- Most of the projects you run will include team members
from the client side.
These responsibilities are usually in addition
to their daily responsibilities.
Treat clients like full team members because they are.
Involve them in the project by being specific
about their deliverables and their timing.
You'll also need to manage their performance.
At Volt Leaders, we were serving another consulting firm.
This project had three major work streams.
For each work stream, we ask for our client individual
to be assigned to that work stream.
They had specific deliverables and timing
that they had to have their work to us.
When I worked for another major consulting firm,
we were working with an industrial manufacturer.
We were trying to help them reduce the cost of goods
they were buying.
For each category of good that we were trying to procure,
we had a client executive assigned to that work stream.
They were responsible for helping us understand the category
and working with their existing suppliers
as part of those supplier relationships.
When you're assigning client resources to your project,
make sure to do the following.
Get specific about deliverables
and get client commitment to meeting them.
Include clients in team problem solving and update meetings.
Have client team members brief their senior management
to help build buy-in.
And create visibility and provide opportunities
for wins for your client teammates.
The more effectively you integrate clients
into the team, the higher the quality of the output
and you increase the likelihood of getting buy-in
for your recommendations.