A great but painful read. "Contractor vs. consultant. While they listed me as a consultant, they treated me as a contractor to whom they could assign work and request meetings at will.": I've been suffering from a variation of this for a few months now in the worst possible way.
The main stakeholder is absent and they delegated the work they should be doing with me to other people who aren't and shouldn't be involved in the process.
I feel that despite my efforts I haven't been able to pass on the message that it's not just a matter of approving the budget for the activity or hoping I will do the activity "no questions asked", but of being actively involved in the process working alongside me.
Worse than everything else is that we haven't really started working yet, and it's not a big money project either — But I obviously already did some part of the work upfront, so check that one out too from the list.
I think that's a common challenge. Often people hire a consultant when they want a contractor and don't quite realise the difference.
There's no quick fix other than to set your boundaries, kindly assert them, and then leave if you're not the right match. Because it's never going to change by itself.
1) this company is not used to hire consultants at all (which is a great theme to dig into), I've been working with them on a couple of projects over the last year, and they seemed lost at times on the matter of how to relate to a consultant
2) the main stakeholder has been recently promoted at the director level and I think he's randomly delegating tasks (including tasks he shouldn't be delegating) because he has too much on his plate
3) the HR person who has been delegated to be my main contact left the company in kind of a hurry
Not ideal, kind of a perfect storm. I told them that I could point them towards other trusted consultants in my network but they confirmed that they want to work with me.
So I proposed that the best course of action is that we should consider my previous proposal expired and that we have sort of start from scratch — I totally agree with you that the keyword here is "boundaries".
I'll probably write a separate post about that. Urgency and strong relationships don't often mesh well together. It doesn't mean they will be negative, but it means you often can't do the checks you usually need to do.
A great but painful read. "Contractor vs. consultant. While they listed me as a consultant, they treated me as a contractor to whom they could assign work and request meetings at will.": I've been suffering from a variation of this for a few months now in the worst possible way.
The main stakeholder is absent and they delegated the work they should be doing with me to other people who aren't and shouldn't be involved in the process.
I feel that despite my efforts I haven't been able to pass on the message that it's not just a matter of approving the budget for the activity or hoping I will do the activity "no questions asked", but of being actively involved in the process working alongside me.
Worse than everything else is that we haven't really started working yet, and it's not a big money project either — But I obviously already did some part of the work upfront, so check that one out too from the list.
I think that's a common challenge. Often people hire a consultant when they want a contractor and don't quite realise the difference.
There's no quick fix other than to set your boundaries, kindly assert them, and then leave if you're not the right match. Because it's never going to change by itself.
I think the main problems here are that:
1) this company is not used to hire consultants at all (which is a great theme to dig into), I've been working with them on a couple of projects over the last year, and they seemed lost at times on the matter of how to relate to a consultant
2) the main stakeholder has been recently promoted at the director level and I think he's randomly delegating tasks (including tasks he shouldn't be delegating) because he has too much on his plate
3) the HR person who has been delegated to be my main contact left the company in kind of a hurry
Not ideal, kind of a perfect storm. I told them that I could point them towards other trusted consultants in my network but they confirmed that they want to work with me.
So I proposed that the best course of action is that we should consider my previous proposal expired and that we have sort of start from scratch — I totally agree with you that the keyword here is "boundaries".
This is an eye opener. Thank you Richard for sharing. What are some ways to build relationships with clients that have urgent projects & need support.
I'll probably write a separate post about that. Urgency and strong relationships don't often mesh well together. It doesn't mean they will be negative, but it means you often can't do the checks you usually need to do.
Some posts might help:
https://www.richardmillington.com/p/your-energy-level-and-enthusiasm?utm_source=publication-search
https://www.richardmillington.com/p/how-to-win-over-hostile-stakeholders?utm_source=publication-search
https://www.richardmillington.com/p/effective-vs-efficient-communications?utm_source=publication-search
I would make sure your initial scope is very narrow to the urgent issue. This both protects you and delivers on their needs.
But also carve out some time to be spent with the client later (or over lunch while you're there) to get to know each other.
My 2 cents.
Thank you Ramon for this guidance.
I might not say every problem - but the vast majority for sure.
Every problem has a component of miscommunication at its roots.
Excellent article Richard, I can totally relate. The big $ projects are very tempting sirens.
I see big clients/projects something like this: I'm a gladiator entering a new arena.
And since it's a new arena my first job is to understand the rules of the game in this new arena. Which are very likely different than mine.
That's a fine line to walk between trying to understand them and trying to win the project.
If their game is not compatible with mine then that the biggest red flag.
But the temptation is still there.
Do you have any exceptions for your rules?
Thanks Richard.