How to Be an Effective Consultant on Virtual Projects

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Photo by Euan Cameron on Unsplash

Photo by Euan Cameron on Unsplash

As independent consultants, we’ve all worked remotely to some extent but now we are working virtually 100%. And likely, this isn’t temporary. Many companies are already saying they won’t require every employee to return to the workplace this calendar year. Some are considering shifting permanently to “work from anywhere”.

To complicate things further, many of our clients are learning how to work virtually for the first time and they may misperceive “checking in” as a waste of time and/or something they don’t want to pay for. Or worse, they may still have the mindset that if they can’t see the consultant doing the work, they might think they’re overpaying.

Given that consulting is relationship based, it’s imperative that we build credibility and trust quickly. We all must get better at this. Actually, we need to become great at this so PICA hosted a virtual roundtable with consulting veterans Briana Sharp, Donald Nagle, and PICA’s Chief Advocate, Liz Steblay. In hopes of continuing to provide independent consultants with the support they need, we wanted to share a summary of the valuable tips they shared for navigating our new virtual work environment.

Q:  How can we build positive work relationships virtually?

(Briana) The more I focused on what would I do if I was there in person, the easier it became. Instead of viewing physical distance as an impediment, I now think, “How can I transform my activities into a digital format?” So, the key is to modify what we have been doing with clients instead of becoming overwhelmed and trying to reinvent the wheel. For one of my clients, I requested to get on their instant messenger system. It isn’t the same as a hallway chat, but it allows time for, "Hey, do you have a quick sec?" in pretty much the same way I would have if they were next to me or down the hall.

(Donald) Traditionally the way to build a relationship is by having a series of interactions. So the notion of frequent interaction still serves as my basic starting place within a virtual environment. A client of mine uses Microsoft Teams and I engage with them in the way they culturally use Teams, every single day. There's a subset of the team members that like to use the little icons that come with Teams where they click either a thumbs up or a smiley face to acknowledge that someone posted something and they’ve read it. So in the parts of the organization where they do that, I've “gone native” and I do it too. Even though we may think of going native as a bad thing in consulting because we lose objectivity, in building relationships it's a great thing in the context of fitting into their culture. Find the tools to create interactions and communicate without relying solely on video.

(Briana) There are times when there's something to discuss that I realize isn't going to be effective by email. So I'll tell my client, "Hey, I'm just going to put 15 minutes on your calendar, and we can focus on this topic." You may need to have more meetings because you won't be able to bump into them, or just walk over to their desk, but don't be shy about it. Just figure out a way to do it that doesn't seem intrusive. Since we are not sitting next to each other, a good rule is over-communicate.

(Donald) That’s right. Don’t censor yourself. When my instinct says, “Let’s get X going,” I reach out, and that helps build the relationship.

(Liz) Normally when I start a project, I take my main client out to lunch, just so we can get to know each other better, and I can explain a little bit about my work style. I explain my rules of engagement, even though I've already won the work. I always started every project that way, with a personal conversation about our families, etc. In pivoting to a virtual world, I'm doing a virtual lunch with one of my clients next week and she's excited about it. So maybe when you're first starting an engagement say, "This is a practice that I used to do before COVID, and I'd like to try to at least mimic it via Zoom. Can we set up 30 minutes for a virtual cup of coffee?"

Q: Are there any changes to the manner or frequency that you communicate now vs. in person?

(Briana) Again, I feel it is more about adapting. If someone drops something in a conversation, it’s still just fine to ask an appropriate-level personal question. My client mentioned she's going to take Monday off, so when we were wrapping up a conversation yesterday and closing out I said, "Hey, have a good weekend. Do you have anything fun planned with your day off?" It's a way to build rapport – you would have asked them that if you were next to each other.

(Donald) I break the chunks of the work up, and when I've finished a chunk, it could only be two hours later, I just shoot them a quick, "Hey, I finished this. Here's a mini-draft." Or, "You had two questions. Here are my initial thoughts. Let's treat this as a working draft conversation." I'm not turning these into big, giant milestones. By doing this, you’re communicating in tiny bits, you’re building credibility and enhancing the relationship with frequent lightweight interactions – which is what you would be doing if you were in person.

(Briana) On a recent project, we initially started having marathon meetings every week to recap and plan for the upcoming week. We discovered over time it was better to have more frequent, but shorter touchpoints. One day we said, "Hey, what about if we broke this into two? Let's meet on Thursday to cover these topics, and then we'll connect again on Monday and we'll address these other topics." This really mimicked our in-person experience and gave our core team of four more frequent dedicated time for us to connect.

Q: White boards were an effective meeting tool for drawing ideas from participants. What are some tips to replicate or replace this type of interaction with remote teams?

(Donald) I worked with a client during a feedback session and used PowerPoint since our collaboration tool didn’t have a whiteboard feature. During the session, I threw a slide together summarizing the talking points and created an accompanying diagram. On the spot I immediately received valuable comments and was able to edit the slide in real time to reflect those comments and additions, as if the slide was a whiteboard.

(Briana) Zoom also has breakout room functionality that is great. I can’t say enough good things about it. If you are in a big meeting and want people to go off into a working session then come back and report, this is really useful.

Q: Since there aren’t any in-person organization meetings or networking events, how do you build new relationships with people when everyone is virtual?  

(Donald) In a pre-Covid world, you might say something like, "I think we have some shared interests. Let's maybe meet for coffee. What time might work?"  If they responded, then you met for coffee. Now you can say the exact same thing, but convert it into, "Let's meet for virtual coffee some late afternoon, 4:30 or 5:00, after we’ve finished our commitments for the day.” I did this just recently with someone who was in a PICA workshop with me. When she introduced herself I realized we had similar backgrounds and I made a note to reach out to her after the workshop.

Q: Any final thoughts on how to be a terrific consultant in a virtual world?

(Donald) I know in person we all have different approaches to show momentum for our projects whether it’s a flip chart at the cube or in the war room. Remember to do the same thing by having a file on their Teams site or whatever collaboration site they’re using. Even if it is as simple as a Word action list or a OneNote list, be sure to communicate progress with your client virtually, and remember to break things down into smaller chunks so the progress is more obvious.

(Briana) No matter how far into the virtual working situation a person is, I would suggest trying things that may seem unconventional, that you wouldn’t have done in person. It is important to be more open to experimenting and asking your client if they would be interested in doing that with you. And realize your client is going through this for the first time as well.

(Liz) Trust your instincts! The “what” and the “why” are probably the same as they were pre-COVID, but now you may need to think of a new “how”.

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Featured Guests:

Briana Sharp

Briana Sharp

Although Briana Sharp has been consulting over 15 years, the COVID-19 lockdown disrupted her tried-and-true practices, forcing her to get creative. Briana is a master at helping companies with their large-scale transformations, including over 20 mergers & acquisitions. She has worked with organizations both large and small, with projects spanning over 70 countries across multiple industries. Prior to establishing her own consulting practice, Razor Sharp Consulting, Briana spent seven years honing her craft at Deloitte Consulting.

Donald Nagle

Donald Nagle

After 25 years in consulting, Donald Nagle, is an expert at building trust, credibility and rapport. Even before COVID-19, much of his work was done remotely. Donald works with global clients to develop and implement major change initiatives that collectively span the business process value chain and cover all major functional areas. He excels at assessing needs, linking business impacts and success metrics to strategy, identifying issues and driving their resolution, and implementing new processes, policies, structures, and behaviors. Much of Donald’s work has been international in scope, including projects in Europe, Asia, and South America.

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