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In-Depth Information
11.5 managing your partner
Face it. it is much easier to manage a good consulting company than a bad one. making
sure you select the right one from the start will make the job of managing your partner
significantly easier. After you have selected the right partner, your goal should be to
effectively manage the consulting company to fully leverage its skills for the duration of
the project and to also develop a strategic, long-term partnership. Finding a trustworthy
partner that you can use for multiple projects will save you time, money, and stress. It is
much easier to work with a partner that is proven than to take the time to locate a new
one. Who wants to go through the selection process over and over and over again? not
I and neither do you.
11.5.1 Communication Is Key
It takes effort to have a successful working relationship with your partner; you have to
actively manage the relationship. And, what is the foundation of a good relationship?
It's CommunICAtIon. If you could only take away one piece of advice from this sec-
tion on managing your partner, it should be to communicate early and clearly on your
expectations of them. Do not assume or leave anything to chance. The more detailed
information you give them from the start, the better the chance they have of meeting
your project's goals.
In addition to your expectations, be clear on your project's objectives, success criteria,
budget, resources, and timeline. The project charter contains the majority of this infor-
mation and, though it will be covered more in depth later in the chapter, it is important
to note that you should share it with your partner as soon as possible. They should pro-
vide feedback on the charter especially if any part of their Statement of Work (SoW)
conflicts with it. Any conflicts will need to be resolved to move forward with the project.
Be open and frank on any requirements you have for who they staff on your project. If
you have specific requirements around skill set, technologies, years of experience, or
location (i.e., if they are local or will need to travel to your site), those should be shared
early, verbally, and in writing.
11.5.1.1 Handling Issues
Issues within the project and with your partner should be
addressed as they happen without delay. Do not risk the chance of an issue snow-
balling by waiting needlessly. They work for you and you should feel comfortable
in communicating any concerns you have as they arise. your partner should have a
standard protocol for escalating issues and communicating concerns. once the issue
has been communicated, they should come back to you with a response in a reason-
able amount of time and with a solution to resolve the issue or to prevent the issue
from reoccurring.
What do you do when you have a “what have I (or my management team) done by
hiring these yahoos” realization half way into the project? you have followed protocol,
escalated the issue or issues, met with their management, met with your management
team, and the issues still remain. Depending on how severe the problem, you may want
to consider firing your partner. obviously, this decision cannot be taken lightly and
has to be done with the realization that your project will most certainly not meet its
deadline and be over budget. however, if their performance is subpar and the solution is
half-baked, what difference does it make anyway? There are consulting companies who
claim that a large portion of their business is cleaning up other consulting companies'
messes. Find one of them or review the “selecting a partner” section of this chapter again.
