Earlier on the blog we talked about “house” rules (You’re in MY House Now) when entering an engagement and how important it is to proceed with caution until the client feels comfortable with you in their environment. But what about before you enter an on-site engagement?
Prior to entering the engagement, you may or may not know the project manager on the engagement and that could cause some disruption if a unified stance is not taken. The unified front will form the consultant team together, whether they are working in the same work stream or not. For example, working together on the front-end of the engagement by exchanging information the night before or after hours can help support creating a common goal and smooth out issues while working with the client. This could help build the communication even if you are working on different work streams. If your team is better prepared, then you will appear as a well-oiled machine to the client.