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Consulting from home...

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I have posted on this Blog recently about life in MCS.  This probably holds true for consulting engagements in general.  Setting a comfortable travel schedule is really important when you are on the road all the time.  On the other hand, this travel schedule would need to be negotiated with the client.  In my case, that negotiation is not done by me, so I have very little to say in that.  Once things get rolling and you get acquainted with the client, you can probably figure out a good way to balance this.

Working from home is an interesting idea.  On paper it seems to make sense.  If you are writing documentation, why would you need to be at the client's location?  Depending on your situation, you may get more interuptions at a client site than from little kids at home!  For short periods this might work, but in the long run, I believe a big part of consulting is building relationships with the customer.  Having face time to discuss the issues and iron out questions can go a long way in building a deeper level of trust.  If you are at home all the time, they tend to forget about you and start to stop seeing the value.  You could do this here and there, but not all the time.

Comments

  • Anonymous
    October 26, 2004
    "a big part of consulting is building relationships with the customer". That and managing expectations are 90% of what consulting is about.
  • Anonymous
    October 26, 2004
    While I love the idea of working from home, the reality is that if I do on a regular basis, then in the eyes of the client I can be replaced by someone a lot cheaper who might live half way round the world. Sure I might have better communication skills. But then again, maybe I don't. ;)

    Also, as part of a larger company, we have found that a surprising amount of extra business is gained by having someone on site who can recognize a problem that the client is having as something that one of the other resources in the company can help with. This is a large part of what "building relationships with the customer" is all about.