Specialist IT consultants undoubtedly deliver significant value to their customers. Indeed, many IT projects in the UK would simply not be possible without the specific technical know-how provided by external experts. Despite this, informal criticism of the way consultants operate and the value they deliver is common within organisations large and small. For while the presence of the consultants on a customer site (and their cost) is real and tangible, the business value they deliver is not always obvious to the managers and employees around them.
A good way of addressing this ‘consultant value issue’ is to ensure that consultants’ efforts are structured and directed according to a formal Statement of Work (SoW), which forms the basis of the agreement between the consultant and the customer. A good SoW will set out in detail the services to be provided, the specific outcomes that are required, the expected duration of the assignment and the budget for completion of the work. So far, so good. But the key factor in translating this statement into actual business value is the management of the SoW assignment once it is agreed. This is where good intentions and expectations are transformed into solid business value.
The Agile movement in IT has shown how collaborative working between business managers and IT teams can steer IT projects along paths that maximise their value to the organisation. An Agile SoW approach to IT consulting can also provide a framework for collaborative working that is flexible enough to cope with changing business demands, while having the contractual rigour to ensure proper accountability for quality, timescales and costs.
Such an Agile SoW approach can best be described by these key features:
- Mutually-agreed outcomes that are realistically achievable. A SoW should be created jointly by the client stakeholders and the consulting team based on a realistic appraisal of what is required and how it is to be delivered.
- Collaborative engagement. Client stakeholders must remain fully engaged with the progress of the work, throughout the duration of the engagement. Not only does this allow them to check that the business value being produced is exactly what the organisation requires, it also enables them to communicate this value to the other parts of the organisation that are affected by the project
- Adaptable to changing business needs. As work progresses, it may become apparent that changes to the SoW are desirable in order to maximise the value delivered. These changes may be driven by a dynamic business situation that changes the organisation’s priorities, or by an awareness that the original SoW can be improved to the benefit of the business. Any changes to the SoW will be ratified by the governance process (see below) and incorporated into an updated SoW
- Effective governance framework. Regular formal reviews of progress (e.g. every 2 or 4 weeks) against the SoW enable both consultants and client stakeholders tomonitor the progress of the work against the agreed deliverables, quality standards, timescales and budgets. These regular governance meetings will formally review the work completed to date and either accept it, thereby approving the consultant’s invoice, or propose remedial action such as further work to improve quality. These governance meetings will also consider requests from client stakeholders or consultants to amend the SoW and approve or deny them.
Managing consulting assignments according to Statements of Work gives client organisations a formal framework for ensuring proper value is delivered by external consultants. Basing their approach on Agile principles allows them to maximise this value by ensuring the work carried out remains closely aligned with the organisation’s business needs and priorities.