The ABCs of Always Beneficial Consultants

Kenneth has 14 years of healthcare experience in government and private industry. Over eight years of experience managing healthcare IT projects, operations, contracts, and personnel. His work experience includes project management, contracts and procurements, data analysis, claims adjudication, business writing, and business process modeling. Kenneth was certified in 2006 as a Project Management Professional.

  Communications Management   Cost Management   Quality   Schedule Management   Scheduling   Scope Management   Talent Management  

Work on projects long enough and you will encounter consultants. Many organizations hire them to fill a temporary need or provide expertise that is not available in house. Interfacing with consultants on a project can be quite different than working with normal staff on a regular basis. The project team and the project manager should be prepared and understand the best ways to deal with consultants while working on the project. After all, both regular in-house staff and the consultants want the same outcome for the project--on time, on budget and on scope. So while there may be some difficulties in the day-to-day work, the project manager should keep that in mind.

Ground Rules
It is important to lay down the ground rules with the consultants before they begin working on the project. Most of the time these ground rules will be contained in the contract or agreement that the consultant has with the organization. The contract will contain language around the responsibilities of the consultant, the duties they are allowed to perform for the organization, and the conditions for receiving payment for services rendered.

In addition to the legally binding ground rules, the project manager should spend some time with the consultants to make sure they understand the ground rules that may not be written down anywhere. This might include information about the culture of the …

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