Project Management Consulting
Businesses conduct projects all the time, but not always the same kind of project. A typical business seldom needs to perform a massive staff-reduction project, hopefully. So the full-time staff of most businesses does not include a dedicated, highly trained specialist in every sort of project management. For particular types of projects, many firms turn to project management consulting firms.
Project management consultants are specialists in the techniques and tools of project management. They are also adept at quickly learning all about a given company's environment and project needs. Project management consultants can bring much-needed discipline, organization, objectivity, and experience to any project that a company needs to undertake and complete effectively. Choosing the right project management consulting firm is a project in itself, and one that should conducted meticulously.
Begin with the type of expertise you need: construction project management consulting, software engineering project management consulting, human resources project management consulting, etc. You may look first to the Big Five general management consulting firms, each of which has divisions within it that specialize in various subcategories of project management consulting. But that may not get you the best project manager consulting you could have.
Big firms with lots of fine subdivisions have insatiable staffing needs. If a big firm has dozens of sub-specialties, it must hire hundreds of project management staffers. Often, it ends up with many junior employees and just a handful of highly experienced "front men" who appear before clients. The seasoned veteran you signed a deal with is probably not the person who is actually going to work on your project. So many firms seeking project management consulting services turn to smaller boutique consulting firms.
Whichever approach you take, make sure you spend the time and effort to thoroughly investigate the experience, references, methodology, training, and personality of the project management consultant before you sign a contract. The consultant you engage should demonstrate a good grasp of your industry, market, and business environment. He or she should have references among your direct competitors, ideally. Experience working with firms in your firm's general size range is also preferable. Finally, you should be able to understand the project management consultant. If he or she uses incomprehensible jargon during the interview phase, communication with your employees will not be very effective.
Engaging a project management consultant for any major project is a wise investment for most firms.