Our Approach
Most of the time, our clients come to us when they have either a need or a problem. It is always our intent to help them and make their lives less hectic. Sometimes, our clients not only bring us their problems, but also their preferred solution. When they do that, we must remember that we are consulting engineers and our clients are typically production engineers, developers, or contractors. Often, they want us to parrot that their preferred solution is the correct solution. It is our duty and responsibility to be honest with them. If their preferred solution is the best answer, then we should agree. If it is not, then we must be equally honest in our opinion and explain why we believe as we do. As consultants, we, by definition, are paid for our opinions. We are expected to discuss our beliefs openly and honestly without an emotional conflict with their opinions. We are not expected to come off as know-it-alls! Too many times, we forget that we are different from our clients in many ways.
Frequently, as consulting engineers, we are expected to have all the answers. Before we go any further, let’s establish a few truths:
We are Consulting/Design Engineers and Project Managers.
Our clients are Production Engineers and Production Manager.
Our clients are Developers or Contractors or Architects.
We are NOT the same!
We do not look at things from the same perspective.
We do not assign the same value to things that our clients do.
Now, with those ideas in mind, let’s proceed.
Our clients hire us to help them develop a project. Often, that means that we are handed a simple (or complex) idea and asked to develop a detailed project scope. Everything usually starts off headed in the right direction, and then the reality of our differences becomes apparent.
It is crucial that we are on the same page as our clients. We must manage their expectations. We have to be honest with them. Clients may come to us with unrealistic expectations. They can have what we think are unrealistic schedules, unrealistic budgets, and/or unrealistic project requirements. As consultants, we must show them where we believe their expectations are unrealistic. Many times, these “unrealistic” expectations come from simply not knowing how the system works. Sometimes the “unrealistic” definition comes from us not knowing exactly how their business works. Sometimes the “unrealistic” definition comes from them not understanding how the system works. We have to understand their system or constraints and they have to understand ours. Once these facts are established, we can begin to guide them to “realistic” expectations.
Before we can do that, our clients have to genuinely understand that we are looking out for their best interests. More importantly, we must be committed to doing just that. We also need to comprehend that they are not deliberately setting us up for failure. There must be mutual trust between all players on the team.
That word…team. I hear it thrown around a lot! It needs to be not only a buzzword but also an actual guiding concept. There are many definitions to the word “team.” The one I think best is “harnessed together to pull in unison.” Isn’t that what a project team does? Are we not all harnessed together pulling in unison towards a common goal? Everyone associated with a project needs to be a committed member of the team. We should all be pulling together to move the project across the finish line successfully. We must understand that we succeed or fail together.
We need our clients to be an integral part of our team and they need us to be an integral part of their team. Once we believe that, open discussions can be had on how the project can be improved. Once they allow us to be part of their team, we can start to be effective in managing their expectations and once we allow them to be part of our team, we can see their perspective of the project.
Everyone on the team must be accountable to each other. If we make a bad suggestion or decision, we have to own it. We have a responsibility to be accountable for what we say, recommend, and do. The client must also be accountable for their actions and decisions as well. Once we are all on this same page, frank and honest discussions can be had. When sound decisions are made, the project moves one step closer to success.
Consulting engineers do not always understand every aspect involved in our client’s decision-making process. If it is a commercial project, we may not be aware of contractual obligations that they may be under to turn a space over to a renter on a certain date or certain construction loan obligations that they may have. If it is an industrial project, we may not understand the need to start and end on certain dates because of shut-down schedules or delivery schedules. There are numerous considerations that go into their decisions that we may not be privy to. We have got to understand this.
What the client needs to understand is that there are numerous details that go into our decision-making process as well. They may not know that the cost of steel is high, or its availability is down. They may not know that masons are limited and labor rates for them are at a premium. As members of the same team, we must be open and honest with each other and explain in the clearest and simplest terms how and why decisions were made. What may seem like a commonsense decision may not be the correct one based on outside factors.
Emotions must be kept outside. Every member of the team needs to understand that their opinion is valid, but it must be evaluated based on the current circumstances. Everyone must understand that no one is being dismissed out of hand because someone knows “better” than someone else. Everyone must know that the decisions are being based on facts and not “just because.”
Once all parties involved have bought into the success as a team, then we will all be successful. There is no other option! Once we are on the same team, we can guide our clients to make the decisions which will ultimately make their projects successful.
By doing all these things, we can guide our clients toward the best decisions for their current project.
This is what we do. This is what distinguishes us from others. We want our clients to be successful. When we make that our primary goal, we will be successful as well. There is no other outcome.