How do you create added value?

[sasguru]

In our industry, there are many threats (and opportunities): changing technologies provide new oppos, increased and cheaper competition from abroad seem to be the main threats. There seems to me a few ways of distinguishing yourself and adding value. How do you do it?

Some ways I can think of

- Knowing difficult and arcane technology (high barriers to entry)
- Knowing the vertical markets you work in (business knowledge)
- Knowing the local/national environment (cultural knowledge)
- Knowing how to schmooze and charm (political knowledge)

Any others? What do you do?

[tay]

Knowing how to schmooze and charm (political knowledge)

95% this. I add value by being a happy chappy and having a personality (what personality I chose depends entirely on the audience of course). I never bother getting into silly power squabbles with permies, I massage thier egos... and then invoice.

And the other one is that I am REALLY good at setting expectations.. so I am very rarely late on deadlines.. as the deadlines are always generous (the generous deadliness relates to the schmoozing above).

[Old Greg]

For me:

- Business knowledge
- Schmoozing
- Being able to think my way round problems
- Just enough understanding of technology to get by

[NotAllThere]

The ability to learn new techniques and technology and rapidly be able to apply them.

NotAllThere

[NoddY]

Colour it in?

[wendigo100]

I fart to liven up boring meetings.

[ChimpMaster]

Colour it in?

[Muttley08]

I think the most obvious is understanding the business...

There are still a lot of companies trying to move to RAD techniques (there's a new one named every month) - so knowing the business, taking time to speak to users, is all good stuff.

That's what off / onshore bods can't do - the chances of misunderstandings go up - esp if it's not a project where you can document requirements / designs down to the nth degree.

[ChimpMaster]

I speako en ingles, it helper lotto.

[wendigo100]

I also grovel.