Consultant Thursdays: What Are The Cardinal Sins Of A Consultant?

How we deal with clients and how they view our professionalism is sometimes more important than what we know, especially in the field of User Experience where our knowledge is treated at about the same level as a fortune teller. I’ve told some of my reports that likable and professional is more billable than knowledgeable.

I asked this question over at LinkedIn (I’ve grown to like the site, and it really is a powerful networking tool). I’m going to publish some of the answers every week, and you can respond to them, or not. Sometimes the answers will repeat — my apoligies. I will give credit where credit is due, and I’m going to try to live by some of these.

This was submitted by Chelsea Wyatt:

• Having no respect for the organization’s knowledge and expertise
  
• Applying typical solutions or software packages without accounting for each organization’s specifications, needs, hierarchy, culture, and business processes
• Not being ‘present’ at meetings (i.e. e-mailing, texting, and generally not paying attention, especially in front of the client)
• Having internal conflict or questioning a colleagues’ or project managers’ decisions in front of the client
• Extending a project (scope or timeline) and not telling the team or key organization representatives
• The all consuming cardinal sin: Inadequate resources! Especially not staffing a project correctly, as it’s truly all about the people.

Attached is a list of 12 cardinal sins in ERP Consulting, her prior field.

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