IMPLEMENTATION	10

Implementation, the fourth phase of the consulting process, is the culmination of the consultant’s and the client’s joint effort. To implement changes that are real improvements from the client’s point of view is the basic purpose of any consulting assignment.

If there is no implementation, the consulting process cannot be regarded as completed. If the client does not accept the consultant’s proposals at the end of the action-planning phase, the assignment has been poorly managed by both parties. If the consultant and the client collaborate closely during the diagnostic and action-planning phases, the client cannot really reject proposals that are the product of joint work. If there is any doubt about the focus of the consultant’s work during action planning, or about the feasibility of the proposals that are emerging, corrective measures should be taken immediately, without waiting until the proposals have been finalized.

It may happen that the consultant does not find a solution to the client’s problem. Maybe the problem as formulated does not have a solution (e.g. the goal set was too ambitious and unrealistic). Such a situation should also have been discovered at an earlier stage and the work on proposals redirected, so that action planning comes up with realistic proposals on how to deal with a redefined problem.

In planning an assignment and negotiating a contract, the client and the consultant should not forget to define what they mean by “implementation” and “results”. If the consultant is developing and helping to introduce a customized information system, for example, what operations have to be completed and what parameters have to be achieved before the system can be regarded as fully implemented? What is meant by implementation in an actionlearning programme – increased competencies of the participants, approval of the proposals developed in action-learning teams or the completion of all the change measures proposed? What is meant by “learning material” to be delivered by the consultant – a complete package ready for immediate use by the client in internal training programmes, or a detailed outline with

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guidelines for trainees and trainers, but requiring some further development and adaptation?

It may be difficult to reach agreement on when a very complex project, such as a business restructuring or turnaround, should be regarded as completed. However, the failure to clarify these questions early is a frequent cause of misunderstanding between consultants and their clients.

The general trend in consulting is to involve consultants in implementation, give them responsibility for achieving results and make their remuneration dependent on results. Thus, implementation is increasingly regarded and managed as a crucial element of the consulting process.

10.1 The consultant’s role in implementation

Why the consultant should be involved

In Chapter 1 we gave some arguments justifying the consultant’s involvement in the implementation phase of an assignment. The issue is important enough to be reviewed once more.

The ultimate responsibility for implementation is with the client. It is the client, not the consultant, who makes all the management decisions and sees to it that they are put into effect. This, of course, is more easily said than done. The more complex the assignment, the higher the probability that implementation will be at least as difficult as diagnosis and action planning. The plan or project presented by the consultant is a model of future conditions and relationships, assuming certain behaviour on the part of the client, as well as particular environmental and other conditions affecting the client organization. The consultant may have made mistakes in developing the model. In addition, many conditions may change after the proposal has been presented and accepted. The consultant’s co-responsibility for implementation can help to overcome these difficulties.

The issue of the consultant’s participation in implementation should never be underestimated, but should be thoroughly examined and discussed whenever a consulting project is being designed. Both the consultant and the client should give their arguments for and against this participation and consider various alternatives.

The consultant does not have to be involved in implementation:

●if the problem is relatively straightforward and no technical or other difficulties with implementation are anticipated;

●if joint work during the diagnostic and action-planning phases shows that the client has developed a good understanding of the problem and a capability to implement the solutions proposed without further assistance.

The client may be reluctant to involve the consultant for financial reasons. By the end of the action-planning phase the cost of the assignment may already

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be high and the budget may be exhausted. Or the manager who has to approve the contract may feel that involving the consultant in implementation implies expenditures that can be avoided. Here again a frank discussion can be helpful. The consultant can suggest a more economical design for the assignment in order to free resources that will allow him or her to be involved in implementation.

Finding a suitable arrangement

The failure to involve the consultant in implementation often reflects a lack of imagination and flexibility on either the consultant’s or the client’s part. Of course the client is concerned about the cost of the assignment, and the more time the project takes, the stronger may be the feeling that the consultants are staying for too long. The following arrangements can keep the consultant involved in implementation without imposing high charges on the client:

–the size of the consulting team present at the client’s premises will be gradually reduced during the implementation phase;

–only one consultant will stay during the whole implementation phase, providing advice and bringing in additional expertise from the consulting firm if appropriate;

–the consultant will deal only with the more difficult tasks in implementation, leaving all other work to the client;

–the consultant will visit the client periodically, or at agreed points during implementation, to check progress and provide guidance;

–the consultant will intervene only at the client’s special request.

Clearly, not every consulting firm will be able to offer all these options. Larger firms can generally be more flexible. A sole practitioner may well be working with a new client when a former client calls for help in implementation. It may be necessary to warn the new client that the consultant has not fully completed a previous assignment, though he is phasing himself out of it.

The various arrangements described above ought to be given consideration irrespective of the fee formula used (see section 30.4). If a lump-sum or contingency fee is applied, the consultant will make a provision for involvement in implementation when calculating the total fee. The final payment will be due only once implementation is completed and agreed results have been attained.

In addition to defining the end result of the project, the assignment plan and contract should be as precise as possible in defining the roles to be played by both the consultant and the client in the implementation phase. If this is not done, it may be impossible to determine who is responsible if implementation stalls. In the implementation phase the consultant may have to step out of an advisory role in the strict sense of the term to assist the client organization with various tasks involved in making the new system operational.

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10.2 Planning and monitoring implementation

A set of proposals for implementation should be part of the action plan presented to the client, as mentioned in section 9.3. Before implementation starts, a detailed work programme should be prepared.

Steps to take

Planning a campaign to introduce a new method or system is an instance of the usefulness of network planning or bar-charting techniques. The day chosen as “implementation day” will be more definite if planned for in this way. The time needed to obtain equipment and to design detailed procedures may be relatively easy to estimate. When there is a major physical move, as required by, say, a new factory or general office layout, a scheduled sequence of individual moves is necessary. When there has to be “business as usual” during the move, the schedule should recognize the need for the minimum of disturbance. Sometimes a short, sharp campaign can take place during an annual shutdown. When it does, all employees should be briefed on what they will find when they return so as to avoid some days of chaos.

Defining new responsibilities and controls

Implementation will create new tasks and relationships, while abolishing old ones. If people’s commitment and participation is to be solicited, their contributions must be specified. Such a specification will be particularly helpful for drawing up a training programme and establishing controls for monitoring implementation.

Furthermore, the programme of implementation should define controllable and, if possible, measurable results of individual tasks, operations and steps. This is essential for monitoring.

Pace and lead-time of implementation

Various technical and resource factors will have a bearing on the pace and leadtime of implementation. As a matter of principle, the consultant should aim to schedule implementation in the client’s best interest (e.g. to make new production capacity operational as early as possible, or to avoid situations in which the client has to deal with several difficult projects or use old and new information systems simultaneously).

The feasible and desirable pace of change (see Chapter 4) is an important criterion. It may be necessary to gain the commitment and support of a number of individuals, who will constitute a kind of critical mass. Considerable time and effort may be needed to create this critical mass, but once attained its existence will accelerate the whole process. These are important aspects of the strategy of planned change.

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In many projects, tests and trials will be needed, or partial and preliminary results will need to be reviewed and commented on by the client. It is a mistake not to allow sufficient time for these activities. A consultant who is behind schedule may feel that the client should provide instant feedback at any moment, but it must be recognized that this is often not feasible.

Built-in flexibility and contingency

The more complex and innovative the assignment, the greater the chance that the work programme will need to be adjusted several times during the implementation phase. Monitoring will show this need. However, adjustments are easier if some flexibility is built in. Completion of the assignment should not be scheduled for the very last moment (i.e. the time when the new scheme or plant must be in operation); some time should be kept in reserve for final adjustments. The same may apply to the allocation of resources and to provision for further help by the consultant during implementation.

Detailing procedures

When a good deal of new methodology is involved, it is usual to prepare a manual for guidance in the procedures to be followed. Virtually all forms of reorganization, irrespective of their functional or interfunctional aspects, and all new systems require instructions on how to operate them. New stationery usually has to be designed. The consultant may do this personally or may adopt part or all of some proprietary system.1

Monitoring implementation

When implementation is about to start, the consultant checks that all conditions have been fulfilled and all prerequisites are to hand.

Once the new system starts running, and for some time after, the consultant should be available to answer any queries and to help the client’s staff to deal at once with any problem that may arise. This is as much a question of tactics as of technique, since small deficiencies and misunderstandings when a new system is starting up have a tendency to grow and become major difficulties if not dealt with immediately. In this the consultant may have more technical know-how and experience than the client.

It is not uncommon for decision-makers, including the consultant, to experience uncomfortable afterthoughts once a decision has finally been reached and implementation commences. This phenomenon is known as cognitive dissonance. Prior to reaching a decision, the decision-makers usually spend an inordinate amount of time focusing on the benefits of the new scheme and the disadvantages of the present, or alternative, scheme. However, once a decision has been reached, the implementation process commences and the first problems inevitably appear, a good deal of time may be spent on reviewing the

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