Return on Investment (ROI) is one of the fundamental principles of business.  Any  business contemplating enterprise initiatives attempts to clearly see and understand the ROI. The use of ROI is no different for consultants as new projects, employees and business expansions must all be able to deliver a financial return on the cost of the investment whether that investment is money, time or some other resource.

One of the most fundamental ways we as consultants create a strong ROI is by investing our time into other employees during their initial time on a project.  Though called many things – ‘onboarding', ‘ramping up’, etc – I’ll refer to this process as ‘level setting’ as the main goal is to bring new project members to the same level as the team.  When given the attention it deserves, level setting creates a ripe environment for successful project delivery.