You’re team is over budget and not hitting objectives. They’re indecisive and uncertain they have the resources to carry out the task at hand. Enter the project recovery consultant. This is a powerful resource that has been sold for its far reaching and invaluable benefits. When your project is failing and you’re business is in crisis mode, expertise can help you more effectively capture objectives, identify key tasks and improve work processes that ultimately lead to a successful end. But as the consultant-client relationship evolves, an even more significant benefit has revealed itself. And businesses are quickly realizing how the right consultant can help them discover assets they never even knew they had.

Some projects do go off the rails. It would be nice if they didn’t, but, sometimes a confluence of factors makes it very difficult to complete a project according to plan. Since millions of dollars are at stake, as well as the long-term sustainability of the company, it becomes necessary to bring in a project recovery consultant to help turn a project around. How do you choose the right person for the job?

Horses are big and powerful; they are strong and capable of incredible feats, either in the field or on an equestrian course. But they’re also jumpy. If you sneak up on one, you’ll scare it half to death. This is like a project; it can be a big, powerful initiative, but also skittish if problems sneak up on it. To ensure that your workhorse is inured to sudden movement, loud noises, and other problems, consistent and timely project reporting is a must. Here are some guidelines we’ve developed over the years for effective communication at all levels of an organization.

Think about the way you parent your children, or the way you yourself were parented. We have helicopter parents; we have permissive parents who are afraid to say “no;” we have authoritative parents who are afraid to say “yes.” We have those who lead by example and do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do types. You can’t parent two kids the same way and achieve the same results; it’s not possible. You can’t even parent the same kid the same way in every situation. You can apply the same lessons to consultants: while there are a variety of different styles, ultimately, the style that is most effective is the one that works for you and your client.

Despite all the inspirational quotes on the importance of failure, of learning from failure, of failure being a prerequisite to success, no one likes to fail. When it comes down to it, we may believe Thomas Edison when he said, “I failed my way to success,” but we don’t think it applies to us. The fear of failure often drives our decision-making processes, and this can be a huge impediment to success and can lower the ceiling for that success. Creating an environment in which decisions are made with positive results in mind shifts the focus and provides motivation in place of dread.