Introduction
Hiring a learning experience design (LXD) consultant can be a game-changer—whether you’re bringing in extra help for a busy season, tackling a new type of project, or outsourcing due to budget cuts. But if you’ve never worked with freelancers or consultants before, of if you’ve had bad experiences in the past, you might wonder what it takes to make the client-consultant relationship work smoothly.
Whether you’re a fellow LXD subcontracting parts of a project, or you’re working with a consultant for the first time (or the hundredth time), here are some practical ways to make the partnership work—for both of you.
If you found this post and have no idea what LXD is but want to know more about working with a consultant, these tips could help you too.
1. Choose Your Role: Boss, Collaborator, or Advisee?
Every successful partnership with a learning experience design consultant starts with clarity. Determine what role you want to play and communicate that upfront to the consultant to ensure that it’s the right fit.
The Boss
Do you want to be the final decision-maker on every detail, from objectives to design choices? Sometimes clients need to be hands-on, even teetering on micro-management, especially if the organization has well-established processes and standards. But if this is you, do you have the time and capacity to be as involved as you need to be to play this role? Consider this when creating the project schedule and setting deadlines. If you want the project finished next month, but you don’t have time to review interim deliverables in the meantime, that timeline is going to be a challenge.
The Collaborator
Do you want to make learning experience design decisions together? If so, figure out what you want this to look like day-to-day, and communicate those expectations to the consultant. Many of my repeat clients are great collaborators. But sometimes, it can get out of hand. For example, I had a client who liked to review materials over marathon Zoom calls, going over the script line by line together. There’s nothing wrong with that if that’s how you like to work, but it ate up a lot of project hours I had planned for development. So now, my contracts typically establish a maximum number of meeting hours to protect my client’s budget, preserving time for hands-to-keyboard development time.
The Advisee
Are you hoping to hire a learning designer who can take the lead and guide you through the process? I’ve worked with many clients who are new to instructional design and development, so they rely on me to lead them every step of the way—and I am happy to do it.
Whichever role you are most comfortable with is okay. The key is to find a consultant you can work well together with and make sure they understand the part you need them to play.
2. Communicate Early, Clearly, and Consistently
The discovery call and the project kickoff are important opportunities for conversations that set the tone for the rest of the project.
Take this time to communicate your expectations for the project clearly. What do you want the end result to achieve? How do you want learners to feel? What do you want it to look like? If you don’t know, that’s okay—that’s why you hired a consultant. But if you do have these expectations in mind but you don’t share them, that’s not setting the project, or the consultant, up for success.
Also think about how and when you want to communicate throughout the project. This is more than just exchanging email addresses. It’s about setting expectations on both sides.
If the LXD consultant has a quick question, would you prefer they send you a Slack message or a text? An email? Or would you rather they pick up the phone and call?
How often do you want project updates, and in what format? A project with a tight deadline might require more frequent touchpoints than one with more wiggle room. But bear in mind that every meeting pulls time away from development. Use them wisely.
Who needs to be included in project communications? Does the entire team need to be copied on every email, or can you identify points of contact for each type of message?
It’s also a good idea to be clear about how the consultant will work with your team. Will they be communicating directly with them? Or should all communication go through you?
You’ll need to discuss all these decisions early, and you may need to revisit them as the project gets underway.
3. Commit to the Process
Designing great learning experiences takes more than just handing off content. When you’re working with an LXD consultant, make sure you understand the design and development process and how you’ll participate. Many consultants will walk you through their process at the beginning of the project. If they don’t offer, ask them to do that.
If you expect to be a decision-maker on the project, then be ready to stay engaged throughout the process—even if you’ve delegated reviews to a subject matter expert (SME) or other team member.
Let me give you an example. I once worked on a project where the client handed off day-to-day collaboration and decision-making to SMEs—and all was going well. The SMEs were pleased with the content and the design. But then, although there were several opportunities to review interim deliverables, the client waited until the final approval stage to look at what was developed—changing the direction completely. The result? Redoing weeks of work, damaging the relationship, and blowing the timeline—and budget. checking in throughout the project could have saved a lot of time and heartache.
4. Trust the Expertise You Hired
Your LXD consultant brings experience in learning strategy, instructional methods, brain science, and learner-centered design. That means they might challenge assumptions or suggest alternatives to what you had in mind. That’s a feature, not a bug. Listen to them.
If you’ve hired someone whose portfolio, process, or reputation you respect, let them do what they do best.
Over-involving yourself in every tiny decision can slow down the process—and sometimes lead to less effective experiences for your learners. Of course, if there are non-negotiables in how things are done in your organization, that’s important context your consultant needs to know. But if you find yourself controlling every detail just because it’s hard to let go, consider stepping back and seeing what your consultant can do when they’re empowered to lead.
The best learning experience designers are not order takers. We ask questions to better understand the problem you’re trying to solve, and we work with you to co-create a solution that truly meets the needs of your learners.
5. Respect the Relationship (and the Calendar)
Consultants juggle multiple clients, deadlines, and sometimes subcontractors of their own. When source materials, feedback, or approvals come in late, it has ripple effects. It might mean your project has to be rescheduled around other commitments, which can jeopardize your overall project success.
Think of your consultant like a valued partner, not a vending machine. Timely feedback and clear communication are how you keep the work flowing.
And while we’re talking about respect, let’s discuss the elephant in the room—because every freelancer I know can relate to this one. You need to pay your consultant’s invoices on time. If your payments are always late, it’s going to have negative effects on the relationship—and potentially, the work. Clients who pay on time every time are clients whose work gets prioritized.
Respecting someone’s time and payment terms isn’t just professional—it’s part of creating a trusted working relationship when you hire a learning experience designer.
Final Thoughts
Working with an LXD consultant can expand your capacity, bring fresh ideas, and make your projects shine. A little clarity and mutual respect go a long way. Whether you’re subcontracting parts of your own work or helping your clients understand how to partner with a consultant, these simple tips can make the process smoother—for everyone involved.
What tips would you add from your personal experience? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
