One of the critical skills a consultant must have is the ability to communicate.  Those skills are put to the test frequently, but rarely as much as when the consultant reports project status to the client.  This week we will discuss some of the specific approaches a consultant should use when reporting status to the client.

What does a consultant need to be aware of when reporting status to a client?

First of all, they need to have the ability to summarize.  In most cases, you’re talking to an executive, or at least a high level manager.  Although some may be detail people and want to get into the weeds, for the most part, they’re most interested in high level status.
They are in a much more strategic situation where the project the consultant is reporting on is one of the tactical aspects of their grand strategic approach
So it’s important to provide them a status based on how the project is progressing from their strategic perspective - based on how it affects them. They want to know how it affects their strategic direction.
In addition to that, you want to make sure you talk in their terms.  That can apply to using the industry terms that they use.  I was just in a meeting recently where we were talking about health insurance.  Someone used a term and the project management consultant asked what the difference was between that term and another she had heard.
The client manager answered that they’re essentially synonymous, but that he used the other term.  That prompted a mental note that we should use his term moving forward.
Speaking in their terms also applies to their preferences for any other terminology.  You may refer to a project’s utilization referring to how many hours are being used to date on the project.  The client may call it burn-down.  It’s important to use their term to make sure they understand what you’re talking about.
Finally, related to talking to them in more strategic terms, most status reports list accomplishments from the past week and tasks planned for the following week.
In order to make it meaningful for the client manager, do not just list tasks completed.  You need to think in terms of what it means to them.
For example, early in my career, I managed projects based on a Microsoft Project plan and any tasks in the plan that were finished by Friday, I listed in the accomplishments for the week.  I did the same for any tasks in the plan that I planned on completing by the next Friday.
I sat down with the client manager in the status meeting and went through all these great accomplishments and he turned to me and rather bluntly asked “What the hell does that mean to me?â€
I was a little dumbfounded.  Well these are tasks in the project plan that we accomplished.  I even started to bring up the project plan in my laptop to show him.
He was quick to explain to me that he wasn’t interested in reading a Microsoft Project plan.  He said, “That’s your tool to manage the project.  You need to translate what the accomplishment of these tasks means to me as far as project completion.  If John Smith finishes a programming task, how much closer are we to finishing the project?  Or, does it mean he can deploy that code for our users to start using it?â€
It opened my eyes to the purpose of the status meeting.  I wasn’t just regurgitating facts and tactical accomplishments.  I needed to tell him how our accomplishments translate to value to him.

How is it different than reporting status within any other company?

Many of the differences are subtle.  If you work for the company that you’re reporting status to – instead of reporting as a consulting outsider – you want to consider those aspects of the status reporting.
Consultants are supposed to be in the trusted advisor status.  If they aren’t, that’s what they should be striving towards.
So the consultant is expected to be speaking and reporting status to the client executive as a