Sequence

It is important to emphasize that although the stages in the Seven Cs model are shown in a linear fashion, it is a rare consultancy project that would follow such a structured path. Consulting projects are like life - they are unpredictable and will throw up new and different surprises around every bend. The stages are symbolic rather than prescriptive, offering different actions and viewpoints to be applied depending on the needs of the client, consumer and consultant.

For example, your first meeting with the client might take place when the company is in a dire situation and needs urgent action to be taken the following day. So although the pressure will be on to jump directly into the Create and Change phases, at some point you might need to backtrack to clarify a few things, such as forming a more structured contract with the client and identifying what caused the problem in the first place. Without this knowledge, a sense of imbalance might occur. The client might feel that you have failed to get to the bottom of the issue while you believe that the client has little real interest in the engagement.

Alternatively, you are asked to take on a sub-contract for a specific part of a programme from another consulting firm. For example, your project is to manage the Change stage within the model, specifically to deliver a known and prescribed output. As a project manager you will still need to consider the before and after factors. In undertaking any project, it is important to understand who the client is, how the project is designed and what options there are to develop the project plan. Finally, when completed, you will have to measure and confirm that the change has been delivered according to plan. So even where the sequence is broken up to offer other people discrete packages, all of the elements in the Seven Cs have a clear role.

Lastly, even when focused on one particular stage of the model, you still need to be aware of, and draw on, elements from the other stages. In the Create stage you will need to be aware of the issues that help to maintain Continuity; how the Change will be Confirmed or measured; what research data within the Clarify stage might have been slightly suspect; or if the contract with the client needs to be modified as a result of changes in the implementation plan. So although at any time there will always be a dominant stage, you might need to run a number of other stages in parallel.