The challenge for the in-house consultant

I first wrote this article in 2017, edited in 2019, and shared with numerous clients over the years.

When it comes to an in-house versus external consulting role, which positioning is most effective, and why? What are the unique dynamics of the in-house role that need to be managed, and what’s at stake?

My in-house experience

Having been part of an in-house team for nearly five years I can say hand-on-heart there’s a lot I miss, and a lot that I don’t. I benefitted from being able to engage with both the day-to-day and the more strategic, longer-term aspects of the client’s work. I could be invited into leadership team meetings at short notice to work with emerging dynamics, without needing much – or any – negotiation or planning. I could draw on my wider experiences of the organisation to offer real challenge, and work with the systemic themes my colleagues and I were tracking in alignment with the organisation’s changing landscape.

On the flip side it can make it difficult to maintain objectivity. Not only are you located internally but the dynamics are likely to become more internalised in you as a full-time person-in-role. Your dependency financially is more entrenched, and in my case my legal right to stay and work in the country hinged on my employment too. The need for belonging, identity, and status that can be derived from one’s work can be more figural.

It can be harder to find space for your own development or make choices about what work you take on, as most clients will likely see you as a readily available pre-paid resource. You often have the added politics of multiple clients who know each other, can talk to each other, and may have opinions about how, who, and what you prioritise. As an external consultant it is more straight-forward to turn down work, prioritise other clients, or refer them to a partner organisation.

The toughest challenge for most practitioners is working with the dual roles of employee and consultant. Throw into the mix the role of managing a team, reporting on your impact, managing external suppliers, a budget, and being a stakeholder to various other functions and roles. All of these dynamics present unique tensions around authority, ownership, and agency.

Consultancies on the other hand work with the tension between needing to win work and wanting to simply fulfil their vocation. More time is spent on writing proposals, pitching for work, managing procurement processes, and getting to grips with new organisations or sectors. A lot of that can be part of the creativity and intrigue but it can also distract from the love of the work itself, the practises and methodologies, and the opportunity to keep learning, iterating, and evolving the work. Many consulting firms can become preoccupied with marketing, the need to further their own brand and reputation, along with models and intellectual property they have developed over the years. These activities make the work possible, make firms more credible in general terms, but are rarely what excites practitioners.

Consultancies have less financial security in some ways but more control in others. However when you start to get anxious about ‘money matters’, it can inhibit the energy of being a present, grounded, containing partner for clients. In the same way you’re liberated from any obligation to say yes to work, clients can disappear or restrict the work when resources are tight or they get busy and distracted. Although you’re likely to be enjoying projections of expertise and authority, you are often not privy to the political machinations that may be impacting your role.

Reflections for the in-house consultant

Here are some key questions to hold in mind for the in-house role:

• How do I bring enough creativity and ‘outside thinking’ and challenge when I’m part of the organisation myself?

• How do I challenge and consult to a client who is also my employer?

• How do I report to an employer who is also my client?

• How do I work in a hierarchical structure when the Coach/Facilitator/Consultant role requires me to meet my client eye-to-eye?

• How do I maintain trust when clients may attempt to use me for other means such as to further their reputation or pass on information on their behalf?

• How do I gain commitment from my client in the contracting phase when they may not have financial skin in the game, if my costs are paid centrally?

• How do I manage projections of being a cheaper ‘home brand’ option and gain respect and confidence from clients to do this work?

• As a subjective employee myself, how do I navigate boundaries such as confidentiality, neutrality, the need to be non-judgmental and other containers vital to development work?

Navigating the tensions

Regular supervision or ‘extra vision’ is of course something most practitioners undertake, and a mix of individual and team supervision can be helpful to illuminate systemic patterns, offer containment, and support the team to stay grounded in their purpose. Offering each other peer-to-peer supervision can deepen the connection and learning as practitioners in a way which is hard to achieve day-to-day.

So what else? Clarifying which role you’re in, or which ‘hat’ you’re wearing is the most potent form of navigating this complex web of roles, expectations, and of course organisational politics.

Are you consulting to your client? Reporting to your employer? Managing your team? Supervising other practitioners? Being supervised as a practitioner, or managed as an employee?

Pay attention to your inner sense of authority, ownership, and agency in relation to each client task; is it fit-for-purpose? Where might I be diminishing my expertise because I report ‘lower down’ in the hierarchy, and where might I be taking ownership for work which should be held by the client?

The fine line to be trodden between consultant and employee can become treacherous. On one side you compromise the quality and integrity of your consulting; on the other you risk your employment. Or do you? Surely your employment is dependent on the impact you make, not your ability to stay ‘safe’? What is the real, evidential purpose of your role, and do you have authority to enact it?

Keeping these questions alive and explicit for yourself and the organisation is perhaps the most powerful strategy of all.

Image ‘Levitating’ by John Fornander