and deliver the best possible service to the client.
With these nuances of the organization in mind, it is also important for consultants to understand that while it is our job to make the best recommendations for an organization, it is not our job to force a client to move towards a technology, process, and solution. Our role is to inform, educate, and recommend and when it comes down to it, deliver the highest quality of work using whatever solution the client decides to take.
Providing value as a trusted teammate
Since the start of Continuus as a consulting firm, our mission has always been to provide value to our clients’ internal team as a member of that team, rather than as an outside party. We’re not there to take over; we are there to empower, aid, and provide ongoing support for any implementation and make sure the internal team has the tools to carry that project with or without us.
Value does not necessarily come from being part of some colossal project that will supply the company with enormous monetary benefits. Rather, true value can be much less tangible. One of the highest and longest lasting value-adds a consultant can provide is becoming a knowledge partner with the client and committing to helping them grow their team through skills and knowledge around data and analytics. Establishing trust and building rapport with project teams will ultimately do the same for you as a consultant with others in the client organization.
You don't need to be the master of all
A common mistake made by those that are new consulting is believing that they have to solve every single problem and be a guru in every solution and technology. Thinking you are the expert of everything will stall the project and present negatively to the client team you are working with. It is far more valuable to leverage your strengths and accept your weaknesses as opportunities to grow. At Continuus, each consultant on our roster has a unique wealth of knowledge swimming in their head. We encourage our consultants to lean on each other as resources in those situations where they may not be the “expert.” That’s why we tell our clients that when they work with Continuus, even if they only have one consultant on a project, they are truly getting access to our entire team of professionals.
When it comes to a successful consulting career, what it really comes down to is providing ongoing value as a partner to the client, not as a set-it-and-forget it consultant. Throughout my time at Continuus, our approach as an organization has aligned with my own values as a consultant and has provided a lot of merit to our clients.
Want to hear more about our careers in consulting, learn about the services we provide, or share any fundamentals not covered here? Feel free to reach out to me to discuss more!
.jpg)
