This chapter examines the phases of the consultancy associated with endings or follow-on work. The disengagement phase should also make space for reviewing and evaluating what has been achieved and what has been left undone, and should enable the consultants to review their own performance self-critically, quite separately from their review of the consultancy. This is in recognition that the consultancy has engaged people who receive public services as citizen-consultants. They have been drawn into the consultancy intellectually and emotionally and have acted as critics as it has proceeded. Now, as the consultants disengage from the consultancy, the citizen-consultants maintain their critical gaze on the process.

What disengagement means

Disengagement is the term used to refer to the process of withdrawal by the consultant. Ideally, this should be a gradual and smooth process, which seems to all parties inevitable since the consultant has worked her- or himself out of a job. The bottom line is that when individuals, groups and organisations reach the point that they can continue to carry out, or work on, what the consultant has been doing, this is when the consultancy, de facto, ends, whether or not any of the parties recognise this at the time! This is the point where any contingency fees are paid, which are separate from the regular fees normally paid in stages throughout a consultancy extending beyond a few weeks. Contingency fees are fees paid only when specified conditions have been met by contractors, including the consultant. In some consultancies, the consultant may be paid a retainer by the client at the conclusion of the contract. Retainer is the term used to refer to a regular or one-off fee paid by a client to retain the consultant's services.

Various ways of disengaging

Disengagement, or withdrawal, can take many forms. The parallels with military disengagement are not precise, but there are perhaps some thought-provoking analogies. Four main forms of disengagement occur to us:

• • Surprise withdrawal – all comes to an end, all contact is severed and the consultant literally slips away. The consultant may often feel like doing this, but such an approach is unlikely to endear the client who paid, or worse, who has still to pay for their services, and in turn may harm the consultant's reputation.