Through the years, I have worked with numerous payments industry consultants. Some of the engagements have been terrific, setting my organization on the path to success by defining new products, processes, markets or strategies. However, others have been dismal and nothing more than a complete waste of time and money. There is never a guarantee of success, but there are a few things you can do to increase the probability of succeeding.
The first area to focus on is the "selection process." However, before you select a consultant, you must determine the needs of your organization. I recommend getting together all of the key stakeholders on a project and defining a statement of work. In other words, write down what you want the consultant to research, develop, or produce and develop a final Project Charter. Next, you need to gather proposals and interview prospective consultants. As you read proposals and talk to prospects, try to narrow down the search to two or three that have significant experience in the area or areas on which you wish to focus. Finally, check their references thoroughly and negotiate all of the details of the engagement, noting special attention to deliverables, confidentiality and ownership of the final product.
After choosing a consultant, the hard work really starts. Many times I have seen a project fail because the final deliverable was not what the company really wanted. First and most importantly, make sure that all of the internal stakeholders understand the goal of the project and can define what would constitute success at the end of the engagement. This will keep your team focused. Then, have an initial kick-off meeting with the entire consulting team and all of your people to articulate the scope of the project and the desired results. This will help to ensure a good start. You will also want to set up regular check-up meetings, holding them bi-weekly at a minimum. During these meetings, the consultant will update the group on progress to date and you can get things back on track if they start to drift. This will keep the project on-task and on-schedule. One thing to avoid is "project creep." This is when a project starts to morph into other areas outside the original project charter. If this happens, the end product could look much different than what was originally expected. At times, it is okay to change direction, but I would give it considerable thought before changing the scope of a consulting assignment mid-stream. Remember, you can always do more after the project is complete.
At the end of the project, make plans for the consultant to present the final results to the stakeholders. This will allow for a debrief and data-dump to the entire organization and provide you with a final work product. After the meeting, get the internal team together and discuss the positives and negatives regarding the consulting engagement. Use this information for future learnings. At this meeting, you must also do the hardest and most important thing; determine the next steps. After most consulting projects end, it is up to you to move the work and your organization to the next level. It is at this meeting where you and your team outline the future and put real, executable tactics in place.
Engaging a consultant does not guarantee your success, but they can be extremely beneficial because of their market, strategic, technical, operational or process expertise. To fully maximize the potential of a consulting engagement remember the basics and that in the end it is up to you to take the final product and your organization to the next level.
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