What do you do if your consulting project progress is difficult to track and report?

If it's hard to keep track of how a consulting project is going, I'd take a step back and figure out why. Maybe we need clearer goals or ways to measure progress. I'd talk to the team and our clients more often to understand what's going well and what's not. Then, we'd come up with simpler ways to report on what we're doing, making sure everyone knows what's going on and what needs to happen next.

Issues could be due to: 1. No set plan in place 2. No agreement on measures 3. Responsibilities not assigned 4. Frequency not discussed 5. No review mechanism in place 6. Softer issues such as lack of professionalism Therefore: 1. Set a goal, break it into objectives and tactics 2. Put in place a mechanism that tracks and measures relevant parameters at an agreed upon frequency 3. Assign responsibilities and connect that to the person's KRAs 4. Have a fixed schedule to discuss and review progress

Every project can be broken down into phases marked by milestones. For instance, you can generally divide projects into the following phases: client onboarding, project ideation and planning, project execution, project submission, project final review and edits. You can divide each phase further into actionable tasks and assign them to different team members. This way, you can track progress by looking at which phase a project is in and how much work is completed under each phase. The key is to have goals that help your team members to deliver on your overall objective. That means the goals should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

Project tracking tools take away a lot of the manual work of project tracking and can be a real time saver when viewing project status. In this way, the team can generate reports quickly and get a deeper level of understanding as to how your project is tracking against goals. There are a whole lot of different options and each has different strengths and suitabilities. The tools for your project management must be equipped with features that help your team view actual progress.

Readjusting is an important thing in consulting. Consultants should constantly assess, review, and take appropriate action to their strategies. If constant monitoring and readjustments are made then it will be not be tough to track and report. However, if the problem persists then there is a fundamental error which the consultant needs to find and fix before it derails the project.

If tracking and reporting consulting project progress is challenging, establish clear milestones and key performance indicators (KPIs) upfront. Implement robust project management tools and systems to streamline data collection and analysis. Regularly communicate with stakeholders to provide updates and solicit feedback. Foster transparency and accountability within the team, encouraging proactive problem-solving and collaboration. Periodically review and adjust reporting mechanisms to ensure they align with project goals and client expectations. By prioritizing effective tracking and reporting processes, you can enhance project visibility and drive successful outcomes.