The
Client-Consultant Relationship
The MCA Awards Survey allows us to compare and contrast the
attitudes of clients and consultants. We have to be cautious here. Human nature
(and some of the responses) suggests that there may have been a degree of
collusion between the two sides when it came to commenting on this most
sensitive issue. There remain, however, some points worth drawing attention to.
Both sides make much of the level of collaboration and openness achieved in the
practical, everyday running of the projects: ‘Our relationship was characterized
by close communication and understanding. It was very open and honest.' ‘There
was complete openness and honesty around how we need to work together in order
to handle the delivery issues.' ‘Our relationship was open, constructive,
mutually supportive and open to change.'
However, it is also clear that even the best relationships go
through rocky patches, particularly in the early stages of a project, primarily
caused by individuals failing to get on: ‘There were a few minor hiccups during
the early phases due to individual personalities.'
Trust, of course, is a word which occurs frequently: ‘Our
relationship involved a high degree of mutual trust and respect.' It clearly
took time to develop trust, and the most effective way of building it was for
the clients and consultants to work together: ‘The building of trust took around
six months, but we worked together exceedingly well thereafter. A very high
degree of trust grew between our organizations; this developed into a strong
partnership as the workload increased.'
While trust is clearly important glue at all levels in a
relationship, a significant difference emerges when we look at the way in which
the client and consulting organizations view each other. From this it appears
that consulting firms are more likely to focus on high-level sponsorship,
suggesting that they tend to view the relationship top-down. Clients, by
contrast, seem to have a more bottom-up perspective and are more likely to
highlight issues that affect day-to-day interaction - the transfer of skills
from the consultant to client, and the professionalism and flexibility of the
consultants. Clients also tend to see the benefits of working with consultants
in practical, indeed personal, terms: ‘They rolled their sleeves up and behaved
like true partners. It felt as though we were in it together.'
There is an important message here for consultants, who often
invest most of their time in building relationships at high levels (the buyers)
within organizations. Clients see trust being developed and reinforced at other,
middle-management levels - and consulting firms would do well to learn the
lesson of one particular consulting firm:
The commitment of the executive team from the very early
phases proved to be vital as the operations team had support in their decisions
and targets. Of equal importance, however, was the time spent at the coal-face.
Many consulting organizations focus their attention on strategic and executive
level work. But we learned quickly that the place to make a difference
was
2.00 am on cold winter nights. The trust built through this level of
handson consulting confirmed our approach that commitments must exist through
the ranks of an organization to ensure success.
What did those involved learn about building effective
relationships? The comments divide into three categories as follows:
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