No one could have predicted how the workplace (and world) would change between 2014 and 2023. MANY of our older blog posts with the hottest new tools and updates have aged like milk, where some are aging like a fine wine. Here are the same six reasons you should hire a consultant, but with a few added points.
1. Consultants Bring Expertise, and Flexibility
I’ve been a SharePoint and Microsoft 365 centric consultant for 10 years now, and in those 10 years I’ve seen a lot of growth and change. Most clients we work with have not kept up with EVERY new update, and every new feature, so as the consultant I go into most engagements blind. Is this client using an extremely old version of SharePoint or Office? Did they still rely on InfoPath forms? Did they keep up on new releases but implement them strangely? As the expert, it’s my job to be able to analyze the current state of things and figure out what updates do and don’t make sense for this team.
2. Consultants Have Experience, and Resources
In my ten years of consulting, I’ve accrued a LOT of useful tips, tricks, and even hacks. I have documentation, training presentations, previously developed blog posts, best practices… you name it. If I haven’t encountered a particular issue or problem, I probably know someone who has or can find a similar occurrence. I’m also part of a team with similar expertise, experience, and resources. Often if I haven’t seen something, I’ll check with my team next to see if they have. If none of us have seen something, we KNOW it’s a unique or one-off circumstance, and therefore know that we will have to develop a new solution.
3. Consultants Help with Project Planning, and Focus
One of the most common delays we run into on projects is native resources having too many duties. This is especially true when the point person for a project is not the IT Team, but someone who has taken on SharePoint, Teams, and Microsoft 365 as additional duties. By hiring a consultant, you free up those internal resources to pivot to their other duties, and the consultant can focus on the project at hand and help meet milestones and deadlines.
4. Consultants Provide Mentoring and Training, and Empathy
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, my primary role in most projects is just to listen and help my clients know that they’re not alone. Their struggles are valid, but there are solutions that we can implement to ease their struggles and help them work smarter and not harder. I provide mentoring for other IT Professionals, training for any level of user, and an empathetic ear for anyone in between.
5. Consultants are Long-term Professional Partners, with Trust
Hiring a consultant is an investment. You’re choosing to open up your organization and be vulnerable about your struggles, your business practices, your office dynamics… That sort of relationship only works when there’s trust between parties. My most successful projects are those that take place over a long period of time with constant interfacing between me, the project lead, and the end users of a solution. Once I’ve learned how an organization works in one facet, I’m usually able to understand how they will work in other areas and help provide solutions for other teams without even having to meet with those teams and do discovery or project planning.
6. Consultants Use a Fresh set of Eyes, without Bias
Finally, since a consultant is not embedded in your organization 24/7 they aren’t subject to the same frustrations as native resources. I come into each project with no biases, no preconceived notions, and no real idea of the existing dynamics. My job is to take the information given to me and then develop a solution from there. As an unbiased party, I can often be more comfortable being “the heavy” or the person that says "no" when necessary. I can also help bring new perspective or understanding, and maybe present new options that a team never would have considered. That sort of fresh insight is often invaluable.
Credit: Mohamed_hassan, https://pixabay.com/users/mohamed_hassan-5229782/, via Pixabay
I know that hiring a consultant can sometimes come with sticker shock, or the fear or being vulnerable with someone new. My opinion is that the benefits of a consultant outweigh those initial fears, and that once you see the benefits for yourself, you’ll be asking why you didn’t do it sooner.