Over years, I have come to realize that the single biggest challenge in executing projects is that of managing people at the client side. Often the success of many an assignment hinges on that most critical and yet surprisingly oft-ignored factor.

First allow me to begin with the context. I am a Management Consultant with a leading consulting firm and most of my work has been related to Performance Improvement, Organization Change & Restructuring, Process Reengineering and so on. Over years, I have come to realize that the single biggest challenge in executing projects is that of managing people at the client side. Often the success of many an assignment hinges on that most critical and yet surprisingly oft-ignored factor. So with the context setting done and dusted with, let us roll on!

It was a pleasant evening when yours truly decided to visit the Dubai Dolphinarium to watch a Dolphin show. Dolphins, as you would know, are marine mammals and are considered as one of the most intelligent animals. In fact, in Douglas Adams’ “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”, dolphins are noted to be the second most intelligent species on the planet Earth, ahead of humans, who ranked third (though that was said more in jest than anything else, in case the discerning reader gets the impression that my knowledge of biology and evolution is based on the writings of Douglas Adams!). The ones we went to watch in action were the Bottlenose dolphins, easily the most common and well known of the dolphins.

While most of us are well aware of the various tricks and stunts that these beautiful mammals can perform (leaps, somersaults, volleyball, basketball, fetch, dance, sing, paint, row and the list goes on & on), the objective of this piece is to summarize what they taught me about managing people at the client side. Weird though it may sound, here it goes…

1. Client’s confidence in you increases if you actually enjoy your work and show it too: Now I have watched animals perform in circuses and carnivals earlier (mostly as a kid and on television), but it was not always a pleasant experience because it felt as if they were performing under duress. But with the dolphins, it somehow did not seem to be the case. More than the audience, more than the trainers, it was the dolphins that seemed to be having the most amount of fun! Splashing water here and there with a mischievous wink in their eyes while sometimes doing the exact opposite of what the trainers wanted them to. And that was the clincher as far as the audiences were concerned. To be fair, may be we were all wrong and the dolphins were actually under stress but they did not show it one bit. Similarly, if the client feels that you are passionate about your work and love what you are doing, I think that his confidence in you as a consultant increases. On the other hand, if you consider your assignment as a chore and are just about scraping through it, I doubt if the client would really trust you even if whatever you say makes perfect sense.

2. Respect team members for the individual skills that they bring to the table: Admittedly, it would have been a little boring if all the dolphins ended up doing the same tricks over and over again. However, the trainers identified the unique skills that each of the dolphins possessed and treated them as different individuals with their own personality traits. So while one of the dolphins was amazing at playing volleyball, another one was a fabulous dancer and a third one was an accomplished painter (by the way, the painting was auctioned off for close to 3,000 bucks during the show!). Similarly, the good consulting firms identify the unique skill sets that each of the client team members bring to the table and utilize them to their advantage. It is imperative to the success of any client engagement that the client resources be fully and optimally utilized. Find out who the key opinion leaders are. That is an individual skill that may turn out to be extremely handy. And often the key opinion leaders may not be the ones who are senior in position but others who are generally well-respected within the group. Respect, like many other things in life, is earned and not demanded. Look for people who are good at coordination. Leverage their skills.

3. Make your clients look good even if you are in the background: It was obvious who the stars of the show were… the 3 dolphins. But the show would not have been a success if not for the team of trainers and keepers who chose to be in the background, providing constant support and guidance to the dolphins in the most unobtrusive manner. Instructions were given not through grand gestures of the hands but through inconspicuous whistles, which produced sounds that could not be heard by humans. Similarly, most clients do not appreciate prima donnas. Sometimes consultants, especially the ones freshly minted out of the top Business Schools, find it odd to see the clients talking the consultant’s language in other forums and taking all the plaudits for their hard work. But one must remember that it is only when the client wins that the consultant wins. Be the trainer and not the dolphin… it wastes your time and it annoys the dolphins.

4. Motivation can work wonders: This one was an obvious no-brainer and not limited to consulting per se! What makes a bunch of dolphins perform tricks for a demanding audience thrice a day, 6 days a week? Lots of fish and tender love & care! Call it motivation, call it incentives, call it what you will. Similarly, motivated team members make for successful projects. Try to understand what makes them tick, what makes them come to work everyday, what are their needs and ambitions and leverage that information to ensure greater buy-in for the project and its subsequent execution.

And of course, the most important lesson that I learnt from the dolphins… have fun and you will have lots of fish in store for you!




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Rejoy Kurup is a Management Consultant with a boutique advisory firm headquartered in Boston and with offices in India. He has significant experience in the areas of Strategy, Transformation and Operations consulting. Views expressed here are personal.