Comment by ethbr0 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ethbr0 | Hacker News Reader

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> When I ask clients what went wrong with their last developer it’s usually poor communication or not understanding the business priorities

This is the secret of being "good" at consulting.

If I am a business, and I have a problem, and I bring in a consultant to solve that problem, and I have to assign one of my people to handhold the consultant through solving the problem, then I've now (1) paid for a consultant & (2) lost substantial amounts of one of my peoples time.

So I had 1 actual problem, and now I probably have 2.5 problems: paying a consultant, less productivity out of one of my people, and a half-working solution to the original problem.

As a good consultant, your job is to change that equation. Have a light footprint on other people's time & communicate clearly and concisely. Make sure you understand the actual problem, and weigh in if you're being asked to build a solution that doesn't solve it well (there may also be good reasons you aren't informed of about why it's built that way).

It's not hard. But it is specific. And trainable in yourself!

Most companies are variations on the same theme. And their dysfunctions are variations on the same problems.

"Building the solution" is table stakes. The real skillset for consulting is shadow-technical-PMing.

Remember: by definition, you're parachuting into a company that wasn't able to efficiently and effectively solve this problem themselves. So is it reasonable to expect them to tell you how to solve it? ;)

Agree completely. If you ask my customers why they keep sending work to me they will say "He answers his phone calls and emails." Woody Allen said "Eighty percent of success is showing up" and in the freelancing business "showing up" means taking calls and responding to emails from your clients. It means addressing their actual problems, and helping them solve any problem they tell you about. Sometimes that means I will refer my clients to someone in my network (and that referral skips any interviewing/proposal process, because that's how it works).

Upvoted because this is the truth.

As a consultant, don't be an administrative burden for the client, be someone that gives them a feeling they can really stop worrying about their problem or task, because a real pro now has it in hand and it will magically get solved, and they will get the correct reports so that everyone is happy etc.

Ideally you let them imagine you are much, much better than anyone they've ever worked with, by rolling with that idea and not doing anything to detract from it. It's what they want to believe from the start, so you actually have some advantage from that. E.g. you can communicate when other people would avoid doing so, which often helps a business problem anyway, and you are likely to be presumed quite authoritative, even if you're secretly reading up on the material as fast as you can between meetings.

And be straight with the client if at all possible about issues, including whether you're being asked to do the right tasks, and manage yourself as if you had a great manager and PM so they don't have to. If necessary, help with gaps in managing other people too, but gently, by making sure people know bits of information that help, and taking small initiatives as long as they help. Overall be like you are wise, insightful, helpful, and understand engineering and businesses better than anyone they could hire normally, even if it's not really true.

I have just been a problem to two of my current clients, because of a timing conflict (and being messed around in a serious way by another company). That anguishes me and I'm now in repair mode. ethbr0's advice is exactly what I will be trying to get back to, and in the spirit of "be straight with the client" I will literally tell them that I understand why they hire a consultant, that I failed and have cost them (because I really have), and what I'm doing to rectify the problem. It's likely to work out fine, because once they (all the relevant people) feel that I really understand what they need, they're likely to stop worrying and be glad that someone else is making the problem magically disappear again. It will take about 1 meeting per person and some good deliverables, and a week or so for the network of managers talking to managers to calm down, until they feel that way, but me showing understanding and an aura of "humility, integrity and leadership" usually means they go back to all the other busy things occupying their time, confident I'm "on it" again.

I agree, this should be the motto for every freelancer: "Overall be like you are wise, insightful, helpful, and understand engineering and businesses better than anyone they could hire normally, even if it's not really true."

This also works great if you are a regular employee.

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