CIS498

Chapter 5 Evolving into the Role of Consultant Throughout life, people face big decisions that are outside their usual realm of expertise:

how to pay for their kids' schooling, where to buy a house, or which medical procedure is best for addressing a health concern. At those times, many of us reach out to someone with more knowledge than we have, whether it's a financial planner, a Realtor, or a doctor. Think of the qualities you look for in the person you ultimately want to engage with:

Expertise, certainly, but you might also want someone who really l istens; who takes the time to understand your desires, concerns, and goals; who can explain things in a way you understand; and whom you can trust to have your best interests in mind. What you're looking for is a consultant, someone with whom you can form a partnership that allows you to enrich your own perspective with his or her experience. It would be foolish to try to embark on really complex and important decisions or projects without the help of such a person. My 25 years of experience in consulting w ith and for organizations has shown that unfortunately, that's not what happens in corporate America every day when the time comes to make important technology investments. When business departments embark on new strategies or seek better ways of doing the ir jobs, they almost always require technology expertise to reach those goals. But to whom do they turn for that expertise? Time and time again, for every industry I've consulted in, I've seen them seek an outside consultant, a technology vendor, or a powe r user in the department who knows enough to be dangerous. Yet it's the internal IT department that ultimately needs to implement the solution. And that solution is often so far down the road in the decision -making process that the system is difficult or e ven impossible to implement in a satisfactory way, given the current infrastructure and architecture of existing systems. Moreover, after too many project failures, some business departments end up sidestepping the IT department altogether. How dysfunction al is that? It's like trying to build a house and avoiding the use of a general contractor. In some cases, I've seen business departments enlist the help of IT earlier in the game, but with the expectation that their system specifications will be carried o ut without discussion or the costly involvement of their staff. IT obliges, and when the system ultimately doesn't do what the client really needs it to do, everyone starts blaming one another, and the system falls into disuse. In fact, this is the situati on that most resonates in the workshops I facilitate for O&A on consulting skills. One of the biggest complaints I hear from IT professionals is that they can't get their clients intimately involved in the project because they lack availability or sometime s even interest. For me, this is a clear indicator that the client is not fully owning the outcome, and that doesn't make sense, given that it's rare for any project to be an IT project — rather, it needs to be a business project. Consider this scenario. Whe n a Minnesota couple needed to transfer to Florida, they faxed their home requirements to a Florida Realtor. The Realtor called back and suggested a phone conference. They were annoyed; why couldn't the Realtor just work with their specifications? But by t he end of the conversation, they learned how much they didn't know about housing in the South. In fact, had the Realtor delivered on what they'd asked for, they would have ended up with terrible buyers' remorse. In the end, they bought something they never would have considered if they hadn't engaged in the consultation — but that was ultimately the right house for them. The lesson for IT leaders is this: Clients of computer technology are a lot like that relocating couple and like anyone who needs to get som ething done that's beyond his or her realm of expertise. We think we know what we want — a college education, a dream house, a clean bill of health — but if a trusted and learned partner doesn't influence our decision making, we may very well end up dissatisfi ed. In the same way, your clients may think they know what they want, but too often what they want doesn't jibe with the reality of how technology actually works, with existing architectures, or in tandem with other systems. In my consulting career, I've a lways been intrigued by what it takes to manage the dynamic forces of people, processes, and technology to create business solutions. In fact, my interest led me to pursue a master's degree in organizational development so I could better understand the hum an side of getting work done. Then, over the years, as both an internal and an external consultant, I started to recognize that the IT organization's success in bringing business solutions to fruition often depended on its ability to influence without dire ct power . And that's why today I find great satisfaction in working with IT professionals to support their own development as internal consultants. I strongly believe that their effectiveness in partnering with the business is directly correlated with the development of their personal interaction skills. I also believe it's crucial for IT leaders to enable themselves and their organizations to engage clients in a trusted partnership, shifting their role from order taker or technology wizard, or even naysaye r or bottleneck, to the role of problem -solving partner. By operating as a consultant to the business, IT professionals and their clients are putting their capabilities together to build an optimum solution with which both sides are happy. What Is the Cons ultant's Role? Many IT professionals have probably never really thought about what the word consultant means, and if they have, it's usually based on a negative stereotype they have of external consultants. But in fact, from the CIO down to entry -level sta ff members, everyone in the IT organization needs to expand his or her influence by operating as a consultant. So let's get past the negative connotations and think about what a consultant really is: someone who has no direct authority or power over the pe ople he or she works with but who instead uses influence to guide their decisions and actions. In other words, since consultants don't operate from a position of authority, they have to operate from a position of trust — not only in their expertise but also in their ability to share that expertise in a meaningful and applicable way with their clients. This is true for everyone in IT, not just people with the word consultant in their titles, and not just for client -facing positions. After all, the minute that CIOs walk out of their offices and into the business community, they have lost all of their positional power and are only as good as their ability to influence their peers and clients. Today's reality is that the success of IT professionals absolutely hing es on earning the trust of their clients. Otherwise, why would the clients listen? Perhaps it's easier to understand the consultant role by envisioning what it is not . Consultants are not the gurus at the top of the mountain to whom clients make pilgrimage s and pay homage. They are on the ground, side by side with the client — an ally who is fully engaged with the business needs at hand. Imagine a patron walking into a restaurant. He's hungry, but he's not sure what to eat, so he asks the cook to just make hi m something delicious. Forty -five minutes pass, and the diner's annoyance turns to outrage when the meal finally arrives and it's a casserole containing all sorts of vegetables that he doesn't like; sausage, which he doesn't eat; in a tomato -based sauce, and he hates tomatoes! How could his request for “something delicious” have gone so wrong? The customer sends it back, only to anger the cook, who had labored over this meal, imagining that it would send the diner into epicurean ecstasy. Have you ever exper ienced that type of frustration? Have you ever, for instance, agreed to insert yet another requirement into a system that's already behind schedule, only to have the client berate you a short time later when a deliverable isn't met? Now imagine that the co ok had asked the diner a few questions, like whether he's allergic to any foods, what else he'd eaten that day, whether he prefers seafood or red meat, how much he wants to spend, or whether he's ever tried parsnips before. As the cook engages the diner mo re fully and gains a stronger understanding of his preferences, she might steer the customer away from the dinner menu and suggest something from the luncheon menu, which can be prepared more quickly. Just as important, the cook doesn't make the customer f eel stupid when she needs to explain why it's impossible to prepare potatoes au gratin without adding cheese or why the diner probably shouldn't order a soufflé for takeout. She also doesn't waste the diner's time explaining which cooking implements she'll use, what the optimal food temperatures would be, or whether she prefers to brown the meat before roasting it. And if anything happens during the meal preparation to change the discussed outcome, she'll make sure the customer is quickly made aware of it. Although all of this front -end work takes time, it's worth it. While waiting for his food, the customer is well prepared for what he's going to get. And when the meal arrives, he's not only completely satisfied, he also vows to return to this restaurant be cause he's developed a real rapport with the cook. That's the type of trusting relationship that IT leaders need to develop with their business clients. In this type of true partnership, you're not blindly following orders or bluntly saying, “No, that can' t be done” without discussing alternatives. When there's trust and real effort put into understanding the needs at hand, both the IT professional and the client can discuss, negotiate, push back, or give in — all without feeling like someone has to win or lose. Suddenly it's not a battle anymore. Getting there requires IT leaders to develop a whole new mind -set as well as a set of skills to help clients define what they really need, within the constraints of budget, schedule, and technological feasibility. When IT organizations do this, I've seen t hem transform from the people called in at the last minute to the go -to group that business clients call as soon as they consider a new system need — just as they would do with a trusted consultant. Here are the general characteristics that clients expect to see in a consultant: • Confidence in his or her own capabilities without arrogance • Enthusiasm and complete engagement during the project • Accessibility and responsiveness • Knowledge about the client's line of business and a willingness to learn more • Dedicatio n to the client's best interests Why Do I Need to Become More Consultative? Some people ask me whether it's truly vital for IT professionals to develop their consulting skills. Isn't it more important to keep up -to -date with certifications and technical sk ills? I respond by reminding them that it's not about either -or but about both -and. As a good consultant, you need to bring value to the table. That means you bring a technological perspective about the business and you have the human interaction skills so that people will actually be able to hear what you have to say. Over the years, I've had many IT professionals confess to me that they were resistant to this touchy -feely stuff. Then they tried it and evolved into a consultant role. When they did, it repr esented a major shift in their thinking. In fact, many confide that they wish they'd been a little wiser much earlier in their careers. That's because in the past decade, IT has become so intertwined with business strategy that the one can't — or shouldn't — be pursued without the other. IT professionals who are more excited about technology than its application to business initiatives will increasingly find themselves working on nonstrategic, noncore, and ultimately not very exciting projects — if they continue to be employed at all. In my work with a major retailer, I had one of the senior business sponsors announce to a new group of IT staff members, “I get really nervous when someone from IT comes in and says, ‘I have a great idea!’ because I get the feeling t hey're probably excited about some new technology advancement. But when they come in and say they have an idea on how we can accomplish some business goal or objective, I'm all ears. I need people who are committed to helping me drive the business agenda, not the latest and greatest technology.” IT is under increased pressure to deliver technology solutions more quickly and cost - effectively and to quantify the return on investment. How better to accomplish that than by pairing a technology project so closel y with client needs that no one could question whether the project is bringing value? And how better to reduce costs than by delivering what clients really need the first time, rather than abandoning expensive efforts and going back to the drawing board re peatedly? The only way to give clients what they need the first time is by fostering the relationships that enable understanding and collaboration. Finally, competition has never been hotter for internal IT, particularly as lower -cost offshore options are becoming a more familiar and frequent choice for low -level coding, routine testing, and, increasingly, even more strategic projects. One IT executive said to me recently, “I'd have my head in the sand if I didn't realize the competition is out there.” Toda y's IT department also functions as the resource broker or the general contractor on key projects. Its role is to find the right mix of employees and onshore and offshore resources. By operating as internal consultants, the IT organization can avoid being replaced by outsourcers. Learning to Change Hats: The Four Roles of IT In my workshops, I refer to four different consulting roles: technical wizard, technical assistant, silent influencer, and problem -solving partner. All have intrinsic value when used at the right time. Here's a quick description of each: 1. Technical wizard. This is the hero role. Technical wizards descend upon a problem with all their magical transforming power and save the day. You need heroes on your team, especially when there is a cris is. However, the technical wizard doesn't necessarily help build a shared understanding or long -term commitment. Some clients would love nothing more than to let IT take charge, have no involvement themselves, and then blame IT when it doesn't address the real need. 2. Technical assistant. This role can appear as the order taker. The business department knows — or seems to know — exactly what it wants, and IT carries out the stated requirements. However, sometimes taking the order is not the right solution. This r ole can result in clients getting what they asked for but not always what they need. Their requests are not informed by the realities of what it takes to fulfill them, and IT doesn't truly understand the business situation in which the client is operating. 3. Silent influencer. The person in this role is not actually silent but informally influences the clients' perspectives. For example, you can send clients articles on relevant topics or hold brown -bag lunch gatherings to explain technology concepts and how they relate to current business needs. You can even just check in with clients by phone or e -mail to see how things are going with existing business initiatives or ongoing projects. In some organizations, I've found this to be one of the most effective rol es to gain greater ownership and in -depth understanding of the technology solutions. One of my clients, for example, reported great success from merely stopping by his key client's office weekly. He said his client's perception was that customer service ha d improved over the last few months. It's amazing what a little personal attention can do. In today's environment, our clients are often geographically dispersed, which requires more creativity on our part to stay in touch. Technology does enable us to com municate, but resorting back to voice communications may provide even more relational contact. For example, one IT leader I've worked with schedules regular coffee breaks on the phone, essentially 15 -minute check -ins to see how things are going with her cl ients. Remember, if you're not influencing your client, someone else is. 4. Problem -solving partner. This role provides the opportunity to have the greatest influence. The analogy that I use for this is that you and your client are getting into the same car to go on a road trip. You decide together where you're going and how you're going to get there. You both bring valuable perspectives that have to be considered along the way. When you encounter an unexpected problem, there's no blaming. You reassess your options and proceed. When the journey is over, you celebrate your accomplishments and share the less ons learned for the next trip. The last role appears to take more time. But my experience has shown that the extra time involved up front pays you in dividends at the back end because you get the job done right the first time. For projects that are complex and involve a host of sponsors, you can't afford not to have everyone in the car when you begin the journey. The technical wizard and the technical assistant are often the roles in which the IT department builds a solid reputation. When your business clients have confidence in your ability to deliver value, they will be receptive to your role as silent influencer or problem - solving partner. How Do I Become a Consultant? For most IT organizations, transitioning into the role of consultant requires a fundamental shift in approach and mind -set as well as the development of a new set of skills. Historically, technical expertise may have gotten you hired, but today it's business acumen that gets you invited to the table, and it's human interaction capabilities that will get you invited back. Today I find more and more examples of individuals being hired because of their business savvy, and they're taught the technology skills they need. Clients will have confidence in you if you know where to go to obtain in -depth technology knowledge, as long as you fully understand the business realities. In some cases, IT even hires f or personal interaction skills. I know of one CIO who five years ago stopped hiring programmers to get the technology skills he needed on staff.

Instead, he began hiring people who were strong in interpersonal skills and then sent them to the local communi ty college to gain technology skills. His goal was to create a team that could form a strong connection with the business. And hands down, he tells me, these are the programmers that the rest of the organization consistently requests to be on project teams . At the same time, it's important for IT leaders to create a spreadsheet of its technical competencies and weaknesses. There has to be a plan to ensure that resources are there to meet future needs, whether in the form of outside experts or bulking up tra ining efforts. It's simply impossible for everyone on the team to stay current with his or her skills, with technology changing at today's pace. Today's IT leader is responsible for determining the best mix of resources, both internal and external. Let's t ake a closer look at the business and communication skills that IT leaders and their staffs need to develop to become more consultative. It starts with IT professionals taking full responsibility for the messages they communicate and the effect they have o n others. Business Acumen When it comes to developing business acumen, the goal is to educate yourself and your staff on the clients' areas of expertise and the current business pressures they face. You do this mainly by spending time with clients, watchin g how they interact with existing technology in their day -to -day work lives, and asking good questions when you're approached for a technology change or new system. You and your staff need to become students of the business and learn enough to speak the cl ient's language and understand the real issues. This requires developing good interview skills. For example, before launching into new projects, IT professionals should ask the clients what issues they're trying to resolve, what they're trying to accomplis h, and why that's such a concern for the business. During this conversation, you need to work to identify the root problem the client is having — you may find that the client doesn't need a new system at all but only a feature that's already available in an existing application or that could be built through a simple modification. We cover interview skills in more depth in Chapter 9. Or the situation could be ju st the opposite. The client may think it's a simple request to just add another column to a spreadsheet, without understanding that this request involves accessing data from another database. In the end, it might be better to solve the issue manually and u se IT resources for something with higher payback. It's only by understanding the business environment as well as the challenges, responsibilities, and pressures that clients face that IT can apply technology in the most effective way possible. Human Inter action Skills Perhaps even more important, most IT professionals also need to strengthen their communication skills in order to interact with clients effectively. While left -brain skills such as analytical thinking, logical reasoning, and sequential capabi lities are important for the systems -building side of the job, consulting requires right -brain skills such as listening, being empathetic, and dealing with emotions. Here are some of the more important human interaction skills IT leaders and their staffs need to develop. Creating an Audience Profile Few IT departments have the luxury of starting from scratch in building a relationship with their clients. There's usually some history, either positive or negative. One important skill is learning to develop an audience profile. Who exactly is your client? Identify what you know, what will affect the project, the client's technical savvy, and the history with IT. Do your business clients trust the IT department and have confidence in its capabilities, or is ther e some repair work that has to be done? Clearly, you'd use a different strategy with a client who's on board and enthusiastic about getting a new initiative started than with one who has been burned in previous systems projects. You can't just leave that e lephant standing in the room. But remember, once you start talking about the elephant, it's important to hear out the client's grievances without becoming defensive, even if you think he or she is completely wrong. It's important to acknowledge any issues in your organization's history with the client and lay out a plan to regain his or her trust. Listening You might think of listening as a passive activity. But good listening actually requires a lot of work if you want to ensure that you understand what yo u hear, absorb it, and act on it with any degree of accuracy. Active listeners aren't silent during the exchange; rather, they clarify what they hear, paraphrase what they think they understand, and ensure that they're not making incorrect assumptions. We all filter what we hear, either adding extra details or skipping over points that we deem unimportant but that may be crucial. Indeed, incorrect assumptions are the bane of any listener. Even seemingly simple words can mean vastly different things to diffe rent people. What would you think if a client says he needs to see a system in 20 days? That he wants to be up and running with reporting capabilities in that short time frame? Or that he wants to see a plan or a high -level design? It's not unlike the clas sic cartoon portraying a client asking for a swing, and different developers picture everything from a tire swing to an executive chair hanging from a tree.

You need to clarify, paraphrase, and play back the speaker's words to ensure you have an accurate u nderstanding. I like to illustrate this in my workshops with the following exercise. I ask one person to relay an event that takes around 60 seconds to tell. Then I ask someone who was listening to retell the story as accurately as she can. The reteller is almost always surprised by the extra details she adds and the pieces she leaves out because of the assumptions she made while listening. Being Empathetic It's easier to work through any type of grievance when you develop the ability to respond empathetically. After all, demonstrating empathy doesn't mean you're agreeing with the client's point of view, only that you're willing to acknowledge and respect it. It's the difference between saying, “I completely agree with everything you're saying” and “I completely understand everything you're saying.” And it starts by vocalizing your desire to understand the other person's point of view. For example, “I can see you're frustrated — help me understand what's going on so I can see things better from your perspective.” The more empathetic you are, the more you demonstrate to the client that you understand his or her reality. That creates the confidence that you'll be a ble to work through future issues constructively. For many in IT, I find this to be an Achilles heel. Far too often, IT professionals' gut instinct is to defend themselves, cut off the other person, or flat out make the other person wrong.

“After all,” the y figure, “we've done our homework and know the right answer.” But being an effective consultant isn't about the right answer . If others can't hear what you have to say because of how you deliver the message, you have lost your ability to influence. Delive ry is everything . If I have an important point to make, the other person is much more likely to hear me if I have been equally interested in his or her perspective. How I demonstrate that respect is empathy. In most conversations, that can be a simple para phrase or acknowledgment of the other person's idea first, before I add my two cents. Being Diplomatic Closely related to empathy is diplomacy, which is being respectful toward other people even when you don't agree with them. After all, you're not goin g to influence anyone with the attitude of “I'm right, and you're an idiot” or even “You're wrong, and here's why.” When you find yourself disagreeing with a client — even when you're sure you're right — you have to keep it from becoming a battle of who's righ t and who's wrong. You need to take a step back and deliver your message in a way that the other person wants to listen to it.

Sometimes it's even a matter of helping the other person save face — it's embarrassing and threatening for someone to realize he or she is wrong. So, it's important to create a safe environment for the other person to become more knowledgeable and perhaps even change his or her opinion. Avoiding Emotional Hooks It's easy to get upset or angry when the people you're dealing with go on the attack or annoy you in other ways, like refusing to validate your competence or insisting that their viewpoint is right. For many people, their first reaction is to push back, defend themselves, or throw up their hands and walk away. It's the fight -or -flight instinct. But once you're emotionally hooked, you are no longer objective, and your effectiveness as a consultant is diminished. That's why another important skill to adopt for yourself and to teach your staff is developing the awareness of what sti rs your most passionate emotional responses. With this self -awareness, you can avoid taking other people's words personally, stay objective, and see the situation for what it is. With one client, I was very intrigued by a development strategy that one of t he IT directors used with her staff. This is a world -renowned medical institution that deals with life -or - death issues. This director saw the value in helping her staff handle those sticky situations better. She knew that when tough situations were handled poorly, it could damage key relationships. This director regularly stages fire drills at staff meetings based on real situations encountered in the past, to let the team members practice managing their way through difficult emotional encounters. How will they react when a business unit vice president dresses them down and tells them they're a bunch of idiots who don't know what they're doing? By practicing their responses, they'll have better options and more confidence when a similar event occurs in real life. Educating without Arrogance I've heard many IT departments complain that clients don't really know what they want and that they're unable to provide a clear set of requirements. But that's akin to expecting clients to provide a blueprint of a house w hen they've never built one before. It's up to the IT professional to educate business clients on what they don't know and do it in a way the client can understand. This is also a problem for those in IT who have other IT functional areas as clients. Even within IT, we don't always speak the same language. The same words can have very different meanings. In fact, I have found this to be an even bigger challenge with IT clients because we make many more assumptions when we think we understand. First, you hav e to educate yourself on the language the client speaks and learn how to translate your knowledge in a way that works for that client. Remember that just because IT professionals tend to be analytical and linear in their thinking, not everyone else is. And just because IT professionals tend to lay out the facts in a logical way, that doesn't mean the clients will understand. You need to turn the tables around. What matters to them? What are their goals? What misperceptions do they have? Second, you have to learn how to share your knowledge and expertise without being threatening, negative, arrogant, or condescending. This often means being conscious of your word choices and tone of voice. Your goal is to help the client feel more confident, secure, and engag ed in the project. For example, what if the client is asking for changes that are outside the available time and budget constraints? The client assumes IT can work its magic and produce a system that does what he needs. The temptation might be to tell him how unrealistic his request is. But what if you helped him become a better consumer of technology by educating him on what his request entails? Then you could get down to what he's really asking for and agree to something that's close to what he wants — some thing that's “good enough.” When you do this, you're also helping to market your organization, something that's discussed in Chapter 11 . Negative stereotypes aside, marketing is simply creating an awareness of your value by educating and communicating with clients. Building Rapport Because of the time constraints facing IT departments today, many IT professionals consider it a goal to stick to the facts and minimize socializing during meetings and encounters with business clients. But what if they developed a closer relationship with the client? What kind of benefits would that provide? Consider this scenario. You arrive in a client's cubicle for a scheduled one -on -one meeting, and she's excited about an e -mail she just received with photographs from the previous weekend's celebration of her grandmother's ninetieth birthday. She invites you to have a look before you start the meeting. How would you respond? All too often, IT professionals might say, “We've got a lot to do today — can we continue with our agenda?” What a missed opportunit y! This was the perfect chance to share a personal moment with the client and thus build some rapport. I always recommend that you take your cues from the client. The bottom line is that people are much more willing to give others the benefit of the doubt if they feel a mutual connection. These encounters don't have to get touch -feely, but, for example, if you see pictures of the client's child playing soccer on the desk, why not ask a few questions about it? It will only help you in the future, especially when a project gets rocky. With some individuals, you'll need to build rapport totally around the business because you may know very little about them personally. Building rapport with individuals who are geographically dispersed requires more intentionali ty. I know many teams that send digital pictures to introduce themselves, and if someone on the team is traveling to that location, the team makes sure to schedule a time for that individual to stop in and make personal contact. When working with global cl ients, building rapport often requires even more social contact and establishment of personal relationships. How Difficult Can This Be? Like anything in life, the idea of developing consulting skills and learning to influence other people is simpler than t he reality of doing so. For one thing, it requires IT and business clients to learn about each other's areas of expertise, and it takes time to do that. Amid the pressure today to “just do it,” you may face some pushback. But in the end, it's more time - con suming to not approach things this way. One business analyst I know was struck by an experience he had outside work that really drove home this point. He and his wife wanted to add a fireplace to their home. They called three contractors, one of whom never called back and one who gave his bid over the phone. The third, however, asked if he could come to the analyst's house to meet him and his wife and see the room in which they wanted the fireplace. He drew up some sketches of different approaches, showing them what was possible, what it would involve, and the cost for each idea. In the end, his bid was higher than the phone bid, but the analyst and his wife were hooked — they felt this contractor really understood what they wanted, and they looked forward to working with him, since they had really developed a good rapport. This certainly took extra time for the contractor, but the analyst and his wife were nearly guaranteed to be satisfied with the outcome. Balancing the pressure to “just do it” and taking tim e to more clearly understand a client's needs will result in greater value. If you're not convinced, think of how your outside competition responds to your clients' requests for an IT solution — “Sure, we can do that!” — without really understanding the detail s. Another reason you may get pushback is the IT organization's previous experience with the client. Does the client have reason to trust that the organization would be a good partner, ready and able to operate as a valued consultant? If past experience ha s shown the client that working with IT takes too much time, money, and effort, then IT needs to do some reputation rebuilding. This applies even if you just joined the company and the bad experience with IT took place five years ago. Clients draw a conclu sion after one debacle. The IT department, not the particular individual in it, gets the bad reputation. For better or worse, IT walks around with whatever baggage was created by previous experience — good, bad, or indifferent. When the CIO at a firm announc ed a new organizational structure to better align the department with the business, a business executive there recounted to me, “We laughed.

We had not historically heard IT talk about the business at all — it was always about technology. So when they declar ed they wanted to be strategic business partners, we couldn't imagine it.” It took the CIO two years to establish the credibility the IT department needed to start partnering with the business. It involved building best practices, demonstrating an interest in understanding the business, and talking with the clients in their language. It's not easy starting from a position of disadvantage, but when you consider all the options, what better choice could you make? Our clients need a trusted partner to enable the business strategies that they're putting in place right now. Don't you want to be perceived as their partner of choice? Conclusion Business clients make big and small decisions every day, and for the decisions that involve technology, the clients need t o work with someone they trust, a partner who can help them sort out what they really need from what they think they want. Like a good Realtor, contractor, financial planner, or doctor, the IT professional needs to become that kind of partner — someone with both the technical expertise and the ability to apply it in ways that make him or her indispensable to the business. And indispensable is exactly what IT organizations need to be. You need to put aside any preconceived notions of what a consultant does and realize that you need to become an internal consultant yourself. Otherwise, there are plenty of external vendors and consultants who will happily do that job for you. But just like them, you can develop the skills and mind -sets to influence your clients, and by doing so you will gain the opportunity to help make decisions that are best for both the business and the IT organization. There's really no other choice for IT professionals today. You can either be the broker who lets the clients make the wrong in vestments for their needs — and never be called upon again by those clients — or you can develop the business acumen and human interaction skills that are the mark of a trusted partner. Top 10 Considerations for Evolving into the Role of Consultant • 10 . Stop ma king assumptions. Paraphrase to check your understanding. Own the communications. • 9. If you call a meeting, make it a good one. • 8. If you're not bringing enthusiasm to work, you may be draining it from others (if you don't like what you're doing, it shows). • 7. Ask good questions — uncover the issue instead of rushing in with a fix. • 6. Learn diplomacy — be respectful even when you don't agree. • 5. Deliver your message in way that others can hear it — avoid appearing arrogant and condescending. • 4. Talk about what you can do, not what you can't — clients don't want to hear excuses; they want help solving their problem. • 3. If trust breaks down, y ou need to address it head -on — ask your client what it will take to rebuild the relationship. • 2. Educate clients to be better consumers of technology — you can play a huge role in increasing their confidence in your services. • 1. When you take the position of being right, it implies someone else is wrong — or worse, an idiot. Instead, take time to listen so you can understand the other's perspective first.