Battling the Beast

by Carolyn Montague

MANAGERS MUST BATTLE “THE CONTRACTING BEAST.” With limited budgets, changing priorities, increasing uncertainty, a plethora of rules, the fear of scandal and the sheer time dealing with all of the “bureaucratese” – it often appears insurmountable. How can we make this battle more manageable ... to get the best results?

1. Decide what you want – Like most good things in life, we need to know what we want, when, how, where and why we want it. Easy to say but tough to live by! Consultants can’t answer for you. They don’t know as much as you do. And they don’t have to live with the results. Recent Auditor General reports point out the problems of failing to define what is required. Beginning with a clear mandate, you will be better prepared, the consultant will know what you want, you will have the tools you need to manage the results – and have a better chance that the job will be done in the manner you need. What is in scope and what is out of scope? Think about how you “tell” the consultants the depth with which to undertake the work. Do you share the same vision? How do you know for sure? Think about how you will know when a task has been done. And finally – how certain are you?

2. Mine your corporate memory – Use all of the resources available. Experts in finance, audit, evaluation and materiel management can help you with the process, to define, evaluate, or administer the contract. They may also provide you with valuable lessons on what not to do! Others can remove administrative hang-ups related to access to equipment, facilities and processes. The sooner they are involved, the better. Outside of your organization, there may be experts who can help you in conducting the work. How much time will be required of them? How do you let them know? Do they have any standards that are relevant?

3. Consider everyone’s time – Set out a complete time line. Managers think about the time required for the consultant but too often fail to think about the time they will need. One common weakness is underestimating the time required for acceptance testing of the deliverables. Beginning with the requirements definition, through to the contract administration, the manager will need to be involved. Often, managers fail to set realistic time lines, then become overwhelmed with other requirements. Who will be available to guide the assignment? Are they knowledgeable about the current state of the work? Are there backups? The amount of time required will depend upon the complexity of the requirement, the relationship to other problems facing the organization, the number of players involved, the methods used for measuring performance and the impact of other processes on the success of the undertaking.

4. Be careful what you assume. – Buried in every job are assumptions made by all the players. Make sure they are known and shared. One contract foundered when no one checked to see if the ten people to be interviewed were available. The client was surprised by the contractor’s difficulty in conducting the interviews in the agreed time frame. But no one had checked their availability -- with courses and vacation, it just couldn’t be done. No one wins if there are unrealistic ideas about availability, the level of effort or the type of processes involved. By stating and then validating each assumption, a manager can avoid asking the consultant to do the impossible. Testing to see that data and people will be available may prevent disappointment later on by establishing reasonable expectations as to what will be achieved by when.

5. Use history as your guide – Learn from the past. Too often problems encountered on prior work are repeated. Is there a “lessons learned” process after each assignment? Are these lessons known throughout the organization? How can past problems be avoided? We all know clients who continue doing things the way “they always had been done” even when they repeatedly don’t receive what they want. When confronted with what they could do differently, wonderful ideas often emerge that result in time savings and increased efficiency. When performance or timeliness has been a problem, managers may want to think about how they manage performance and quality within the assignment. In some situations, more details in the requirements description may be the solution.

6. Make it a team event – Remember, there are at least two of you in it! I am astonished how often the “us” and “them” discussions prevent people from effectively collaborating. Contractors are hired to be on your side! Traditional contracting defines what the consultant will do but fails to identify the client’s obligations. Yet contracting by its very nature requires both parties to live up to the obligations of the “deal”. How certain is each party of what these obligations include? Why not state what the manager will be doing while the consultant is doing their work. When both parties are aware of each other’s activities and time lines, there is less chance of misunderstandings and greater certainty of results.

7. Be ready for change – Any relationship has its ups and downs. Both parties need to communicate with each other on a regular basis. What formal mechanisms are in place and what informal ones are there? By establishing regular communication in advance, time and effort will be saved. Change needs will be identified early and accommodated in the project. The use of dispute resolution and change management techniques early in the process may reduce the occurrence of the very problems they seek to resolve.

Managers using these seven keys can contract with greater confidence they will achieve the results they want and need.


Carolyn Montague is the Vice President of Perfocus Management. After 15 years with PWGSC, she now consults on contracting, performance measurement and results reporting, and trains extensively in the American and Canadian federal governments. Carolyn.Montague@ sympatico.ca