Seeking advice from experts: A cautionary tale

Experts are considered assets for most projects. Expert judgment is widely used in almost all major processes in the “Project Management Book of Knowledge 5th edition” [1], and for some of the processes it is the only technique mentioned. Most project teams will have their own internal experts, but many teams will seek outside expertise from project consultants, user groups, subject matter experts, or senior management people. The ultimate outcome of the process, usually the decision quality, will depend critically on whether the prospective advisor should or should not provide advice based on his or her knowledge of the problem area. There is a significant amount of research that examines why or when a decision maker will or will not use an advisor's advice [2,3]. This paper examines the other side of the relationship - why and when an advisor will agree to provide advice and identifies moderators that influence an advisor's willingness to give advice.