Key Skills to look for in an Airtable Consultant that impact project success
1. Understanding Airtable Fundamentals
Undeniably, an important skill that impacts a project’s success is a consultant’s understanding of Airtable itself. This includes:
- Airtable fundamentals like building a base, linking tables, making automations, and creating interfaces.
- Having an understanding of permissions in Airtable.
- Understanding the benefits and drawbacks of each Airtable plan and which plan would be the best fit for a client, their budget, and their needs.
- How to integrate 3rd party tools with Airtable if required.
2. Discovery & Requirements Gathering
A key skill is asking the right questions. During an initial consultation, you can quickly gauge if a consultant is the right fit if they are asking insightful questions to understand your system requirements on a deeper level. Additionally, you can tell if they are picking up on your key requirements based on where they ask more clarifying follow-up questions.
Here are some examples of insightful questions consultants may ask when scoping your project (these will vary depending on the context of the project):
- Who are your stakeholders? How will they be using the system?
- What permissions do you want to give to the users of your system?
- What workflows are most critical in your system?
- What trackers are you currently using (e.g. An airtable base, spreadsheet etc.)?
3. Business Context and Industry Knowledge
A consultant who has experience with your particular business context is crucial because they have a more intuitive understanding of the nuances in your industry. Airtable users from the same industry can have different systems based on the context and requirements of the particular team.
For example, a marketing calendar use case might have a simpler implementation for a small in-house marketing team, but would need a very different implementation for a larger marketing agency with more complex workflows and a multi-layer campaign review process.
Claribase has worked with over 200 clients across a variety of industries and use cases. We have likely dealt with a use case similar to yours in the past and can leverage that knowledge as a solid baseline for developing a solution unique to your business needs. We often hire members of our team from various industries so we can match a client with a consultant whose experience aligns with the client’s use case and industry. For example, we would pair up a consultant with an architecture background with a real estate client or a consultant with a background in cinematography with a video production studio.
4. Communication and Project Development Process
Different consultants have varying approaches to building a project. Some like to take a client’s requirements and develop the entire project from start to finish, while others prioritize iterating the design and integrating client feedback at earlier stages. A key skill when looking for a consultant is how they communicate and move through this development process.
At Claribase we like to involve the clients in each step of a project to ensure we are continuously reaffirming the design and making sure it aligns with our clients’ needs. Our process generally begins with a period of discovery where we gain clarity on a client’s requirements and review existing systems they use. We then move into implementation. This phase is highly iterative. We will often build out aspects of the project and demo it for clients to ensure it continues to align with their needs. Communication is key to this process. Click here to learn more about Claribase and how we work with clients.
Conclusion
There are many things to consider when looking for an Airtable consultant. In our experience, these 4 key skills have the highest impact on project success and client-consultant alignment. Now that you know what skills to look for in an Airtable consultant, you may be asking yourself, “Where do I find an Airtable Consultant?”. Click here to learn more about places to find qualified Airtable Consultants.
If you are looking to implement Aiartable successfully, please book a free Introduction call with the Claribase team to learn more about how we collaborate with clients to develop a well-designed system that matches their needs.
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Whether you’re a solopreneur, a small business owner, or a member of a larger team, this course is perfect for anyone looking to supercharge their data organization and management.