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I met a business/management consultant 2 months ago working in one of the top business consulting firms.

He explained to us that he, as a Business Consultant, can successfully manage projects more effectively and efficiently than a Project Manager. According to him, a Project Manager is a focused person, while a Business Management Consultant is a multi-focus expert. It helps him to do better planning, decision making, and long-term goal achievements.

I always thought a Project Manager is better than a Business Management Consultant. But now, after understanding what a Business Management Consultant can do, my opinion has changed.

I read this article and it seems like a Management Business Consultant is better than a Project Manager.

Though, not all Management Consultants are not better; only the right one.

Who is better at managing projects? A Project Manager or a Business/Management Consultant?

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    This is on the edge of SPAM. Please don't drop links like that, especially if it's totally unrelated to the question.
    – nvoigt
    Aug 8, 2018 at 14:46
  • This appears to be a subjective question asking us to evaluate the opinion of an uncited person. I cannot imagine an authoritative answer to this question, and I'm not sure how an answer could be generally useful to the PM community. While it may be interesting to discuss in a beer and pretzel sense, it doesn't seem to fit within PM:SE.
    – MCW
    Oct 8, 2020 at 11:58

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A title is just a name.

One of the first jobs I applied for just out of university was a position called "Superstar Programmer". Another was "Junior Programmer".

Had I taken the first job, would I suddenly be a better programmer than had I taken the second? No. Of course not.

You know what the job title was of the best Project Manager with whom I've ever worked? "Business Analyst". Project Management wasn't even in her official job description - she just did it because she had to, and she happened to be quite skilled at it.

Obviously, if you ask a 'Business Management Consultant' which is better at Project Management, 9 times out of 10 s/he'll say a Business Management Consultant. And if you ask a Project Manager, 9 times out of 10, s/he'll say a Project Manager. But if you ask me?

It doesn't matter.

Don't put any weight on what people call themselves (other than as a convenient pre-filter label; you likely don't want to go looking for a 'Senior Burger Flipper' to be your Project Manager. Likely) and instead focus on the individuals' skills.

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I am a certified PM and there is no "better than".

If someone compares roles (people) you should be very cautious. What else did he talk about? Himself? Time to optimize your warning systems.

With regards to Consulting, to quote Bertrand Meyer:

The role of a trainer or consultant is to empower the customer, not to make himself indispensable.

Consultants can be anything, from engineering to medical doctor. There is one lesson to learn here: Forget titles, instead focus on certification, degrees, acumen and more over, the personality, character, attitude of persons. Pretending to be even goes to CEO level.

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Any kind of consultant is in the business of telling you that they are the best for the job (regardless of what that job might be) and you should hire them for a metric-manure-ton of $$$.

It seems that that specific individual you met is good at their job in that regard.

Please keep in mind that a project manager is somebody the company hires. The management of the project is their first priority. A consultant is somebody rented to you, their first priority is making their company happy, your company's project and its management is a secondary objective at best.

That said, in my experience, personal skill trumps any kind of job title or experience in a job that ends in manager.

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