Some – and by “some,” I mean “a lot” – of clients believe that when junior consultants are working on their projects, they are not getting the full value for which they are paying. They think there is a sort of bait-and-switch going on, and that junior consultants cannot possibly bring the same professionalism and results that a senior consultant can. To this I say, “Nonsense!” You actually want junior consultants working on your project. Here’s why.

You Can’t Stack Every Project with Senior Consultants.

What often happens is that when you have a team of, say, five senior consultants, you have five set methodologies by which they like to operate. Junior consultants typically are not as structured in that they have not subscribed to a particular methodology yet. This infuses new possibilities into a project, and it means that they take instructions literally. They will follow them to the letter and do the work as it is meant to be done. With some – and by “some,” I mean “some” – seniors, they have their routes down so they take the shortcuts.

Senior consultants doing project updates, status reports, or risk logs, is a waste of your money and their skillset and experience You don’t want them spending time playing with the tools. You want them for their thought-leadership consulting, drawing out requirements, and developing architectures and business processes. A junior person can tackle these competently, and at the same time, it is a way for them to learn the process and provide insights.

They Bring the “New.”

Juniors are not as worried about the status quo, and they are not constrained by convention or tradition. Consequently, they are more open to change or new operating paradigms. They tend to bring a fresh perspective, and often, it is accompanied by new information, whether from their recent education, or their social networks.

If you are, for instance, talking about a strategy like mobile banking, they likely have a different spin on it. A senior guy may say, “This is what the experts say…” and juniors are fine replying, “That’s bull; that’s not what is important to “Gen X or Y.” This opens the possibility of developing unique solutions and processes.

They Ask the Dumb Questions.

What does that mean? Why are we doing it this way? Juniors are definitely willing to ask the “dumb” questions that many senior managers, executives, and consultants will not. They don’t want to admit a lack of understanding of the issue or context of a problem or comment. Sometimes, juniors just pay more attention. Senior staff is busy and hurried confronted with multiple deadlines and consequently, they may not give an issue the same level of scrutiny.

It happens, too, that when we slip into techno-speak or project-speak, junior consultants are willing to say, “Wait, that might not make sense from a layperson’s perspective; it might not sit well with businesspeople.”

They Add Vibrancy and Energy.

Don’t underestimate the power of enthusiasm and the desire to learn.. Junior consultants are, for the most part, highly energetic and not constrained about showing it. This can breathe new life into projects – and into senior staff as well.

A project needs a lot of different perspectives. It needs people to do; it needs people to think; it needs people to question. There is a place, and a very important place, for junior consultants.