Employee to Consultant

Recently we had a gentleman move from being an employee to consultant here at work.  This gentleman used to be my boss, transitioned to being our “Architect” and was thusly moved to being a consultant by extraneous circumstances.

I have recently been appointed to being this individual’s contact which means I am to track his progress and assure that it meets with our standards and is being done in a decent amount of time.  While this is certainly not an issue in my mind I wonder if it will be difficult in his at some point.

I am a no nonsense type of individual that seeks to getting the job done and if possible without any type of personal feelings.  While I will certainly voice my distain for a direction I will lead a sinking ship if asked.  With all of this I do wonder if working with this gentleman our relationship will be that of consultant and client or that of our first relationship of boss and underling.  While these circumstances were thrust upon both of us is it reasonable to think that one with a long history 3+ years with a company can transition from having any personal feelings to the more aptly “What can I do for you?” mentality.

So far my feelings are that this type of transition is and would be difficult for anyone to do and moreover can and might be counter productive.  I guess we’ll see over the coming months how this transition will pan out.  I’m hopeful but definitely not going to hold my breath.