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Roles of a Consultant

New project or process management teams typically consider the use of a consultant.  What consultants bring to the table?

Consultants can play a valuable role in your project:

• They are objective and immune to internal politics.

• They have followed the process before.

• They bring information and best practices from other companies.

• They are good communication paths between front line workers, customers, and the management of the company.

Consultants can also unintentionally create barriers by:

• having the solution being viewed as "theirs" and not "yours";

• taking too strong a lead role and disengaging the organization 

The team leader and stakeholders must decide the role they want the consultant to play, and let that influence the consultant selection process. 

Whichever roles you choose, define the responsibilities clearly.  The better these roles are defined, the better your relationship with the consultant. 

Recent studies show that the top-three roles for consultants were: advisor to the team, team leader, and facilitator. Other important consultant roles included trainer, subject-matter expert, and developer.

The willingness of the consultant to transfer knowledge was important to teams so that they could continue with implementation after the consultant has departed.

Our approach at PMRi ^® is to be a temporary Project Management Office providing:

• Methods and Standards

• Project Support

• Consulting

• Just-In-Time training