About
critical success factors
How to set your consulting partnership up for success.
- Your consulting partner must be free of conflicts of interest and able to give you objective advice:
- This typically requires high-level sponsorship.
- It must be clear what consulting offerings may be connected to the advice given by the consultant.
- Deliverables and milestones should be clear and measureable.
- Strategic projects should be sponsored by an executive team member, preferably the CEO, who enjoys the respect and support of the organisation and other impacted stakeholders.
- An executive steering group should oversee a strategic project, be accountable for its success or failure and be empowered to resolve issues and remove obstacles.
- Consulting teams should be partnered with internal resources to ensure knowledge transfer and ongoing momentum:
- If it hurts to free up the internal resources, they’re probably the right types of people.
- Partnering should be seen as a longer-term relationship (not necessarily continuous) – consultants and clients learn about how to work best with one another over time.