Most consultants reckon that about 70 percent of projects fail to meet their objectives. Reasons for this are wide-ranging. Many issues are project specific. They may relate to specific management issues or special situations that limit consultants’ effectiveness. Some of the problems with consulting projects happen ALL the time. 1. Non-implementation The first problem is […]
Category: Skills, Tips, and Tactics
I don’t remember anyone talking about it back when I was recruiting for consulting, but I have noticed that one major contributing factor to consulting workplace satisfaction is having friends at the firm. By friends, I don’t mean the typical “workplace friends” that you get along with at work, get coffee with, and maybe go […]
Every year strategy consulting firms and agencies that specialise in executive business management and the “maximising shareholder value” approach receive billions of dollars for their services (Management Consulting, 2020). Are consulting firms about more than just advising management? What else do consultants accomplish for a business? To understand what value is offered by consultants, we […]
In my previous article, I shared my thoughts on mentorship and how to become a more effective mentor. However, that article only highlights one side of the mentorship journey; mentees play an equally important role in determining whether that relationship becomes valuable and long-lasting. While there is no “perfect” mentor, finding a mentor who is […]
Although COVID-19 has created new problems and obstacles for many of us, the situation has also brought out the best in all of us in terms of our willingness to help others. Over the past few weeks, I have observed people giving back to their communities by supporting local businesses, creating services to help job […]
Negotiating is something we do every day, with everyone, for everything. We started negotiating as babies when we cried to get what we wanted and gradually built up our negotiation tactics to negotiate dinner locations, job offers, problems with partners, and basically anything that life throws at us. Knowing how to negotiate successfully for whatever […]
During COVID-19, working from home has become the new norm. This is a new experience for many of us, and poses new challenges and distractions that can make it difficult to stay focused and productive. I’ve been getting asked a lot lately about productivity, and so I thought I should dedicate an article to it. […]
Managers come in all shapes and sizes. They naturally have different styles and the junior consultants who are best at adjusting to them often have the most success. Of course, when you get to the very top of a consultancy or any other organisation, managers tend to be good. Partners are partners because they are […]
Consulting is a complicated job that requires a deep understanding of the problem at hand, processing large volumes of data, producing a solution and communicating clear action-oriented recommendations to the people in charge. When you have to work from a distance, conducting these steps can be an issue. Due to the latest situation created by […]
Companies sell products to a broad variety of industries and customer segments, and it’s often hard to know where to focus the sales, marketing and product development efforts. Who should you listen to and who should you be chasing? Within your target market, there will be customers that are “ideal” you. They buy quickly, […]
The past couple weeks have been a crazy time – millions are getting sick, cities are on the verge of shutdown, and firms are having all non-essential personnel work remotely. COVID-19 has certainly changed the way many are living and working all over the world. As my firm and project team have adjusted to working […]
I vividly remember the last consulting interview during first-year MBA recruiting season. I was tense. My confidence was dwindling. I had managed to get interviews with three firms but only made it past the first round with this final company. The recruiting coordinator mentioned she’d get back to me by the end of the day. […]
Before reading this article, check out “Due Diligence by Management Consulting Firms”. What is due diligence? Due diligence is one of the most overused and understated terms in business. Due diligence is the process of being able to evaluate and understand a prospective investment, such as an acquisition, by gathering as much information as possible. […]
Congratulations! You’ve passed your interviews and you’re now a consultant. However, while you may have momentarily rejoiced and thought “I’ve made it!”, you probably quickly came to the realization that this is just the beginning. Being a consultant is a constant challenge and struggle. It will never be “easy,” but if it were, you would […]
Product management is at the heart of any modern business and today’s product managers need to have incredibly strong quantitative skills and intuition to build products or features that customers will find truly useful. They must focus on quality outcomes and not quantity of output. This brings us to the four goals of product management : […]
Having a great mentor is critical for personal skill development, especially early in your career, and so I wanted to share the guidelines that my mentor provided me to follow in 2019 to become a better consultant / strategist. As a brief introduction, my mentor spent two summers at Bain & Co. as an Associate […]
When two companies are going through a merger or an acquisition (M&A), the branding strategy is often the last thing that senior management thinks about, wrongly assuming that it’s more a creative decision than a business call. This is a huge mistake. There’s no clearer signal to the market regarding the intentions behind the M&A […]
In an ideal world, your business would be judged on the quality of your service. However, humans are visual creatures. A nicely designed business proposal suggests 3 things: You are a true professional You pay great attention to detail You take pride in your work The three things above increase the likelihood of winning work. […]
Leadership. We are all told it is important. There are libraries worth of books written about it. Yet, more often than not, people have a hard time defining it and understanding its relevance because of its all-encompassing nature. For prospective consultants, this blog post will provide some clarity on what leadership means in a consulting […]
Despite their expertise, many consultants struggle to close deals. Writing a consulting proposal that closes a sale can be challenging, and as a result it may be difficult to figure out why your proposals are getting rejected. In this article, we will look at seven tips that will improve your success rate so that you can […]
One of the most vivid memories I have from my early consulting career was the time a Chief Operations Officer (COO) nearly torpedoed my first engagement. It was a corporate reorganisation that involved taking 8 major divisions and around a dozen support units and rebuilding them into a simpler organisational structure. By the time the […]
In the last instalment, I wrote about a fundamental resource within high performing companies, people, and the ways in which internal and external motivation can direct the knowledge sharing process. You can read the full article here. I also claimed that managers have the power to motivate people working within an organisation to increase their […]
As I start my consulting career, some of the questions that I keep coming back to are: How can I stand out amongst all of these high achieving and well educated individuals, especially in the beginning? What skills do I need to develop? What are the keys to longevity at my firm and the greater […]
The consulting industry is a very competitive field with an abundance of highly educated professionals with proven track records of success. In order to succeed and stay relevant in such a competitive field, consultants have to keep their knowledge up to date and continuously hone their skills. The question is, what is the best way […]
The term ‘knowledge management’ has become increasingly trendy over the past couple of years during B-school. And with that trend a new one has emerged: little information on how to manage it successfully. In any team dynamic, formal or informal, it is essential to derive and translate relevant knowledge to the right people. However, the […]
Ever since I started my professional program in Energy and Environmental Management, from time to time, I can’t help but ask myself: how on earth can I master so many different topics? Although I am still as confused as ever when trying to understand such a fast changing world and those fabulously complicated consulting problems […]
When you first start consulting, it can seem like a sort of corporate utopia: interesting work, a new client every few months, access to leaders of industry, great colleagues, endless career development and training, generous dinner budgets, extensive travel, nice hotels, international travel. But, the consulting world is the Partner’s oyster, not yours. It may […]
Top-tier consulting firms are notorious for two or three-year up or out policies, and poor work-life balance. But by working smarter, doing ‘just enough’ is usually sufficient for promotion and can also improve your quality of life. Before getting into the tips, I remind you that your personal life is more important than being a […]
Congratulations! You’ve passed your interviews and you’re now a consultant. However, while you may have momentarily rejoiced and thought “I’ve made it!”, you probably quickly came to the realization that this is just the beginning. Being a consultant is a constant challenge and struggle. It will never be “easy,” but if it were, you would […]
Having a successful career in consulting requires sustained motivation. When your skills are a good match for the requirements of the industry, your superior performance will be an ongoing source of encouragement. A sensible first step towards a consulting-career would be to understand whether you have what it takes to excel in consulting. Here is […]
Why do organisations hire consultants? If you are a junior consultant, knowing why your work is valuable is likely to make your job more meaningful. If you are a partner, knowing why your work is valuable is likely to help you sell consulting projects and make money for yourself and for the firm. Below we […]
Categories
Consulting Exit Options
One of the benefits of starting your career in the management consulting industry is that it provides many favorable exit opportunities. Some of the possible exit opportunities that a consultant may consider are outlined below. 1. Another Consulting Firm Just because you leave a consulting firm doesn’t mean that you have to leave the consulting industry. […]
Life comes packaged with only so many minutes, around 40 million of them. Making the most of each one will help you to become more productive and, ultimately, achieve your goals. There are many different ingredients that combine to determine your productivity including the time of day, physical environment, your level of motivation, as well […]
One thing they don’t teach you at university, but which every young professional needs to learn, is how to write an effective email. Here are five (5) steps to help you successfully structure your professional emails. Step 1: Start with a greeting You should start your email with a greeting. It is important to do […]
Management consulting is a service industry that earns its keep by serving large organisations – corporate, non-profit and government. During economic downturns these prospective clients typically have less money, or more uncertain cash flows, and so are less likely to spend money on consulting services. As a result, consultants are vulnerable to layoffs during economic […]
Categories
Consulting Jargon
We have commented on consulting jargon before, but we will do it again. Organisations hire management consultants to provide advice on their most challenging business problems. Senior management are busy people, and so consultants need to communicate as clearly as possible. The need for clarity, however, has not prevented consultants from developing an industry jargon all […]
The consulting industry provides many services and covers many industry sectors, and so the domain knowledge and expertise that a consultant needs will vary depending on the industry focus and services that the consultant actually provides. That being said, there are some generic skills that every consultant will need to have. As a starting point, […]
(Source: Cydcor) This is a guest post from Archie Ward. Take responsibility for getting the most value out of the next conference you attend. By planning ahead and thinking strategically, a conference can generate sales, increase business, improve vendor relationships and initiate strategic partnerships. Going to a conference can renew excitement about the business, open […]
(Source: reynermedia) This is a guest post from Archie Ward. Many business people do not know how to bond with their clients. This is because the majority of such individuals struggle to find time to enjoy themselves. If you are such an individual, then there are things you can do to help you bond with […]
This is a guest post from Archie Ward, a business consultant and social media strategist. Archie splits his time each year between Asia and Australia. While he is hard at work helping other people make their businesses successful, he hopes to launch his own by year end. Consultants rely on image as much as they […]
Categories
Play The Game
(Source: Flickr) I recently had a conversation with a friend who is studying a PhD here in Oxford. She is originally from China, and her intelligence is only exceeded by her work ethic and desire to make her PhD supervisor happy. She confessed to me with a look a mild despair on her face, “I am making slow progress. […]
Categories
Filling the Void
(Source: Flickr) It is a figure of speech that “empty vessels make the most noise”. And for verbal conversation this would appear to be a good observation. People who are not thoughtful are likely to say whatever comes to mind since they don’t think to filter good thoughts from bad, obnoxious thoughts from nice ones. In self defense, these people will often be […]
Categories
Discipline and Decency
All too often partners in professional service firms know how to issue orders, but forget about the need for kindness. Employees develop fear rather than fondness for their managers, and quickly learn how little they can produce to keep people happy. In professions where the quality of the final product hinges on the quality of the thought process used to develop it (e.g. […]
ORGANISATIONS hire management consultants to help them solve their most challenging business problems. Senior management are busy people, and so consultants need to communicate their message clearly and concisely, preferably accompanied by some colourful powerpoint slides. The irony, though, is that consultants have gone on to develop an industry jargon which is often completely incomprehensible to industry outsiders. Below […]
Categories
Social Climbers
The problem with being a social climber is that you erode your base of support. Your customers or boss may love you, but if you actively disdain your subordinates, employees, suppliers and other members of the community, you will erode over time the foundation upon which future success can be reliably built. All stakeholders have value, not just the ones who can reward you most immediately with money, […]
ALL too often, and especially when starting out on a new project, the things we don’t know outnumber the things we do. We may know very little and, in the absence of knowledge, we can become stuck. Paralysis, our inability or unwillingness to make forwards progress, is the surest road to stagnation, difficulty and ultimate demise. What can be done […]
Categories
Gorillas in our Midst
Why you’ll often miss the best opportunities – and biggest upcoming problems – when they are right in your face (Source: Freaking News) Suppose for a moment that I were to walk into your office, right at this minute, dressed as a gorilla. Yes, a gorilla – stay with me here. Now imagine I start […]
Categories
Simple Is Better
See why “simple is better” in this short video from the Boston Consulting Group
Consultants best serve their clients by being consistently seen as approachable and interested in the client’s business problems (Source: Flickr) This guest post is from Tat Biswas, an IT consultant and blogger based in Sydney. He works with organisations to help them implement software and undertake business process improvement. I would like to share my […]
Management consultants thrive in the fertile middle ground, a place where new understanding and being easily understood are both essential YOU may have had the experience of talking with a technical expert like a computer programmer and, at the end of a long conversation, being left with the overwhelming impression that you have absolutely no idea what […]