There’s an old maxim in management consulting – “Meet your clients where they are – but know where you want to take them.” This is usually easier said than done! Management consulting is inherently dysfunctional. Clients often bring in consultants because they know they need to change. The act of bringing in a management consultant is an admission that either the client doesn’t know what change is needed, or is not able to change without external help. Either way, this sets up an inherent tension.
How Much Tension?
So the question consultants face is, “What is the right degree of tension to hold in a given management consulting relationship?” Keep the tension light and the client relationship is comfortable, but ultimately ineffective. This is the proverbial “Tell them what they want to hear.” This is consulting at its easiest (for the consultant) but at its worst in terms of client value. Keep the tension too heavy and the client relationship is stressful, confrontational, and may also be ultimately ineffective – the client gets fatigued by the constant pushing and cajoling, and ends the consulting relationship on the grounds that, “We just don’t see eye-to-eye with our consultant!”
So striking the right balance is key. There is a dynamic to this. While scoping and negotiating the consulting agreement, it is easy to push the boundaries – the client wants to hear “tough love” and know that the consultant will push hard for change. There will be other times during the relationship where pushing hard is really tough, and times when it is less so, so the consultant has to stay in tune to the rhythm of the client’s situation.
The situation gets even more complex when there is a consulting team involved. Not everyone on the team will see the situation the same way. Some on the team are inherently more “hawkish” – wanting to push hard, while others are more “dovish”, preferring more of a judo style – working with the client’s energy, rather than trying to push against it. Of course, there’s a team dynamic on the client side as well. Rarely is the consulting relationship or process focused around an individual client. Typically, the key client executive is working with his or her team – they are all part of the consulting assignment, and they will have their mix of change agents – pushing hard for a revolution, and conservatives – keepers of the status quo.
Make the Tension Visible
I have found over the years that it can help to surface these tensions and dynamics, and make them explicit and visible to the client. This may allow you to present the competing views of the consulting team as options for the client. “Anne here thinks we should make this change in one fell swoop, and damn the torpedoes. But Bill thinks a more incremental approach will ultimately be more effective. How do you feel about this? Let’s explore the pros and cons.”
Being Prepared to “Fire” the Client!
Of course, very seasoned consultants know how to manage this tension. But there’s still another side to the relationship – the client. We talk of “seasoned, experienced consultants” – something clients often look for if they are addressing tough challenges or if the stakes are high. But what of “seasoned, experienced clients”? A client may be very experienced in his or her role, but has not worked with management consultants before, and resents the consultant’s pushing hard on a given point. A familiar cliche to consultants is, “It’s better to work with an educated client!”
I’ve been fortunate over my consulting career in mostly having reasonable clients who appreciate the tensions inherent in the consulting relationship, and are willing to engage in the give and take necessary for the consultant to create value without creating havoc! I’ve also been fortunate to work with consulting teams comprising diverse experiences and views, that have been able to find the right balance. Most important, I’ve reached a point in my career where I can pick and choose my clients, and have been even known to “fire” a client who will not be pushed, and therefore I believe is not going to get the value from the consulting relationship that they are paying for.
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Filed under: Change Management, IT Management Tagged: | IT leadership, Management consulting, Organizational change
This is easily the greatest challenge I face on each engagement I am associated with.
I’ve found at the heart of this issue the fundamental difference between consulting and contracting. While clients recognize they have problems to be addressed, and recognize that you can help them address the problems more effectively than they can internally, it is not a given that this difference is recognized by the executives who bring you in. There is a big leap between the external person who is brought in as a contractor (as the high majority of external labor are seen), and that of consultant.
Credentials can certainly provide the leverage to gain an audience, but until the executive is comfortable that you should be telling him/her what to do as opposed to the other way around, the tension is very high and effectiveness is very low. As you mention, this varies by executive and their experience with consultants (vs contractors).
This also changes over time. Trust is built over time and with the trust comes the freedom to allow the consultant to be a consultant. Until the level of trust is sufficiently high, there is no wiggle room. Over time the client circumstances change as well. The internal executive landscape changes and with it reporting relationships change. The necessity to be seen leading as opposed to being led can derail the best of engagements.
This is a delicate dance that we dance. Missteps are easy to make. Performed well it can be exceptionally rewarding. But it is fragile and frustrating at times – and never easy.
Thanks for raising 2 important points on this topic. Yes – management consulting is quite different from contracting or staff augmentation. My comments were, of course, limited to management consulting. You also raise the trust issue – and as you say, “a delicate dance.” I find this to be one of the joys of consulting, and one of its challenges!