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When Should a Consultant Question Decisions?

Posted by Cliff on from the knowing-when-to-grow-a-backbone dept.

bay43270 asks: "Presumably, companies hire consultants because they need technical expertise. At some point (if not on a daily basis) a consultant is asked to do something that isn't in the best interest of the company (and therefore may not be in the best interest of the consultant in the long run). The consultant must ask 'do I just say "yes sir" and go to work, or do I try to explain things? If so, how hard do I push?' When should a good consultant question a decision, and how does the situation differ with contract programmers?"

3 of 436 comments (clear)

  1. Consultant or contractor? by Kysh · · Score: 5, Informative

    The difference between a consultant and a contractor is just exactly that which you mention.
    A contractor typically agrees to do a job, supplies the tools and expertise, and completes the project as agreed.

    A consultant takes a problem, develops a plan of action, and is entrusted with providing an opinion on anything that is detrimental. As a consultant, it's your JOB to bring it up-- But if they say "We know, but we just want it done this way", well that's then your job.

    A 'consultant' is someone who is brought in tooffer their advice, expertise and so forth.(Thus the word 'consultant', or 'one who is consulted')
    Once they have done so, many bounce back and forth between consultant and contractor-- Writing the job tasks and then following through with them. By definition, the input of a consultant is wanted- She works primarily in the business/planning sense, almost as more of an adviser or planner.

    I've done both extensively, myself,for your reference.

    -Kysh

    --
    --=:: Wings and tail and snout and scales of blackest night ::=- A dragon stands be
  2. They know not what they do... by dot2dot · · Score: 5, Informative

    This happens regularly to me.

    My general coping methodology is to identify my concerns (expressed in terms of business consequences) but ultimately, I will defer to the legitimate authority of the client who is retaining us and cope as well as I can.

    There is always the possibility that:

    (a) You could be wrong
    (b) Your client's position is formed on the basis of additional information you don't have to hand.

    On the other hand, that doesn't mean you shouldn't keep some sort of mutually visible (and emotively neutral!) audit trail of your concerns as a CYA mechanism :-)

  3. Re:Im in this situation now.. by maxII · · Score: 5, Informative

    Working as a government consultant for the past 3 years has shown me the importance of having all decisions in writing. No matter how small it seems, e-mailing parties responsible for a confirmation to go ahead with objections noted is a must for consultants, then you can't be blamed for other incompetent peoples faults.

    So yeah as div_2n says, get everything in writing, even if it's just an e-mail, it will be documentary evidence down the track if you find yourself as the scapegoat for bad decisions.