Consultant's Dilemma - Implementation project is behind schedule

I am a quality and environmental management system consultant. Currently I am changing the structure of my company. I have a client, that I have had since July 2005. When I made the agreement to work as a contractor for this client, I did so through another company as their contractor.

Well needless to say this client, 21 months later, is a problem. I have had clients that are slow on implementation, but this client is worse than ever I have worked for or heard of. They have had turtle diagrams, pfc's, sop's, eop's, epg's and their manual to review and revise accordingly since January of this year. I email them continuously for feedback on these reviews so that final revisions can be made and implementation begin. It is futile. They have me contacting a Quality "clerk" who is nothing more than a document control person and she holds documents instead of distributing them for review. The Quality Manager blows my questions and inquiries off until I have hounded him relentlessly for the answer.

Long story short. This project is no where near complete and when I made the agreement to take this contract, I quoted it based on an 18 months to develop, implement and prepare for registration.

How do I get out of this nightmare? The company that hired me as a contractor did not put any language in the agreement on time limitations for this project.

The money for this project is about gone, due to length between reviews and ongoing revisions to revisions.

I want to move on with new projects, but this one is holding me back from making certain commitments.

Any suggestions?

Re: Consultant's Dilemma

How did (do) you track progress? How often did (do) you update upper management on progress? Did you identify road blocks as your project proceeded? How many times did you warn upper management of time frame problems?

Just a few thoughts...

I have kept an ongoing (continuously revised) QMS/EMS Plan, showing their responsibilities, timelines and status. I have documented all of my correspondence, which have been weekly, and saved all my emails and have gone on-site when possible to meet with management. They give lip service about commitment and that goes by the way-side as soon as I leave. My attempts to keep it "out front" for everyone don't seem to work. I also keep the company that contracted me abreast on every correspondence. Their answer is "Thanks for sticking with it". ???

If it's taken this amount of time they're probably too dumb to ever do it. This isn't rocket science, I know because I helped some rocket scientists in California get their management systems up and running and it only took 6 months with a company of about 1,400 PhD's.

Identify where they have met whatever, show them and congradulate them for their hard work. Tell them to let things run 6 months without your help before they go for registration (if that's their goal) and let them stand on their own feet. Let the lack of success be theirs, not yours.

Wash your hands, declare victory, stand up, hook up and shuffle to the door, jump right out and count to four. And don't look back.

They aren't too dumb. They just aren't interested. I have to get them to a point that they have agreed (approved) all of their documents I have developed and then I can set them free to implement. My problem is getting them to review with accuracy the documents I have developed for them based on their operations. Once I get that portion done, it is up to them to implement and run their six months to see if the system is effective.

They aren't committed. I am tired of patting them on the back, playing politics and getting the shuffle.

In my past 25 years of experience, I have never had it take this long to get a program developed, implemented and registered.

I just don't want to be looking at a lawsuit up the road, but definitely want to drop this project.

Thanks for you input Randy.

BTW: You do a good job of putting details in your posts. Nice writing!

IMO, this boils down to a contract law. A legal contract has an exchange between the buyer and the seller, and a timeframe for it to occur. If it does not have that, it's not a legal contract. Even marriage agreements have expiration dates (death).

Did you have an agreement with the organization you were contracting through? Anything on the purchase order?

IMO, this has to stop; it will drive you crazy. I would sit down with the client and contracting company and develop a drop-dead time frame.

The only caveat I would submit is to be careful how handling this situation would handle your future business. I'm not sure about your specific scenario, and don't know if 'dumping' this would cause you more heartache than you anticipated.

Number one as I see it is once the consultant "develops the documentation" you have set the company up for learned helplessness. I know that there are many consultants out there that hand over a complete and documented QMS and then the customer follows it. It is obvious that this company is not capable of the implementation of said documentation. You either need to tell them that you have fulfilled your end of the bargain and the contract is up, or you need to renegotiate exactly what is expected by them and by you. If you truly feel that they are capable of implementing and maintaining the system, you need to make sure that the management supplies the resources. Otherwise, I'd vote for cut and run.

dmp06 said:

They aren't too dumb.

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Just how dumb are they?

dmp06 said:

They just aren't interested.

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It's because it's not their's.

dmp06 said:

My problem is getting them to review with accuracy the documents I have developed for them based on their operations.

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Noooooooo, it's their problem. All you can do is give them what they need and pay for.

dmp06 said:

Once I get that portion done, it is up to them to implement and run their six months to see if the system is effective.

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This one you got right. So let them do it and quit mothering them.

dmp06 said:

I just don't want to be looking at a lawsuit up the road, but definitely want to drop this project.

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Review your deliverables and their obligations. If you've met your end what's the problem? You didn't make a promise that you couldn't or didn't deliver did you?

You have provided answers to your question.

It's your system, your documents, and your work, not theirs. There is no sense of ownership of the process and therefore no personal value placed in it. These folks need to be weaned. If they are not committed it's their problem and not yours. Sometimes committment can only come after the lack of it has bitten one in the shorts.

SteelMaiden said:

Number one as I see it is once the consultant "develops the documentation" you have set the company up for learned helplessness.

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Very well put. If I ever have my own consulting company, I'm going to call it LH Associates, but I'll never tell customers what the "LH" stands for.

The scope of work included leading the project team in the development, implementation and registration processes, as project manager. Problem is that the "experienced project team" that was to be available for this project doesn't exist. Two reasons: 1. Management doesn't want to establish a "team" of cross-functional members and 2. The "experienced" quality professionals in this company are entry level at best.

Therefore, I wrote their system, based on what they said they do and how they do it. It is not a templated program. I do "customer-specific" programs. This is a new prototype process for the auto industry, therefore, it has to be specific in content.

I get Randy's comments........stop mothering, and let them..... I agree...but the company that contracted me insists I see this through the registration process. I am a grandmother of 8, at this rate, I will be a great-grandmother before they are ready for registration.

My intent was to finish all documentation and hand the system to them for implementation and just sit back until they call me. I just don't want this hanging over my head, pending completion, a year from now or longer.