Mastering,the,Management,Consu business, insurance Mastering the Management Consulting Project Timeline

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A project timeline is a central component in any good projectmanagement strategy. But as many management consultants have learnedthe hard way, creating and sticking to a timeline is not as easy as itsounds. Depending on the type of consulting engagement, many projectelements – from people to technology to operational and market factors-- can generate unexpected complications and delays, quickly throwing aproject off-track.Regardless, a project timeline is animportant early step in time management planning and a necessaryproject management tool for educating your client and keeping yourproject on schedule and on budget. Whatever your consulting projectentails, a detailed timeline enables a management consultant to:• Give your client prompt, accurate status reports regarding what tasks are completed, due or behind schedule;• Track your progress toward project goals, and determine whether you’re coming out on-target or behind in terms of payment;• Identify potential setbacks and resolve them before they cause delays;•Alert your client earlier to any potential delays – before they put theproject behind and create liability for you as a management consultant;• Invoice your client as project milestones are attained; and• Monitor how long project components actually take, so you can better estimate time required for future projects.Developing timelinesAtfirst, developing reliable timelines can be a challenge. If you’ve everstarted a consulting project with a schedule in hand, only to encountersetbacks that push your project off-schedule, committing to a timelinemay feel like an exercise in futility.But even if your timelineis just a rough estimate, it is still a useful tool for time managementplanning. It gives your client a visual aid for understanding how theproject will flow, and demonstrates that you have a clear vision of thesteps that need to happen to achieve specific project milestones. And,it can protect you against management consulting liability by helpingyou educate your client about the impact of potential project delaysthat are beyond your control.To begin, talk to your client todefine the major project milestones that must be accomplished duringthe course of the project. Use these milestones as the building blocksof your project timeline. Then, consider the steps that must take placeto get from point A to point B, C, D and so on – and the logical orderin which each step must be completed.Think about what task mustbe accomplished in order to begin the next. If multiple tasks can beaccomplished at the same time, chart them in parallel. If completingone task involves multiple sub-tasks, it may need a small timeline ofits own.When estimating the necessary time to accomplish eachstep, talk to the people who will be involved, and realisticallyconsider the amount of time each person can commit to the project.Clearly define any project components for which the client’s teammembers are responsible, and set deadlines for accomplishing thosetasks. Involve the stakeholders in setting these dates, and gain theircommitment that they can meet the deadlines.As you continue toemploy timelines to track your projects, it will become easier tocreate future project timelines. Continually tracking your progressagainst your timelines gives you historical project management datathat will help you estimate the time required for future managementconsulting projects.Sticking to TimelinesOne wayto help ensure that you stick to your timeline is to build in a littleextra wiggle room. For example, you might decide to develop twotimelines: one for your own use, with more optimistic deadlines, andanother, with later deadlines that you share with your client. Then,when you hit your own internal deadlines, you actually come out aheadof schedule in the client’s eyes. This project management method helpscompensate for less-than-perfect estimates and unexpected events.Anotherproject management technique is to simply build a little extra buffertime into your schedule – particularly in areas where you suspect thatyour assumptions and estimations could potentially be off.If atany point you find yourself falling behind schedule, look at the taskscoming up, and see if there is any way to dedicate time or resources tothem early, so that you can make up for lost time later in the project.Creatinga realistic schedule often means that committed delivery dates willland farther out than your client would prefer. However, a practicalproject timeline demonstrates that you’ve considered everything it willtake to get the job done right, and makes it more likely that you’llaccomplish what you’ve committed to.Stay FlexibleNomatter how hard you try to keep a project on track, the fact is, thereare situations when you’ll need to adapt your project timeline.Itusually happens when you or other team members run into something youdidn’t expect, such as an insurmountable technical glitch, budget cuts,operational restructuring or personnel turnover. It can also happenwhen client priorities shift mid-stream due to changing marketplaceconditions, or when the client realizes that what they’ve asked forrepresents just a small part of a larger goal.In these cases,you and all other project stakeholders must be willing alter yourexpectations and commitments. As the management consultant, considerthe impact the changes will have on the time required to accomplish theproject’s goals, and adapt your timeline accordingly. Any time you makea change, be sure to promptly inform everyone involved in the projectof what has changed, and why.By creating a realistic projecttimeline, and tracking progress against it as part of an overallproject management strategy, you’re more likely to keep your managementconsulting project on-time and on-budget. Even if you fall behind, atimeline gives you a convenient and impressive tool for keeping yourclient informed of progress and the reasons for any delays. And aneducated and informed client is more likely to be a loyal client.