Communication for

Consultants

Communication for
Consultants
Rita R. Owens
Carroll School of Management,
Boston College

Communication for Consultants

Copyright Business Expert Press, LLC, 2016.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
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First published in 2016 by
Business Expert Press, LLC
222 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017
www.businessexpertpress.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-63157-377-4 (paperback)
ISBN-13: 978-1-63157-378-1 (e-book)
Business Expert Press Corporate Communication Collection
Collection ISSN: 2156-8162 (print)
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First edition: 2016
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Printed in the United States of America.

Dave and Andy, my two great consultants

Abstract
From the moment of their first client engagement, consultants in all
fields face communication opportunities and challenges. No matter what
their focus may beprofessional services, accounting, technology, operations, human resources, manufacturing, or marketingconsultants drive
change. That change, from its initial definition through its development
and deployment, must be precisely communicated to a variety of audiences and through a variety of mediums.
Most business communication books do a good job leading professional writers and presenters through the basics of audience, organization,
formatting, and mechanics. But, only few focus on a specific business
role, such as that of a consultant, and give guidance for communicating
during all stages of a project. From the pre-engagement process, to the
actual engagement, to the post-engagement follow-up, consultants are
challenged by the variety of audiences whose roles continually shift
throughout a project.
This book guides a current or would-be consultant through the various
phases of a typical engagement and gives practical advice and direction
on written and oral communication throughout a project. Current and
future consultants in all fields will gain specific knowledge about writing
and presenting to a variety of audiences including clients, team members,
managers, and executives.

Keywords
business communication, business correspondence, business etiquette,
business writing, consulting, e-mails, engagements, meetings, presentations, proposals, reports

Contents
Disclaimerxi
Prefacexiii
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction xvii
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Key Considerations for Consultants1

Pre-Engagement Communication15
Engagement Communication49
Post-Engagement Communication91

Appendix A107
Appendix B111
Notes113
References115
Index117

Disclaimer
All persons, places, projects, and companies appearing in this work are
fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons or entities, living or dead, is purely
coincidental.

Preface
Ive wanted to write this book for many years. Its a combination of my
experiences as a consultant and as a business communication instructor.
Having been an external and internal consultant in several organizations,
Ive always been fascinated with the clientconsultant relationship and
how it manifests through communication. When I was a new consultant
years ago, I had little advance knowledge or direction about how I should
communicate with my clients. I was young and thought I could conquer
the world. Fortunately, I had good common sense, but I also made my
share of mistakes. Sometimes I said or wrote too little; most of the time
Isaid too much. I always wished I had a book to help me bridge the communication gaps between my customer and me. This is that book.
Ive written this book for those of you who call yourselves consultants or are about to become one. You come in many flavors. Some of
you are management consultants. Many of you are internal consultants
challenged by interdepartmental exchanges. Others are business analysts
overseeing implementations at client sites. You work for large firms and
small companies. Many of you work for yourselves. What you share is the
incredible challenge of helping a client advance. I hope this books helps
you succeed and that your excellent communications lead the way.

Acknowledgments
Thanks to my family and friends who continually support me in all I do.
I am very appreciative of the many consultants and clients who shared
their insights, stories, and advice over the course of this project. Special
thanks go to the Boston College Carroll School of Management for
welcoming me and especially to Dean Andy Boynton whose focus on
teaching excellence has made a significant impact on my career. I also
happily acknowledge my Boston College business communication students; their intelligence and curiosity energize me every day.
I owe the books outcome to many but especially to Debbie DuFrene,
my patient editor, and to Rosie Gonzalez, my research assistant. For her
expert review, guidance, and encouragement, I am beyond grateful to
Professor Mary Cronin of Boston College. Many thanks to Lisa Bruni
and Cristina Mirshekari, great colleagues and friends, who so generously
reviewed my work and gave me spot-on feedback.
Finally, I want to acknowledge the late Dr. Frank B. Campanella, my
amazing mentor. His legacy continues to inspire and motivate me.

Introduction
Why This Book?
Consultants in any practice need excellent communication skills or they
will fail. There is no question that the most important skill for a consultant is to be able to communicate clearly and effectively. Of course, it is
important to be able to manage people and projects, to be able to oversee
technology and its implementation, and to drive change, but success with
any of these is based on solid communication. The goal of this book is
to help consultants and would-be consultants focus on effective communication methodologies that support their own success and that of their
clients.
The very nature of being a consultant puts us in the role of an expert.
As a consultant we take on the role of someone whom others look to. We
give advice, we give direction, we give approval, we make change, we correct problems, we forge new direction, we alter the past, and we make way
for the future. In some respects, we set ourselves up to be people whom
others want to emulate. We are in the position to sell services, projects,
and ideas; we lead projects, troubleshoot, mediate, manage, and direct.
Our roles are so diverse, and we balance all of this interaction with both
internal and external clients and colleagues. The only way to meet these
varied expectations is through excellent business communication.
Of course, we all know that much of a consultants output is in writing or oral presentations, and this output is exactly what the client is
paying us for. We produce the blueprint. That is our product. It needs to
be accurate, clear, and precise. And while this might sound obvious, it is
often overlooked as a priority because of our competing demands during
an engagement. Beyond this, intercultural and remote communications
have increased our challenges exponentially; so, we should carefully reflect
on our skills.
The key characteristic of excellent business writing is to focus on the
relationship with the audience and its needs. Yet, in a consulting situation,

xviii INTRODUCTION

that audience role and relationship continues to change and morph as a

project develops. For example, the manager to whom we may initially sell
consulting services might become the key partner with whom we work
very closely to mobilize our own team and perhaps that of the manager.
So, we first walk in as a stranger and very quickly turn into the colleague,
yet this does not change our relationship with the people to whom we are
writing or presenting. Relationships are a key area we explore in this text.
Most great consultants are successful not only because they are talented and insightful but also because they use good judgment. They know
how to manage professional relationships, be discreet, and still be collegial with a client. The knack of balancing multiple roles throughout an
engagement and being able to communicate professionally is tricky and
deserves our careful examination.
Audience needs dictate our communication. They control our tone,
our format, the length of our piece, what information we include and
exclude, what medium we use, and even how we send or deliver our
message. In this text we explore a variety of business communication
strategies and outputs that we typically develop for our clients during an
engagements lifecycle. We do this with an eye on the shifting relationship
with our audience and how it controls and influences what we write and
present.

Who Will Benefit from This Book?

Whether you are already consulting and stepping inside of someone elses
territory or aspiring to do that, this book is for you. It provides information and methodology to help you become more successful as an independent consultant or as a consultant working for a large firm. The material is
also relevant for professionals who have an internal consulting role within
their company or institution. Whether youre in school and considering a
consulting career or youve been consulting for many years, the information and methodology here will help you become more successful.
Much of what we discuss applies to all professional workplace communication. However, this book especially focuses on those engagements
where we enter a clients workspace in a very intimate way and become
part of that clients family. We will explore ways to avoid pitfalls and

 INTRODUCTION
xix

to deliver an effective, clear, and appropriate message throughout an

engagement.
In school we learn to write or present for one audiencea teacher
or professor. Of course that person knows our material, sometimes even
better than we do. We rarely learn to write to a client, employee, or senior
manager, let alone to one of these with a particular need related to what
we have to say. That might include, for example, the disgruntled client,
the employee were trying to retain, or the misinformed senior manager.
Yet, as consultants these varying client situations make up the audiences
with whom we must communicate in order to succeed.

Whats in the Book?

You will find much practical advice for someone beginning a consulting
career or brushing up after many engagements. The book covers a variety
of communication forms, but especially those in written form. It provides
scenarios and examples organized around communication challenges that
youre likely to encounter before, during, and after an engagement. We
will dissect standard professional services engagements and their deliverables as consultants encounter them. And we will look at many of the
deliverables and provide practical examples for those who consult. We
will explore business communication with the unique view of the shifting client relationship throughout the pre-engagement, engagement, and
post-engagement phases.

CHAPTER 1

Key Considerations
forConsultants
You and Your Audience
The Uniqueness of Communicating as a Consultant
When we enter a new consulting engagement, our audienceour client,
welcomes us; but there is also natural tension in this relationship. Our
clients or key stakeholders are the internals and we are the externals,
the consultants. As mentioned in the introduction of this text, the relationship among consultants and clients evolves over time. We hope this
happens in a positive way, but sometimes it does not. How does communication impact our relationship development? Well, communication is
literally our word and the client will go back to that word over and over
again. In the best scenario we go back to documentation to ensure that
the work after an engagement follows the original mission or vision. In
the worst scenario, the documentation becomes the detail that we may
dispute once the engagement is over.
Effective communication is important throughout business. Its
the basis upon which we conduct business. We dont communicate for
entertainment or self-aggrandizement. For consultants, exceptionalcommunication must be the standard. Anything a consultant writes or
presents becomes part of the contract deliverable. It determines whether
a relationship, a project, or an engagement succeeds or fails. It is not to
be taken lightly.
Recently I spoke to a partner at a large consulting firm, and he shared
an example illustrating how communications can go especially wrong for

COMMUNICATION FOR CONSULTANTS

a consultant. He related a story about a small team working with a client

and that clients sudden dissatisfaction with the project.
Seemingly out of nowhere, the senior consulting manager on the project received a scathing e-mail from the client expressing that the team was
not capable of carrying out the tasks at hand. The client felt that the team
was too junior and not well equipped. The senior manager and his partner
decided the best course of action would be to meet with the client face to
face. When they did, they learned that the client really wasnt unhappy
with the teams work but actually with its communication. The client felt
that the team was driving to recommendations without including him
and was actually sidestepping him. He felt the project was heading in
a direction that sought to destroy the department he had created. As it
turned out, the analyst in charge of the project team was so keen to complete the documentation and design work required to move the project
forward that he and his team simply forgot to slow down and include the
client in their communication.1
This example serves to emphasize the critical problem of consultant/
client miscommunication. As consultants we are often completely driven
to produce the final deliverable and often with the best of intentions. Our
work is billable, and we want to be as efficient as possible. Its easy for us
to forget that there are other people in the mix, particularly our clients.
Two critical communication-related issues emerge from the preceding
example. First, the consulting executives had the sense to know that replying to the e-mail would not really get to the heart of the problem, and
perhaps an informal approach would even inflame the situation. They
knew that a face-to-face meeting, rather than a quick e-mail reply, was
necessary to understand what was actually going on. Second, the executives knew that the complaints in the e-mail might not represent the issue
at hand. In the meeting, they learned that the client actually felt alienated
from the project.
Lets review the two takeaways from the example and how they connect to this uniqueness of communication within consulting:
1. Keep your audience (your clients) foremost in mind when working
and communicating with them. The absence of communication is as
significant as what you actually write and present.

Key Considerations forConsultants 3

2. Be very deliberate about using appropriate mediums, especially

when handling a difficult situation. Dont write or call when you
need to meet.

What Characterizes the Consulting Role and Why

Exceptional Communication Is So Important
As consultants, we produce deliverables that are reviewed and considered
expert. Most of the time these deliverables are in the form of written communication, which is followed by or preceded by oral communication.
The bottom line is that our output can be a piece of communication.
Often, the product in consulting is our intellectual capital expressed in
a communication. For example, when we complete an organizational
redesign we offer a written plan with recommendations for implementation. Of course, a good plan or analysis helps a client actually implement
that new organization, but the plan itself is what the consultant creates
and delivers. In essence, its what our client is buying. And these plans
we produce, whether they are multiple-page documents or PowerPoint
presentations, become permanent artifacts for the client. Long after the
consultant is gone the artifact lives on, and it often becomes the basis of
a clients strategic vision.
Our communication must be clear. It must meet its objectives. It must
stand the test of time. It must be logical. More than anything, itmust be
audience-focused.

Consultant Communication General Assumptions

andGuidelines
Communicating as a consultant demands rigorous attention to detail and
a commitment to excellent business writing and presentation standards.
Polished Professional Delivery
As noted above, our communication is our product so it must be as close
to perfect as we can achieve. Frankly there is no room for error when a
consultant communicates.

COMMUNICATION FOR CONSULTANTS

Many years ago, a technology consultant told a story that stuck with
me. This particular consultant was just about to close on a very important contract. In the final stages of the negotiations, when things were
going very well and it appeared that the consultant would seal the deal,
one small error made a tremendous difference in the outcome. This small
business consultant had been able to win the deal over some very large
competing companies. He had been able to overcome the typical obstacles of representing a small business. A polished orator, the consultant was
able to convince the client that his small company would do the best job.
A final meeting was organized, and the night before the meeting the
consultant hastily wrote some product sheets to solidify what would be
delivered. The next morning at the meeting, the client appeared and surprisingly announced he had decided not to enter into the contract. As it
turned out, he had read those final product briefs the night before and
found a spelling error. The word successfully had been misspelled multiple times. All the clients fears about working with a small company came
to bear upon his final decision. His last words to the consultant were, We
thought, what kind of a person would we be dealing with if he cant spell
simple words?
Of course, years later in our world with spellchecking tools we cant
imagine spelling prohibiting our success. However, its very easy to overlook critical editing especially when were multitasking and responding
too quickly; and its important to know that it matters.
General Assumptions
Before we begin to analyze our writing, lets review some overall general
assumptions and guidelines relevant to consultant writing and presenting:
Consultants communicate to conduct business. That is the
overarching reason for our communication. We dont communicate to show what we know, but we communicate to
respond to the client audience needs at a particular moment
in time.
Consultant communication is very different from the kind of
communication we write personally or in school. Our tone,

Key Considerations forConsultants 5

our language, what we include, what we exclude, and more

are completely determined by the value proposition for the
audience, the client.
The essence of consultant communications is relationship
building. We must choose the appropriate medium, depending on the situation and the clients needs.
Consultant communication is part of the permanent record of
activities between a consultant and the client. It must be created and produced at the highest professional level possible.
Consultants typically communicate within a specified time
period and often with a firm deadline. Consultant communication is either written or presented, typically under much
pressure of time or circumstance. This pressure puts us at
increased risk of producing unrefined communication, but we
must do everything we can to avoid that.
The success of a project depends on excellent communication;
therefore our communication is critical and costly.
Consultant communication often follows a template or a
particular protocol. Many large corporations minimize their
risk of communication problems by providing a template, but
great consultants are equipped to go it alone.
Consultant communication might be facilitated in a classic
style or in a contemporary mode. All consultants should be
proficient in English usage and traditional models, but we
must also be adept with modern social media and digital
communication options.
Consultant communication is professional in appearance,
format, and style.
At all times, and in all communication, we must approach
our client with great consideration and respect. The best way
to ensure this happens is to consider all communication as an
integral part of conducting business. Too often, our written
communications and our presentations are afterthoughts.
They often follow the real work we have done, so we dont
consider them critical to our success. Nothing could be
further from the truth.

COMMUNICATION FOR CONSULTANTS

But beyond having well formatted, grammatically correct materials,

what should our communications entail? Lets review the attributes, mediums, and techniques commonly found in good business communication.
What It Sounds Like
There is a particular tone to a business letter or presentation. After all,
we are conducting business, not writing or presenting creative material.
Often, we presume that if were writing or presenting on an important
matter that we must take on an air of sophistication and intellectualism.
We think our sentences and vocabulary must sound academic because of
the nature of the topic. Actually, the reality is quite the opposite. Business
communication is the byproduct of conducting business; it is not itself
the business. So we must focus on presenting clearly, even if that means
we are more blunt than were typically comfortable being.
Consider these characteristics of good consulting communication:
Messages are sharp, crisp, and to the point
Not This: After much analysis, we are requesting that you consider
changing your business practices to allow for more advanced customer
relations management technology.
But This: We recommend you purchase a customer relations management system.
Messages are precise
Not This: There are a lot of problems with the current e-mail server
that must be addressed.
But This: We have found seven e-mail server issues that need attention.
Sentences are in the active voice
Not This: Final reports will be distributed to the clients by the consulting team.
But This: The consulting team will distribute final reports to the clients.
Language is professional
Not This: Were kind of worried about a lot of the accounting practices weve found.
But This: We have some concerns about many of the accounting
practices we have encountered.

Key Considerations forConsultants 7

What It Looks Like

Beyond using an appropriate style and tone, choosing the right communication medium and format is important. We determine what medium
and format we use based on our purpose, the audiences disposition,
and the circumstances surrounding the communication. Well review
this when we develop our audience analysis later in this chapter. But to
give you a general sense of what business communication looks like, lets
review the following:
Established business protocols can determine the look.
Formal business letters, memoranda, e-mails, texts, slide presentations, face-to-face meetings, and virtual meetings each
prescribe a particular approach.
Sentences tend to be short and direct. Paragraphs are short,
too, and they are typically left justified, single spaced, with
double spacing in between.
Charts, graphs, and other visuals complement text.
Headings are used to guide the audience toward particular
topics.
Bullet points are used to make the material easily read and
digestible.

The Communication Creation Process

In all our communication we must be acutely aware of our audience; our
goal is to make comprehension easy for the reader or listener. People cant
afford to waste time unnecessarily on reading and meeting, so writing and
presenting must be succinct, clear, and to the point. In other words, we
must be time and effort conscious.
Electronic delivery of materials, via e-mail especially, has eroded many
of our established business communication standards. Of course, we all
embrace the ability to communicate rapidly with one another, but this
immediate interaction does create challenges. For example, before e-mail,
we would craft a report or proposal on paper and it would be delivered
with the daily mail. Our client might set aside time to read that mail and
give the report or proposal and all its elements his or her full attention.

COMMUNICATION FOR CONSULTANTS

Today, many of our executive clients average 100 or more e-mails per
day; the management of the inbox in itself has become a chore. So, when
we attach large reports to those e-mails, they can easily be overlooked or
ignored. Because of the technology shift, it has become increasingly more
important to choose the appropriate medium and format when communicating. We can no longer take for granted that our client has the luxury
of time to read lengthy documents.
Howard Weinberg, retired principal at Deloitte Consulting, recently
gave me some great advice on this matter. When discussing his concerns
about consultant communications, he cited the problems that result
when we focus on our own interests rather than on those of the audience.
When I asked Mr. Weinberg what his greatest pet peeve was about business communicators, heres what he said:
Not thinking through the value to the audiencewhy is this a
really good use of their time? Functional value (what can they do
with the information), social value (others see them as important
because they are involved/informed), emotional (learn something
new thats valuable/interesting). Like the real estate rule about
location, location, location it is about value, value, value of
each element of the communication for the audience. Just because
you are proud of it, think its cool, or it is a fact about our project
is no reason to communicate it.2
The best way to ensure that our communication is audience-focused
is to begin with an analysis of audience needs and how to provide that
value, value, value.

Audience Analysis Methodology

Whenever we write or present, we assume that our letter, memo, e-mail,
report, proposal, or slide presentation will be read or heard. However,
this isnt a realistic assumption since we are not in control of our audience and in no way can predict whether they will actually read or understand what weve presented to them. The best way to increase our chances
of being heard is to put ourselves in our audiences shoes and craft our

Key Considerations forConsultants 9

communication from their perspective. We are usually quite fixated on

what we want to say, but we need to be more focused on what the audience needs to hear.
Audience Analysis: Responding to Messages and Queues
To ensure our communication is successful, we should pause for 10 seconds, or at times 10 minutes, and conduct an audience analysis that will
guide our communication. But most of us dont think to do this. Interestingly, were usually quite skilled at outlining our communication because
we are taught that in school. But if you think about it, our obsession to
outline well is a result of our interest in presenting what we know, not
necessarily what our audience needs. We are typically so caught up in
saying or writing something that we forget why were even doing that
and how it will be received. In essence, this is the crux of why audience
analysis is so important. All of the decisions we make about our communication flow from our audiences perspective.
Traditionally, business communication guidelines advise us to focus
on audience analysis by identifying and determining some situational elements in advance of our written or spoken output. We might, for example, decide what tone we should write in and what format we should
employ. But when working as a consultant, it is so critical to accurately
assess a clients needs that we must consider a wide range of audience
particulars to help guide our communication.
Situation > Product > Delivery
At the highest level, three elements control audience analysis in consultancy communication. Before we prepare our communication, its critical
that we analyze the conditions surrounding our audience analysis so we
can best interact with our client. We must identify the situation we find
ourselves and our client in, which will lead us to the output, or product,
we will produce, which will direct us to the medium, or delivery we will
use. This may seem like a daunting task, but taking a few minutes to
scope out communication gives us the confidence that we will produce
excellent output.

10

COMMUNICATION FOR CONSULTANTS

Here are the overall conditions you should consider as you prepare
your communications.
Situation: Value, Purpose, Message, Directive, Relationship, Climate
and Culture, Deadline
Product: Wrapper, Content, Organization, Tone, Language, Length
Delivery: Virtual (e-mail, text), Physical (paper), Meeting, Multiple
Lets review these three major condition criteria for client audience
analysis, their supporting details, and interdependencies.
Situation
This is the most critical of the three criteria because it is the situation we
find ourselves in that directs and motivates us to communicate in the
first place. When we evaluate situation we pay particular attention to our
clients needs and our own. We also survey the environment surrounding
our communication to determine the conditions under which we are creating it. As you scope situation, consider the following:
Value: What does this client want or need from your communication? Whats the value to him/her/them? Is this an engagement-critical matter or an everyday matter? Does the audience
have the time or motivation to devote to this communication
in the way you present it? Value to the client is why we write
or present. Put yourself in this persons place and understand
what he or she needs and wants from the communication.
Purpose: Why have you actually chosen to communicate?
What do you want or need out of this? Are you inquiring,
applying, informing, reporting, proposing, rejecting, or
denying? Purpose often relates to specific protocols in business
communication.
Message: What kind of message are you transmitting? Good
news? Bad news? Message directly relates to your tone and, in
some cases, to protocols surrounding how a piece is organized.
Directive: Has the client asked for this, or have you just
decided to communicate on your own? Are you being reactive

Key Considerations forConsultants 11

or proactive to a situation? The directive controls how much

you might include and exclude as background.
Relationship: What is your relationship with the reader?
Is she a partner at the client site? Is she your internal team
leader? And what is that persons predisposition to the topic?
Is the audience neutral, nervous, or excited about the topic?
Have there been any volatile matters between you and the
client preceding this communication? Relationship can drive
tone, content, format, language, and delivery.
Climate and Culture: Are there methods and modes of
communication at the client site that you should be aware
of? Will your communication create problems at the client
site? Should you adjust your typical mode of communication
to suit the client culture? Climate and culture have an impact
on what you include and exclude as well as whom you even
choose to receive your communication.
Deadline: When does the communication need to reach the
client in order for it to be effective? What is the best time
to send this communication? Is there an actual deadline for
this within the project plan? Deadline drives when you must
complete the communication. It can also influence what the
best time is to actually communicate.
Product
Once youve considered those elements in situation, the actual product
youll produce becomes much clearer. You know what both your client and you need from the communication, so youre now prepared to
think through what the actual communication will look like, what it will
include or exclude, what it will sound like, how it will be organized, and
how long it will be.
You should now be ready to make decisions involving the following:
Wrapper: Whats the best way to actually wrap the communication? Should you write a memorandum, a business letter,
a freestanding report? Is there a template the client prefers?
Should you communicate this in person at a client m
eeting,

12

COMMUNICATION FOR CONSULTANTS

or is sending an e-mail update sufficient and preferred?

Depending on the situation, you should be able to determine
the preferred wrapper.
Content: Depending on the purpose and value, you can now
determine what your content should be. Of course, content
depends very much on the particular business at hand. Generally speaking, however, the situation should help guide you
as you construct your content. How much detail should you
include based on the situation? Does the content add value for
the client? Is your purpose clear based on the content? Do you
handle the relationship appropriately? Does the treatment of
content mirror the clients culture and climate?
Organization: Regardless of the wrapper you choose, you
must decide which method of organization to use. Should
you present your ideas from the least to the most important
or most important to least importance? Does it make more
sense to organize sequentially or chronologically? The situation, most importantly value and purpose, contribute significantly to this decision.
Tone: How you sound in client communication is so important. Do you want to come across as confident? Careful?
Considerate? Authoritative? Demanding? Conciliatory?
Reflecting on situation should guide your tone.
Language: Similar to tone, the language you use is directly
related to the relationship you have with the client and the
climate and culture you find yourself in. Should your language
be formal or informal? Does the audience understand the type
of language you are using? Are you writing or presenting in
the active voice so youre best understood?
Length: The situation should also inform the length of the
communication. This may seem obvious, but it isnt always.
You want to write as much as the situation warrants, no more
or less. Just because you have a great deal of information on a
topic doesnt mean you should write or present it all. Be acutely
aware of the value to the client. Is this a two- to three-paragraph
written piece? Can you best make your case in under 10 slides?

Key Considerations forConsultants 13

Delivery
By this point, youve defined and made preliminary decisions about the
characteristics of the product. Now you can address the actual delivery
mechanism you will use to communicate your message. Consider the following delivery modes and their idiosyncrasies:
Virtual: Most of what we transact these days is delivered via
e-mail or text messages. But is the wrapper youve selected
easily read within an e-mail on a mobile or computer device?
Does the situation call for a piece that needs special formatting, visuals, or other elements not conducive to online viewing? Should the piece be attached to the e-mail in a mode that
ensures formatting will stay intact? Is online viewing actually
preferred because youve included video, links to websites,
and other electronic materials? Is the conversational flow of
text messages appropriate for a professional communication?
Situation should guide you in these decisions, especially as it
relates to value and climate and culture.
Physical: Sometimes the best mode of delivery is still paper.
This doesnt necessarily mean you send a paper report via a
postal service, but it does mean that the best way to communicate is for someone to read a written document. You often
need a written document if you want a physical signature on a
communication. More often, however, you may want special design elements to be in place that are not conducive to
reading on a screen. Beyond these practicalities, some clients
still have a climate and culture that fosters paper documents.
Answering these critical questions will help you identify the
best delivery mode: How does your client transmit communications internally? Will your wrapper be best presented on
paper? Even if you deliver your product via e-mail, can it be
easily printed while retaining its format and distributed if the
client chooses to do so?
Meeting: You must also consider if a meeting is the best way
to present your product. The situation will drive this more
than anything. Is it more valuable to the client to receive this

14

COMMUNICATION FOR CONSULTANTS

information in person, perhaps with an opportunity to discuss

it immediately? Does a meeting guarantee that your purpose
is more likely to be achieved? Should the meeting be face-toface, technology assisted, one-on-one, or in a group? All of
these decisions flow from situation and its various elements
including value, purpose, message, directive, relationship, climate
and culture, and deadline.
(For a summary of best practices in delivery modes, see
Appendix B, Delivery Modes by Communication Type.)
Good audience analysis sets us up for communication success. As
weve discussed, there are many elements to consider before we even begin
to write or present. As consultants, every communication is critical to our
success. Its critical to survey the landscape before we write or present.
Once weve done that, we can confidently turn to the types of products
and delivery modes we encounter in the pre-engagement, engagement,
and post-engagement phases of a project.

Index
active listening, 26
add-on services sales letters, 92,
103106
agreements, 18
anxiety, 23
audience analysis, 814
delivery, 1314
elements controlling, 914
post-engagement, 9597
pre-engagement, 2631
product, 1112
responding to messages and
queques, 9
situation, 1011
avoidance, 2223
bad news messages, 7275
business communication, iii
audience-focused, 814
during engagement environments,
5758
guidelines, 9
negative emotions and attitudes
impacts, 2124
relationship development and, 1
style and tone of, 7
business correspondence, iii
business etiquette, iii
business writings, iii, 37
general assumptions, 46
medium and format for, 46
polished professional delivery, 34
client
concerns and desires, 2728
engagement environments, 5657
expectations and assumptions,
2021
negative emotions and attitudes,
2124
post-engagement environment,
9495

pre-engagement environment,
2024
climate and culture, 11
communication creation process, 78
communication plans, 51
company templates, 20
Computerworld, 35
consultants
business communication as, 13
critical problem of, 2
engagement environments, 55
listening skills, 2628
oral communication of, 3
post-engagement environment, 94
pre-engagement environment, 1920
consulting, iii
content, 13
contract, 18
correspondence and documentation,
9293
deadline, 11
delivery, 109
as element of audience analysis,
1314
meeting, 1314
physical, 13
virtual, 13
modes by communication type,
111112
directive, 1011
documentation, 1617, 9293
early engagement communication,
5152
e-mails, iii, 2, 52
engagements, iii, 1
audience analysis, 6064
communication, 5053
early, 5152
executive meetings, presentations
and minutes, 53

118 Index

investigative reports, 53
milestone, 53
project formal reports, 53
routine ongoing, 52
environments, 5460
client, 5657
communication during, 5758
communication tips for new
consultants, 5860
consultant, 55
positive side of, 57
shifting from pre-engagement to,
5657
instructions, 7578
phase, 4950
sample communications, 6489
instructions, 7578
investigative reports, 8389
progress reports, 7883
project vision statements, 6466
routine e-mail exchanges, 6671
significant bad news messages,
7275
expectations and assumptions, 2021
fear of change, 2122
impatience, 2324
investigative reports, 53
engagement sample
communications, 8389
lack of understanding, 23
language, 13
length, 13
letter of inquiry, 1617
listening skills
consultants, 2628
meeting delivery modes, 13
meeting minutes, 1819, 4447
meetings, iii, 1819
message, 10
milestone communications, 53
mistrust, 22
multiple audiences, 2425
multiple representatives, 2526

NDA. See non-disclosure agreement

negative emotions and attitudes,
2124
anxiety, 23
avoidance, 2223
fear of change, 2122
impatience, 2324
lack of understanding, 23
mistrust, 22
resentment, 24
skepticism, 22
non-disclosure agreement (NDA), 18
oral communication, 3, 19
organization, 13
physical delivery modes, 13
post-engagement
audience analysis, 9597
communication, 9293
environment, 9395
client, 9495
consultants, 94
phase, 9192
sample communications, 97106
add-on services sales letter,
103106
post implementation review
client report, 98103
post-implementation
presentations and reports, 93
review (PIR) client report, 93,
98103
PowerPoint presentations, 3
Pratt, Mary, 35
pre-engagement
audience analysis, 2631
communication, 1619
environment, 1924
clients in, 2024
consultants in, 1920
phase, 15
sample communications, 3147
meeting minutes, 4447
project introduction
presentation, 4043
sales/proposal letter, 3135
statement of work, 3540

 Index 119

preliminary correspondence and

documentation, 1617
letter of inquiry, 1617
product specifications, 17
proposals, 17
requests for information, 17
requests for proposals, 17
sales letter, 17
presentations, iii, 1819
PowerPoint, 3
product
as element of audience analysis,
1112
content, 13, 109
language, 13, 109
length, 13, 109
organization, 13, 109
tone, 13, 109
wrapper, 1213, 108
specifications, 17
progress reports, 7883
engagement sample
communications, 7883
project
completion letters, 92
documentation, 112
formal reports, 53
introduction, 19, 4043
plan completion, 93
plans, 18, 51
vision statements, 52, 6466
proposals, iii, 17
purpose, 10

relationship, 11
reports, iii
requests for information, 17
requests for proposals, 17
resentment, 24
routine e-mail exchanges, 6671
sales/proposal letter, 17, 3135
add-on services, 103106
guidelines for writing, 32
situation, as element of audience
analysis, 1011
climate and culture, 11, 108
deadline, 11, 108
directive, 1011, 108
message, 10, 107
purpose, 10, 107
relationship, 11, 108
value, 10, 107
skepticism, 22
statement of work (SOW), 18, 3540
team introduction, 51
team operating procedures, 51
tone, 13
value, 10
virtual delivery modes, 13
wooing period, 19
wrapper, 1213
written communication, 19