Project, time
and cost management
Clients want consultants to play by the rules. Once a
project has been agreed, clients want consultants to do what they have said they
would, when they have said they would do it. They also want to be charged an
agreed amount of money, not write a blank cheque. When consultants step outside
the parameters of a project, they can erode the benefits of a project perhaps to
a point where the costs exceed the return, and embarrass a client internally
(who has to defend the choice and management of the consulting team). Above all
else, consultants who ride roughshod over their client's expectations are guilty
of failing to respect their client's constraints. Good project management starts
before the contract has been signed: ‘You need a good scoping document,' said
one client. ‘How a project starts is not necessarily how it finishes.' As
another client put it: ‘If you are very clear about your project objectives and
the role you want the consultants to play, it will hugely improve your chances
of success.'