A delivery head at a 60-person ERP implementation firm brings in two contract consultants for a data migration. One is a week late because the laptop is not ready. The other asks for admin access to the client's test system on day two. Nobody has said who may grant it, and the contract was a single page.
Contract consultants can add skill quickly. They also create risk when scope, access and exit are left to goodwill. This post gives a written routine to follow for each engagement.
What this post covers, and what it does not
It covers how your firm describes, supervises and ends work done by an independent consultant on your project. It does not cover sourcing or placing consultants. GullyHR does not supply contract staff. It helps firms design the policy, forms and checks around the people they have engaged themselves.
Scope: write down the work, not just the role
A role title tells the consultant little. Write the deliverables, the dates, the review points and the standard the work must meet. Say what is out of scope, such as support after go-live or training of client staff. Say who accepts the work and how.
- Named deliverables with dates and acceptance criteria.
- The tools, environments and documents the consultant may use.
- Who the consultant reports to day to day, and who signs off the work.
- How changes to scope are requested and agreed in writing.
- What happens if a deliverable is late or below the agreed standard.
Access: give the least needed, for the shortest time
Consultants often need access to your systems and your clients' systems. Decide what each person needs, who approves it, and when it ends. Avoid shared accounts. Record each grant in a simple register that the delivery head and IT can both read.
- 1
Request access in writing
The project manager states systems, level of access and end date. IT or the client approves and logs it.
- 2
Set up named accounts
Each consultant gets their own login. Shared credentials make it impossible to trace actions.
- 3
Brief on data handling
Give a one-page note on confidential data, where files may be stored and what may not be copied. Get a signed acknowledgement.
- 4
Review access fortnightly
The project manager checks the register and removes anything no longer needed.
- 5
Withdraw access on the last day
IT removes accounts, tokens and shared drive access, and confirms in writing.
Confidentiality and ownership of work
Check that the agreement covers confidentiality, ownership of the work product and use of the client's data, in language your legal adviser has reviewed. If a client contract restricts who may touch their systems, confirm the consultant meets those restrictions before day one, since breach can cost you the account.
Supervise like a team member, without treating them as employees
Consultants need clear direction, a point of contact and regular review. But a firm that sets their hours, supplies their tools, and manages them in all respects as staff may be creating the wrong picture. Keep the arrangement based on deliverables and let the consultant organise their own work within agreed times. Ask your adviser where the line sits for your facts.
Hold a short weekly review: what was done, what is blocked, what is next. Keep notes. If quality is poor, raise it early and in writing.
Exit: plan it on day one
Final deliverables handed over and accepted in writing.
Documentation, code and configuration stored in the firm's repository.
Credentials, tokens and licences changed or removed.
Access to client systems withdrawn and the client told.
Laptop, badge and any firm property returned.
Open issues listed with an owner for each.
Final payment authorised against accepted deliverables.
Note of lessons learned for the next engagement.A good exit starts at the start. Put the handover period and the documentation duty in the agreement, so the consultant knows what the final fortnight involves. Ask that a second person on your team shadows the work, so knowledge does not walk out of the door.
Paying consultants cleanly
Agree the basis of payment in writing: against accepted deliverables, against a monthly statement, or against effort the project manager has confirmed. Decide who checks each invoice and by what date. The rates are a commercial matter for your firm and the consultant, based on skill, scarcity and project risk, and should not be copied from a rumour about what others pay.
Keep one file per consultant: agreement, access request, data acknowledgement, weekly notes, invoices and exit checklist. If the client audits your delivery, this file answers most questions in minutes. It also shows the next delivery head how you chose to work.
Policy and records
Write a short procedure for engaging consultants, including who approves the request, what the agreement must cover, and where records are kept. The procurement and vendor policy work at GullyHR is a good home for this, since many firms treat consultants as vendors for approval and payment.
The software development companies hub places this topic beside hiring, retention and delivery practices. When a consultant's work overlaps with employee handovers, the notice period and knowledge transfer post offers a handover plan you can reuse.
