Quote Originally Posted by mattsykes View Post
They materially change scope without consultation or approval? I'd say the solution is to fire them and get new consultants! At the very least, it should be escalated through the management structure of the consultant so that the person who is most-interested in keeping the business can appropriately address with the people who are doing the wrong thing...

Beyond that, I would ensure scope is structured as a detailed checklist, with each individual workstage, and have them submit to you on a weekly basis. Columns would be status (not started, in progress, complete), and something appropriate to your situation to require them to declare any variation from the original scope.
I wish firing them was an option! It's very specialised work, to change consultants would require lots of money and take rework, and run the risk of them not being able to do the work at all, which has happened before.

I like the idea of a checklist, I've been thinking this could help solve the problems. Because I'm nervous at meetings I tend to not ask as many questions as I need to. If we had a checklist that we both share, it might jog their memory of issues to raise with me, so I don't have to ask all the questions all the time, and it will also remind me about what to ask.
If you have any ideas for the checklist I'd love to hear them