HowTo: Succeed as a Consultant in a Sea of Direct Hires

Working as a consultant has its ups and its downs. Recently I have come to the realization that the direct hires that I work with do not like me. Or at least it seems that way.

Honestly, its not that they do not like me, but that they are threatened, jealous, or they just feel cheated that their boss hired a "consultant" to do work that they could have done. Whatever the employee's reason to be emotionally distressed, two people suffer. The employee and the consultant.

The employee suffers, because every encounter with the "consultant" is a tension filled battle of wits. In many cases the employee the employee in question armors up and begins wielding his or her sword. Now, can someone explain to me, as a consultant being hired for a project, why on the first or second day on the job you are going through an interview. Now this employee's main goal is to make you look stupid, make you feel uncomfortable and out of place. The employee becomes obsessive, telling his tale of his victorious encounter with the new "consultant" that he is assigned to work with. He then goes home to his or her spouse and complains about how they are not appreciated by their organization or that they are being cheated and etc. It is not pretty.

For the consultant, he is left working in tense environments where the employees that are supposed to be assisting him with his quest are resentful and resilient to being helpful. These situations only end badly. The consultant completes hours and hours of work, presents his work at the big meeting, only to find out a critical flaw that could have been avoided had the employee notified him of a crucial limitation. The end result, the consultant looks like a fool and the employee has triumphed. Only this is what the employee hopes for.

Luckily for me, I was taught this lesson on one of my first consulting jobs by another consultant. He warned me of this problem, so I made a plan to follow when entering into a new organization as a consultant.

1. Quickly analyze the importance of each person on the team. Determine the hierarchy of the team. Determine who is the most critical when it comes to you completing your project. This will allow you to realize who you should be making friends with, and who you should not waste your time on.

2. Once you determine the important players on the team, be genuine. Find common grounds of interest. Connect with them, do more listening than talking. If you take time to listen, you may find ways that you can help that person, so when it comes the time that you need help, they will not hesitate to provide you with what you need. The phrase that BNI members live by is "Giver's Gain" and as a consultant, this becomes something your use on a daily basis.

When I started with the county, it was the final stretch of the NHL season. With the Sabres having nearly their best season ever, I had an instant conversation topic that spurred the emotions of any Buffalo resident. (Literally!)

3. When you determine the employees that are going to give you trouble, don't avoid them, don't insult them, but learn to tolerate them. I know the biggest thing you want to do when that employee is ruffling his main, is tell him where he can shove his boot, but you need to refrain. Being a consultant is not just about getting the project done, but you are also trying to build credibility for yourself. No one wants to be remembered as the guy who did a good job but had no self control and picked a fight with one of the direct hires.

4. If you make a mistake, or someone else makes a mistake but it is your project. Take full responsibility for the mistake, even if it is not your fault. Respond to the mistake, get it resolved as quickly as possible. This will show you have class, composure and respond quickly under stress. The boss will respect that, and the employee that may be responsible has been foiled because you do not look like the ass.

Chris