If you want to predict how a client project will end, look no further than how it began. Just about everything you do during the sales process and in the initial days of a project sets the stage for how it will wrap up.

Until both sides commit to a project, you might let minor assumptions about scope or outcomes slide. Once you have commitment, or so the reasoning goes, you and the client can hammer out the remaining nitty-gritty details.

Sometimes, that approach makes sense. During the sales process, for example, you don't have to nail down the precise schedule for the client team's participation in every task of the project. It may be that neither side is ready to make some decisions until a project ramps up, so it seems natural to table some matters for a later time.

Sadly for some consultants, that later time never comes, and the client's initial expectations for how the project will unfold become the operating assumptions. Then, you have to try to bridge the gap between those expectations and the reality of what you can deliver. Consultants get stuck with that unenviable task more often than they want to admit.

One way to flush out unresolved issues is to plan for a detailed walkthrough with the client before you start the work. Review the project plan, schedule, and the roles and responsibilities of each team member. Clear up those lingering questions and get everyone aligned around a common set of expectations.

That may seem obvious. But, what often happens, especially on small projects, is that everyone agrees to do the work, establishes an end date, and you start the project, sorting out unresolved issues as you go. Too often, this approach leads to difficult conversations with the client and the need to rework project tasks.

Lots of consultants miss the opportunity to shape the endings of their projects by taking some easy steps at the outset. If you've ever had a project that didn't finish well, you can probably trace the root of the trouble to the beginning, not the end, of the project.

Enjoy this month's issue.
And send me an email if you have comments.

Michael McLaughlin
Editor

According to researchers at the Boston Consulting Group, an economic downturn is a perfect time for mergers and acquisitions.

Apparently seeing it the same way, Deloitte is in the market for acquisitions. A year ago, Deloitte acquired the public sector practice of the bankrupt firm, BearingPoint. And now, the firm is on the lookout for new opportunities.

Consulting firm, Mercer, is also in the hunt. Mercer has acquired IPA, a health and benefits administration technology provider, hoping to use the acquisition to support its planned expansion into the health and benefits mid-market outsourcing business.

Rumors are still out there about the potential for a Booz & Company and AT Kearney merger. If it happens, the combined practice could gain a firm hold on the mediocre middle. The merger might realize substantial cost reductions from slashing overhead and administrative cost, but it would take value beyond that to make this a decent deal. If the merger is approved, expect an epic, ego-fueled battle for control of the combined firm and for the distribution of its earnings to partners.

In other news, consulting and business outsourcing giant, Accenture, reported encouraging third-quarter results that the firm characterized as a momentum builder. Accenture executives cited strong performance in their management and technology consulting practices as an indicator that the global economy is improving.

When it comes to new trends and technologies, it's not unusual for consulting firms to lag behind everyone else. And the rise of social media platforms for marketing is no exception.

After clients paved the way with their own programs, consultants now seem ready to get on board. That's according to a study of 74 consulting firms conducted by Bloom Group, BlissPR, and the Association for Management Consulting Firms.

"The study shows that consulting firms are beginning to use social media to rethink the very marketing practice they pioneered years ago--what increasingly is referred to as thought leadership marketing," said Bob Buday, president of Bloom Group.

Two of the study's findings caught my attention. First, according to the study, consulting firms are expanding their budgets for social media to an estimated 18 percent of marketing expenses. This run up is happening even though "...a majority of consulting firms are still unsure about how to best market their ideas," said Meg Wildrick, managing director at BlissPR.

Second, the emergence of social media could transform how consulting firms market their businesses. Five years from now, social media programs are projected to account for about a third of consultants' marketing budgets. That's about the same amount as firms currently spend for offline and "traditional" online thought leadership marketing initiatives.

If you've hesitated to add elements of social media to your marketing mix, this study should be your wake up call: Thought Leadership Rewired: How Consulting Firms are Using Social Media to Market Their Ideas.

Almost any consultant can pull together a recommendation for change, but the best ones excel at influencing events and people to bring about lasting, positive transformation.

In his book, Influencer: The Power to Change Anything, Al Switzler tells you how to do just that. Switzler is also coauthor of the bestselling books, Crucial Conversations and Crucial Confrontations.

I asked Switzler if he could give just one piece of advice about influencing change, what it would be.

Switzler: "The advice I would give comes from the medical profession: diagnose before you prescribe. Put differently, it would be to engage before you implement. I think too many initiatives are simply installed. People are looking for a solution, they find an off-the-shelf one, and say let's put that one in. One size fits all. When you do that, you're likely to get the change du jour, the flavor of the month, and a stalled initiative.

How many times have you seen people get in a room and say we've tried this and that and now it's time to get serious? You get serious by diagnosing, by clarifying, and then by marshaling enough influence that's not just dependent on the will of one or a few leaders."

Read the rest of my interview with Al Switzler.

One thing is certain about your next project: it will be different, in some way, from every other project you've done. Over the last couple of years, project managers and consultants have published some outstanding books about designing projects, managing project teams, and influencing change.

This month, I've compiled an Amazon list of ten books to help you build your skills as a project planner, manager, and leader. Have a look at the list, and feel free to send me your best recommendations for additions.

What's the fastest way to touch off a conflict between two consulting firms? Ask them to work together on the same project. The inevitable result is a clash of egos and disputes about how to do the work and who should get the credit.

Sadly, it's clients who usually lose out. The truth is that many clients need the help of more than one firm to get a project done. Some of the "full service" firms lack the deep expertise many projects call for, and smaller firms usually lack the reach of a large practice.

Fiona Czerniawska, an expert on the global consulting industry, has some insightful advice on how firms can manage multi-firm projects. Her main message to fighting firms: get over it

Read Fiona's blog post on the subject: Can hedgehogs make love?

"It's always about relationships."

Next month, we'll talk with Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence (and more than a dozen other bestsellers), and one of the business world's leading provocateurs. In his latest book, The Little BIG Things, Peters shows us 163 ways to pursue excellence.

We'll ask Peters how consulting firms can truly differentiate themselves, how he decides what consultants he wants to work with, and why it's important to think about our legacies early in our careers.

Look for the next issue of Management Consulting News on August 3, 2010.