Until I became a Consultant, I only had a surface-level understanding of Consulting based on my passing interactions at my previous job. I recall seeing sharply dressed people waltz into a conference room, briefcase in hand- catered food usually followed a couple hours later. Before they’d even sit down, they’d deal out their business cards to everyone at the table like Vegas Texas Hold’em dealers. Inevitably they’d ask where the facilities were and what time they’d need to leave to beat Atlanta traffic on their journey to the airport. Today, I’m one of them and it’s definitely not where I expected to be just one year after starting my first real job- that transition is a whole different story. But, since we’re talking about expectations, I’d like to share a couple of my experiences in consulting thus far and contrast them with the expectations I had when I first started.

Just before starting a major project, we’d sometimes have a consulting team come in and pitch us their ideas and potential design.  Sometimes we’d sign the SOW- sometimes we would forge the trail on our own with the ideas provided. For whatever reason, when I started consulting, I thought I’d only ever be on a project from the beginning. After all, most of the time my only true exposure was at the beginning of a project. When I graduated from consultant training, I expected there to be a project waiting to kick-off and I expected to be on it.

As you can imagine, it didn’t work out like that. Instead, I was added to a project not long before their anticipated go-live. My colleague and I had to learn the ropes of their business- what they did, how they processed sales orders, what modifications they had, team dynamics (get it?), etc. It was challenging to have to catch up to everyone else, but I enjoyed most every minute of it. No it wasn’t the gentle start I expected, but it was the challenging start I needed to keep me on my feet. In a way, seeing this project from seventy-five percent complete to the finish line has given me a unique perspective for all my future projects. I now know not to expect or get used to the sunshine and butterflies everyone feels at the beginning of the project. It can and does fade. Budgets start drying up, decisions need to be made, and things don’t always go as planned. Patience gets thinner, tensions get higher. And that goes for consulting and client teams.

My first day onsite with this client, I expected to sit in the background and absorb everything I could.  I expected the Senior Financial Consultant to be there to lead the way. As far as I was concerned, I was to be a warm body in the room, waiting for the appropriate moment to maybe spring into action and maybe save the day. So before I sat down, I dealt out my business card to the client team and asked where the restroom was. Eventually I made it to my seat only to find the senior financial consultant wasn’t there and that I’d be on my own. Great. I was in the big leagues now. I knew that the second I opened my mouth, I was going to shove my foot right in it and then have my PM’s foot in the other end. But I had no choice but to open my mouth. And as soon as I did, questions came flying like missiles and concerns thrown my way like hot potatoes.

But to my surprise, my feet stayed on the ground and so did my PM’s. I was able to calmly sort through the noise and get to the root of the questions and concerns. And even further denying my expectations was my ability to actually answer and provide guidance and value. I am by no means saying I know all of Dynamics AX and that I don’t need a few minutes- even hours to think before answering a question. But I have the Confidence to sit face to face with a client and work through their concerns. I now have the confidence to say “I’m not sure, but I will find out” and the drive to follow through.

No, my first project was not what I had expected but in many ways, much better. I discovered something about consulting and about myself. I now know that consulting isn’t as easy as the suited teams marching off the elevator made it look. They weren’t squirming in their seats because they didn’t know an answer, but because they want to be perfectly sure before they commit something to a client. It takes confidence in the system, your team, and in yourself. AX is a beast, but I have confidence in it. My IBIS team is amazingly helpful and courteous and I’m confident in them to quickly help when I’m on the spot with a client. And as I learned in the first week of my first project, I can be confident in myself as a consultant because of the team surrounding me, and the application we know and love. If the rest of my consulting career is going to be anything like my first project, I’m in for an exciting, expectation shattering ride.

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