 It's
amazing how everyday affairs, even television shows,
will point us towards good consulting practices.
What's the
relationship between consulting projects and the
Millionaire (*) show, I ask
participants in our workshops. What is it about the
show that reminds you of consulting work? What can we
learn from the show?
It's the $32,000 dollar
question. Actually, it's the answer!
Do you notice the
first thing contestants do when they get the $32K
question right? They take a deep breath. That's
right, even before they start celebrating, they take a
deep breath. Because they know the $32K is theirs to
keep. It cannot be taken away from them. (OK, for you
nit-pickers, the rules also state that when they reach
the $1000 mark they can't win less than that. But it's
the $32K that really matters to most contestants)
Are there instances
in your project work where you feel the same way? I
bet you do. You may not know exactly why, but you do
the same thing the contestants do.
We'll look at why in
a moment. But first, some of the answers usually
provided by participants:
1. You get rich
doing consulting work.
Wrong. We got into
consulting because we enjoy it and we enjoy the
challenges, the variety of assignments, etc. But you
know it won't make you rich.
How does one make a
buzzing sound (as in "wrong answer") using
HTML?
2. One wrong
answer and you're gone.
Well, are our
clients as strict as Regis? Do we really lose the
whole game, the whole project for one wrong answer?
Probably not. There are many other reasons why
clients may be dissatisfied . . . actually it takes
many more wrong answers for them to ask you to
leave. And if you know how to recover from one wrong
answer, you may not lose much.
3. They're always
testing you.
That's right. As the
project progresses, our clients go through a range of
emotional ups and downs. One of the emotional
reactions from our clients is "Have we made the
right decision?" They have a need to be
comfortable with their decision. This comfort level
goes through a somewhat predictable cycle. Recognizing
that cycle is a most valuable skill consultants
need. We talk about that a lot in our workshops.
So how do they get
that reassurance? By testing you. Which is why you
need to be on your toes at all times.
4. The lifelines!
The Millionaire show
allows contestants to make limited use of lifelines:
People who may know the answer such as the audience,
or phone-a-friend. Same with consulting. They don't
always want _you_ to have the answer, they just
want the answer.
Most of us have been
brought up to be honest and say "I don't
know" when we don't have the answer. Which is OK
in most circumstances (I won't argue with your mother)
But short-selling ourselves and limiting our expertise
is counter-productive when your client has retained
you to help them.
So if you don't have
the answer, get it for them. Or find the person who
does.
My favorite story is
of the consultant who was asked a (difficult) question
late in the day. He said he'd have the answer by the
morning. He stayed up all night, researching the
answer, and delivered it to the client first thing in
the morning. And not a word about how hard it was to
find it!
5. The questions
keep getting progressively more difficult.
It's not just the
questions, it's the challenges, the problems, the
delays, the complications as you get nearer to the
live date. That's why many recruiters or interviewers
will ask you how many of your projects you were there
when it went live.
And finally, to
the $32K answer:
6. Checkpoints
The key to success in
medium to short term projects is frequent checkpoints.
Just as in the Millionaire show. Once you get the
"O.K." on a piece of your work, it is less
likely you will have to go back to it.
OK, before you jump,
I said "it is likely." Not "you've got
it in your pocket, not "guaranteed." It's
what's worked for me and many others I've seen at
work.
Let's see how this
works: You have your assignment . . . let's say it
will take you 3 weeks (or 3 months, doesn't matter).
You set your own task plan. (What, you do not work
with task plans? You should) You set about four
checkpoints in your task plan.
The first checkpoint
is at the beginning. The next three are at 25%, 50%
and 75% progress during your task.
You pick your
"sponsor", or "reviewer" or
"approver". That is the person whose word
will count most on the acceptance of your work. Before
you begin work, you check with him/her on your task
plan, the constituent pieces, your understanding of
the scope of your work and the acceptance criteria.
Funny, how it sounds like a project kickoff. That's
because it is. You are running your own project!
Get this person's OK
before you start work.
About a quarter into
your work, submit your in-progress work for a
checkpoint. See if you're "directionally
correct" (that's consulting-speak for "am I
heading in the right direction?") Get the
feedback, work on the second quarter of your work AND
whatever changes you were asked to make.
If you can pull it
off, ask the person to do some of the work for you.
Now that's tricky, "do not try this at
home." But see if you can get them to "let
you use part of their work" or their
"data" or even their "insight".
Halfway into your
work, perform another checkpoint. Make sure they give
you feedback on the stuff you revised for them from
the last checkpoint! Get the feedback, work on it and
do more new work. Then another checkpoint at 75%.
You say you don't
know when you reach 25% or 50% or 75%? How can I say
this . . . you should know!
When you reach the
end, the chances of your work being accepted are
drastically improved if you followed the checkpoint
method. Among the reasons for that are:
- You have avoided
the nasty misunderstandings, scope arguments etc.
- You have "managed"
their expectations.
- Their involvement
gives them a feeling of ownership, which
reduces the probability that your work will be
rejected.
- Their continued
OK's ("approvals") induce them to
agree on the final product.
So at every
checkpoint, you should feel like you won $32K and take
a deep breath. You should feel more secure in your
success and you should be proud that you executed what
may seem like a very difficult maneuver but one that
will pay off big eventually.
The checkpoint method
is not a cure-all. And you may have many good reasons
why this would not work in your projects! But that's
the subject of another article. In the meantime,
please e-mail
and tell me why you think this would NOT work.
(*)
"Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" Copyright
ABC, Inc.
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