As a consultant, there are various hidden roles you play that are never written into your contract. Mastery of these roles moves your service from good to excellent to indispensable.

A consultant enters a company as an expert and as an outsider. Respected or suspected by the teams you are hired to help, you can use your expertise and your position as an outsider to your advantage.

Listening

Of first importance is the ability to listen – long, in detail and without imposing your expertise before you have listened well to your client and all the players. Do not offer suggestions early. Get the whole picture before you begin to make recommendations, much less changes. Even under time pressure, do your listening and question-asking before you make a move.

Listen closely to your client’s perception of the issues. Make certain you understand the details and personalities which the client believes are contributing to the problem. Re-state what the client wants accomplished, not what you mean to do to achieve it. As you work, be candid with your client about the picture that is emerging, even if it differs from his or her perception.

Apply the same patience and thoroughness when listening to the team(s). Go back a second time through the team with questions as you learn more, so you are sure you have a clear picture of the problem you are hired to solve. It may not be the problem you signed on to fix (in which case return to your client and re-define the problem and your work).