Food for thought: Don't say goodbye like an englishman

A few years ago I was working on a project team in Hungary. As we neared the end, one by one the consultants quietly headed for London. When it was my turn to depart, the sponsoring director said: "Surely you are not going say goodbye like an Englishman?" Apparently in Eastern Europe this means to leave without any proper goodbye.

Many consultancies claim in their marketing material: "We work with you, not on you". This may well be the intent at the beginning of an engagement but what of the reality at the close? How best to say 'Goodbye' or better still 'Au revoir' - especially when both time and budget are nearly gone.

Has the client team taken ownership? Do they make the final presentation to their own management?

• Are new ways of working really sustainable, having made the transition from 'project' to 'business as usual'?
• Have the business benefits achieved been logged and the results checked against the stakeholders' expectations?
• Have the 'lessons learnt' been captured and all new tools & techniques documented and fully understood?
• Will there be follow-up visits by the consultants to provide after-care to your client?
• Are you even planning to write a case study under joint authorship?

At one final meeting, the client sponsor said to his project team: "You have all done a great deal of hard work and produced some excellent solutions... but I'm not at all sure what the consultant was doing all this time". He was jesting but when you hear these words you know the local team has truly taken over and it is time to say goodbye.

Philip Taylor