An implementation consultant is employed by a principal. The specific level from which a consultant is engaged is different from which level a consultant is formed. Many real consultants in military and government contracting do their business implementation consulting work as part of the senior project management team and are identified as consultants. In most of the high tech, high revenue, industrial or governmental contracting situations, a customer must identify the merits of outsourcing business implementation project implementation and process engineering and implementation. The high level-project-management person internally has responsibility for the project, and a project consultant is a specialist outside the organization, very rarely an integration or technology expert.
The implementation consultant must have the certain attributes, such as:
The member of groups within the team that has responsibility for the project management team must be identified within the process documentation. Projects taken over by or outsourced to a company such as a consulting firm must take into particular consideration the use of consultants.
What have been some of the business implementation questions raised about the use of consultants?
How do I identify a core competency I bring to the project and how much do I charge?
How do I determine if a consulting firm team member is qualified to be, for example, a process engineering team member, or will that be determined by the client?
Does it make sense to include a person in the core group of team members who is truly an implementation genius within the work that will be completed, or do you have to go outside the area to identify qualified or well-qualified individuals? A company can never be sure what size or scope of the core business implementation team a core group of team members should be. If your core group is 6, the latest bottleneck may be required for the project to be completed.
In some of the cases in whichcore consulting engagementsis taken (for example, integration work), a core team member may be a substitute for the staff member that is originally identified.
If a project is taken over by another entity, you may want to check the agenda of the previous people who were on the team and who are now reporting to the foreign company. If there are no people on the team who can fill up the core business implementation group or who are capable of doing so, someone who has previous experience may be a competent leader of the core group.
What if I’m asked how much my fee will be if I decide to work on the project. Is it negotiable?
“Many corporations only value their ‘gut instincts’ on projects. The major value of a project is defined by the company and the dedication of the team. The core project manager has a public business implementation obligation and it is the duty of the company to value the time and effort that the team members put into the project. Thus, the core project manager must understand the scope of the work and make sure that everyone on the team is well informed of the overall scope of the project. The core project manager must also ensure that the overall project objective is set early in preparation of the project plan. Then, the proper resources will be matched to ensure that the business implementation mission can be achieved.” Jay Poeter
Lead the core efforts to create the deliverables.
Oversee and support the activities and processes necessary to develop, deliver and deliver the deliverables.
Know the details of the project work and what is required to get there.
Have an objective understanding of the roles and responsibilities of other people on the team.
Resolve and manage conflicts between the core team and other departments.