For over 20 years, Bryan DeNosky has worked as a technology leader in a variety of business environments. He has worked at several Fortune 500 companies, and gained broad experience driving teams to solve complex business issues. While his focus has been on web development using JavaScript, CSS and HTML, Bryan appreciates the value of teamwork and flexibility.

In his current role, Bryan is working on rapid development of complex experiments / prototypes, driving standardization and automation and increasing development capacity for the MSCOM and Store Experimentation Group. We are lucky to have him aboard as an M&A consultant, and recently he was kind enough to share his insights into the consulting field in this edition’s Tips and Tricks.

In my 20+ years of web development, I have found that not one of the projects I have been on, nor any that I have ever heard of, have started and completed without issues along the way. As top consultants, like we are at Murphy & Associates, it is our duty to help guide these projects to a successful completion.

You will wear many hats along the way and will need to borrow from past project experiences and often times come up with new solutions as you go. It isn't good enough to just be an expert in your field nowadays, which you are, but you need to have a good understanding of all the ins and outs of each team member's responsibilities.

"But I'm a developer!", you may say or "That's not part of my job!" Yes, you may be <insert team position here>, but you also need to understand how the different team roles think, how they work, how they approach problems as they arise. What can you do right now to head off any issues that might blindside them? How can you keep the project moving forward even if you or someone else is blocked on the next task/assignment? Have you effectively communicated, with timely warning, that you are approaching being blocked? How are you using any downtime? Are you expanding your skills? Are you cross-learning within your team?

Endeavor to become a Renaissance Professional. Continue to dive deep into your niche, but don't forget that you, too, are not merely a team of one and should share your expertise and abilities across team positions as needed. If the team fails, you have no team and you ultimately fail as well.

Before starting his own independent consulting firm, Jeff McCown worked for nearly twenty-five years at two of the largest, most respected national tech consulting firms. During those years, Jeff gained broad experience in several different industries, including high-tech, manufacturing, distribution, transportation, telecom and healthcare.
 
Jeff has worked with some incredibly dynamic organizations, focusing largely on enterprise system implementations and process improvement engagements. He has also provided operational leadership for his previous consulting firm. We are lucky to have him aboard as an M&A consultant, and he was kind enough to share his insights into the consulting field in this edition’s Tips and Tricks.

Project plans, status reports, issues logs and risk mitigation plans are important tools for all effective project managers. I think of these tools and their use as the "science" of effective project management. Through training and experience, one can learn the tools, as well as how and when to use them. However, these tools alone will not guarantee your project is successful. Equally essential are the "artistic" components of project management. Here are a few of the softer things I focus on to make sure I'm effectively managing my projects:
 
Establish Communication Expectations

Determine how and when the client wants you to apprise them of the project progress and issues. This includes formal communication vehicles like status reports, issue lists. It also includes informal channels such as emails, chat sessions or stopping by their office for brief conversations. Find the sweet spot for your client contacts where you are sensitive to their time but also keeping them adequately apprised of the project.
 
Discussing expectations should not stop with your primary client contact or immediate project team. Identify other stakeholders who have a vested interest in the success of your project. Meet with them to understand how they want to be apprised of the project and any issues they deem relevant.
 
Document this somewhere to periodically reference to confirm you are meeting the communication expectations. Communication is key. More often than not, when projects go sideways, communication (or lack thereof) is at the heart of the quagmire.
 
Take Ownership for the Project and Client's Success

You may be a consulting or contract resource but that doesn't preclude you from owning the success of the project.  An easy way to do this is to assume a "We" mentality. By avoiding the us/them mindset, you will naturally see the project as something that is just as important to you as it is the client resources. Clients appreciate working with individuals with an equal (or stronger) interest in shepherding the project to a successful result.
 
Make Everyone Around You Successful

An effective leader makes everyone around them more successful than they would be otherwise. And an effective consultant allows those working around you to take the credit for the project's success. When you make your buyer and your project team look good, you also benefit from the glow.
 
Avoid Canned Solutions

Sure, you've led many projects similar to your new client engagement. Going in, you have a great idea for what your client and project needs to do to be successful. That's great, but avoid jumping to solutions until you have a better understanding of the client landscape.
 
Be curious and know you need to tailor your approach for every engagement. Ask questions to assess the client culture, personalities, burning platforms, organizational priorities, other initiative statuses, and the abundance or scarcity of tools and processes in place before you jump to a conclusion for what should be done.
 
Be Flexible

Rarely does a project or role match how it was initially framed. Keep an eye on the client's dynamic environment and continually assess if the project's focus or your role needs to change. Work closely with your client contacts to share what you see, and propose the changes you think should occur. If the client agrees with your assessment, work with them to make the appropriate changes.

We recently spoke with Brock Freeman, a seasoned consultant that has tackled numerous assignments, working for clients that range from startups to large multinational firms. With a solid technical background, Brock specializes in program and project management, focusing on building teams and opening communication channels. Oh, and he also speaks Mandarin.
 
Brock has the following tips for consultants that are just getting started in the field:

1.     Know the boundaries: Your ideas about how things should be done have to take a backseat to the success of the project as a whole.

As a consultant, your primary function is to advise the client. While you may have some great ideas, you should only push them so far because, in the end, the client dictates how programs and projects are implemented. The last thing you want to do is create an adversarial relationship with full time employees and managers by butting heads with them. If you have serious concerns about a project, you should certainly document them, but you have to follow the client's lead and do your best to help the team succeed.
 
2.     Communicate what you are doing: Make sure your teammates and managers know what you are working on, while always aiming to make them look good.

While it is easy to get wrapped up in a project and assume everyone knows about how things are progressing, consultants often find themselves isolated due to lack of communication. It is critical to set up a cadence of reporting to your manager and others involved in your projects. If, in your reporting, you go out of your way to make others look good, these communications are an opportunity to create a sense of camaraderie and unified purpose.
 
3.     Know your manager: Early on in an engagement, make sure that you understand your manager's style and expectations.

Learning how hands on a manager is and how often they want to interact is crucial to success. Some managers may want daily updates and to be looped in on all the details, while others may be very hands off and want you to be proactive. In an ideal world, you would be able to interview your manager in the first couple of days of your assignment to clarify style and roles. As a consultant, you have to adapt to the manager's approach, and by doing so, you greatly enhance to probability of a successful engagement.

We recently spoke with a senior project manager who has years of experience as both a full time employee and as a contractor. Due to the sensitivity of her work, she asked to remain anonymous, but she was kind enough to share insights into how she successfully made the transition from FTE to consultant.

• Shift your mindset: If you've been an FTE for a while and are new to the consulting side of the table, just know that this change will require a shift in mindset. I spent almost 15 years building my career in various roles before deciding to make the switch to consulting. One thing that took some time to get used to is that I no longer had direct ownership over the body of work that my role encompassed. As a consultant I had to be very conscious about the fact that my client was the one who had that ownership, not me. This may sound like a truism, but if you've spent enough time having the bullet points in your annual review directly tied to the intricacies and outcomes of all aspects of your role, then it takes some time and conscious effort to change that mindset. The good news is that your new role now involves relying on all of that experience and taking initiative wherever you can to help make your client's life easier. Plus, you can leave the politics, and those annual reviews, to them.
  
  
• Understand your client’s shifting priorities: Along those lines, you will have a lot of success, and repeat customers, if you learn how to make your client shine. Each one is different so while you're getting ramped up in your new role, make an effort to pay attention to details like: how does your client like to communicate? Many people have hundreds (if not thousands) of messages in their inbox and are just trying to keep their head above water, so perhaps they hate email and prefer a quick personal check-in each day or every couple days. Pay attention to what is happening around the team, with partners, various meetings, inside that ocean of email threads they'd rather not read, and try to understand what is most important and needs their attention first. If you learn how they best communicate and you can keep a pulse on what the ever-changing priorities are, you'll help them shine because the important things are much less likely to fall through the cracks. They'll learn they can rely on you, over and above just getting your daily job done, and not lose track of constantly-shifting priorities and demands on their time.
  
  
• Take Initiative: I mentioned it above, but it bears repeating: take initiative. Don't overstep, but as you get comfortable in your role, the more you take initiative with responding to requests from others, stepping in for them on calls or meetings to help free up some of their time, or proposing alternatives or solutions with your new perspective, you'll become increasingly valuable to them. This will likely also include handling some of the less desirable tasks, but that's okay. A consultant who is good at taking initiative also will likely get to work on the new and exciting work that comes across your client's desk.

We recently had an extended conversation with a top Senior Project Manager about her career path and the multiple lessons she has learned. With over 15 years of project management experience, and having worked in a diverse range of industry, our anonymous source has plenty of insights into how to be successful as a contractor. The top three that pieces of advice that she would give to consultants are:

1. Know your client: Before you begin an assignment, learn as much as you can about the client's culture and work environment.

First impressions have a huge impact on the success or failure of an assignment. By understanding the norms and expectations within a new client's work environment, you can help your chances of getting started on the right foot. What is considered normal in one environment (e.g. having your cell phone out during a team meeting) may very well be unacceptable in another. By adapting to the culture quickly, you show respect for the client and lay the foundation for a solid professional relationship with your teammates.

2. Share Credit: Make your great ideas seem like their ideas.

Ultimately, your job as a consultant is to take care of the client by making sure that your team succeeds. By focusing more on creating positive outcomes and less on making sure that you get all the credit you deserve, you can earn the trust of the team. Rightly or wrongly, full time employees and managers can feel threatened by project-based consultants; by prioritizing the success of the team over your own need for acclaim, you can ingratiate yourself to team members and managers. In the long run, this will increase your value to the client.

3. Network: If you diversify your contacts, you dramatically increase the your future opportunities.

You never know where your next assignment will come from. A chance encounter with a manager in a different group can lead to unforeseen opportunities. The obvious corollary to this is don't burn bridges; if you run afoul of a co-worker or manager, do your utmost to repair the relationship or clear the air. If you don’t, it may very well come back to bite you.