6 Tactics to Reduce onboarding consultants time by 80%

Your Business Transformation Doesn't Have Time

How long does it take a consultant or contractor to get up to speed in your business? 

A week?  Two weeks? 

What if your consultants could hit the ground running within the first day?

As a digital consultancy (not recruitment consultants) we have experienced this challenge first hand.  

Our team on the ground have identified key tactical approaches that really fast track the on-boarding clients are looking for who and built it into a proven model we would like to share some of below:

(Writing candidly – the most critical element of all this we are leaving out of the article and if you want to find what that is please read through to the end to find out how to learn it).

Tactic 1: Have a Consultant Partner not a Recruiter

The first tactic is the most important and arguably encompasses the other five.  Establishing a partner with an in-depth and long-term vision of your business before a single consultant steps foot into your business is critical.

A partner that takes ownership and accountability for your consultancy requirements, even if it is just one consultant that you need, is critical. The ownership and knowledge is protected at a higher level and driven by the Partner, through the consultant you have brought on, to constantly better your business.

Tactic 2: Technology Stack

It seems obvious but having a consultant who knows the tools and technologies you use is key.  Technology is only an enabler but knowing what your business is trying to achieve and the technology’s functionality that can meet those needs really short cuts the initial on-boarding time. 

At yechte we ideally place consultants that know more than your team members.  That way we can bring in that additional level of expertise to drive and up-skill your employees and their processes.

Tactic 3: Understand your Processes (Both kinds!)

Again at initial glance this is an obvious tactic.  However you would be surprised at how much inconsistency there is within an organisation of it’s knowledge of and ability to follow the processes within its business.

Getting a strong understanding on the key processes (and by both kinds we mean formal and informal) is instrumental into your consultant “plugging” into business as usual and minimising disruption as tasks are performed.   

Tactic 4: Culture and Communication

In some organisations we have seen unanswered emails that have cost days in projects and severely impacted critical paths.  In other organisations the same is said of not picking up on your Slack notifications.  Or your Team Meeting notes.  Or your voicemails.  Communication methods are broadly similar but those key players and teams each will have a favoured approach that it is your consultants job to understand and align to.

With Covid-19 and the dramatic increase of working from home the communication approach has become even more important in the crucial on-boarding time.

Tactic 5: Team Structure

This surprisingly can be an overlooked or assumed step in the process.  Or, depending on the complexity of the project may have multiple players, some of which may not be known until your consultant gets into the thick of the project.

Having these identified with and introduced to from the offset is one of the most fundamental tactics to shave off valuable hours or even days.

Tactic 6: Dependencies and Impact on other W

The project you are bringing your consultant on for is not in a vacuum.  It is most likely fighting for resources.  It will only continue to happen if the forces and decisions that commissioned it in the first place don’t change due to new business transformation directives. 

Knowing your project’s dependencies and the work streams that it can influence and affect, and more importantly the ones it can’t, is a subtle but often critical tactic to ensure it can continue.

This knowledge has become even more important since Covid-19, due to the precariousness of projects in the workplace.

Summing Up

We hope those six tactics to accelerating your consultants on-boarding have been helpful.

At yechte we establish these tactics before the consultant begins their placement – meaning on day one they have the majority of information they need to plug in effectively seamlessly.

While we’re sure you employ several of them we believe the full six, in combination with the seventh secret is the key to really reducing that time to value.

If you would like to know the seventh secret (and find out how we helped our clients reduce their on-boarding time by 80% with this) please feel to drop myself an email.