I am sure you have met the overeager consultant constantly in the client’s face with tangential suggestions or you have hired the aloof consultant who goes off to do their work popping up intermittently to showcase deliverables and progress. A consultant needs to be balanced, the client needs someone who will walk with them or walk them through the project journey. This article discusses why it is important for consultants to manage client expectations, types of expectations, and tools and techniques ensuring the consultant and client are aligned.
Why Manage Client Expectations?
When a consultant and client embark on a journey it is to solve an important problem, along the way they may explore different approaches and hypotheses. Right expectations result in the right problem being solved and the intended result being realized. The single most important task for the consultant is to set clear expectations to serve as the backdrop and make up the context for other tasks. Aligned expectations lead to the positive perception of a successful project experience even if dotted with challenges and limitations along the way.
Consultants manage expectations to:
- Keep the client engaged at the right level
- Align execution and leadership project layers
- Ensure the client is experiencing the journey along with the team
- Differentiate the consultant from other parties involved in work
The fewer assumptions that the client or consultant have to make about what the other party is looking for besides the actual problem question, the better.
What do Clients Expect?
Besides details of the problem being solved, the client must be informed of roles, communication, deliverables and the project process, not just in a formal kickoff setting but to continually reinforce working together and differentiate consultant contributions from other external players. It is the consultants’ responsibility to initiate this dialogue so as to impact a positive project outcome.
It may be helpful for the client to know the activities the consultant will execute and when and how to expect communication and updates besides the official project channels. When multiple vendors are involved in an initiative they all look for a straight line of communication to the client lead; this is precisely the reason why consultants should outline how, when, purpose of communications and vice versa from clients beyond agreement.
In the early stages client and consultant agree on the deliverables of a project however that often changes as more insights are uncovered. Team process also gives the client insight into the how of the journey, it is helpful to step back and give an overview of the progression of phases and activities and/ or design and purpose of meeting forums in advance of working sessions and key meetings. Occasionally, sync up with the client on where the team is on the journey and the upcoming next steps.
Now that we know why and what kind of expectations to manage some tips and tools to facilitate expectations management are:
- Client management -set up recurring 15-30 mins meetings to touch on key updates, questions and issues. Take the opportunity to also align on any other expectations on an adhoc basis.
- Documenting – where possible put together a simple slide illustrating the project process, particularly when there are changes to the approach or timeline to get back into alignment.
- Calls – and other reporting summaries are helpful in clearly outlining and highlighting past, present and future aspects of the project journey to the client.
Ofcourse, each client is unique so continuous learning is a must. What works for one client might not work for another so the other clear and plain tactic is just to ask what their expectations are and listen.. listen.. listen and keep doing so throughout the project.
