Consulting 101 Wednesday, October 6 th

2 Agenda  Pegging the Scope Down  Developing a Work Plan  Preparing the Deck  Working in a Consulting Team  Q&A

3 Agenda  Pegging the Scope Down  Developing a Work Plan  Preparing the Deck  Working in a Consulting Team  Q&A

4 Steps to Clarify Scope  Review the client’s proposal and prepare questions  Meet with the client early to discover what the problem actually is  Meet with advisor if project has radically changed  Develop a statement of the problem A question or a clear hypothesis As specific as possible Focused on action  Draft the engagement letter and receive approval from client

5 Consider These Questions  When meeting with the client: Define Problem Space  Context: Why is this an issue at this time? Are there other issues bearing on the problem?  Constraints: What is not in scope? What solutions are not acceptable?  Client: Who is the real client? To whom will we make the presentation? Who will take the decision? Define Deliverables  Form: What type of deliverable will be the most beneficial to the client? What type of deliverable will NOT be useful to the client?

6 The Red Cross does not know what its educational courses are costing What costing systems can the Red Cross put in place to find cost of courses? Build a simple and quick system that the Red Cross can put in place in order to better price its courses and manage its course mix Refining the Issue Fact Too General Specific, Focused on Action  After the meeting, begin refining the issues

7 Developing Your LOE  The engagement letter If you defined and refined the problems, the constraints and deliverables, there’s little else to do Clearly define expectations from both sides Signed by team and client: a statement of commitment from both sides

8 HeadingDescription Define what resources you will need from the client, and specify the time per week you will require from them. If possible, describe the role each individual will play on your team Prerequisites for successful project Describe in 1 page what activities the team will undertake over the duration of the project. Identify the need for customer or supplier interviews/surveys as early as possible Work plan/approach to the project In 1 paragraph, define your assessment of the current situation at your client, key issues the team is going to address, and the benefit of resolving the issues Impact/benefit of the project to the client Engagement Letter

9 Things to Remember  You don’t have the answer yet  Set the tone of a good partner  Revisit, revisit, revisit the engagement letter

10 Agenda  Pegging the Scope Down  Developing a Work Plan  Preparing the Deck  Working in a Consulting Team  Q&A

11 Tackling the Analysis  Identify key analyses What is our initial hypothesis for a solution? What analysis do we need to perform to test the hypothesis? What data is available? What data is required? How can we fill the data gaps? What are the end products for each analysis?  Defining your analysis Brainstorm and build an “issue tree” Ensure it is MECE  Mutually Exclusive and Collectively Exhaustive

12 Analyzing the Issues  Issue Tree Example Increase attendance at given pricing level? Change pricing? How can the Art Center increase revenues? Explore alternate revenue streams? Change nature of collection? Explore alternate marketing channels to broaden audience Sub-idea 3

13 Analyzing the Issues  Prioritize and focus on issues based on impact, team interests, ease of analysis Increase attendance at given pricing level? Change pricing? How can the Art Center increase revenues? Explore alternate revenue streams? Change nature of collection? Explore alternate marketing channels to broaden audience Sub-idea 3

14 Analyzing the Issues  Why bother with the darn tree?  Helps divide project  Road map for analysis and data collection  Ensures completeness (prevents blindsiding)  Will help you with case interviews

15 PrinciplesComments Be realistic about end product precision limits Scrutinize precision of input data– beware of “polishing dirt” Look for 80/20, “killer analyses” Avoid trying to boil the ocean– which analyses will nail the answer/ provide the most insight? Continually question the hypotheses Re-evaluate hypotheses every day and adjust work plan – regularly check ideas with client End-product drivenHypothesize the answer(s) and plan the quickest path to robustly “prove” or disprove it Planning Critical Analyses

16 Sample Timeline Initial Meeting with Client, Letter of Engagement Week of September 27 th Develop Detailed Work Plan, Begin Initial “Industry” Research Week of October 11 th Begin Analysis, Prepare Interview Guides, Start Client Interviews Week of October 18 th Finish Client Interviews, Continue Analysis, Check-In Meeting with Client Week of November 1 st Draft Deck, Meet with Advisor Week of November 15 th Submit Deck to Exec Board, Conduct Dry-Run of Presentation Week of November 29 th Final Presentation with Client Week of December 6th Every project will have its own distinct timeline Do what makes sense for your client

17 Example Workplan

18 Things to Remember  Understand what the problem actually is  Be end-product driven, think about slide output  Be data driven: all opinions are equal  Give your analyses the “So What?” test  Divide and conquer!

19 Agenda  Pegging the Scope Down  Developing a Work Plan  Preparing the Deck  Working in a Consulting Team  Q&A

20 Preparing the Deck  Initial Development Once you have begun the analyses, start laying out your story in presentation form This will help you stay focused on the task at hand As a team, you need to “story-board” the presentation to identify your gaps

21 Story-Board the Deck

22 Things to Remember  Don’t feel constrained by the story-board  Think about length of the presentation  Story-boarding makes the end of the project much more efficient

23 Agenda  Pegging the Scope Down  Developing a Work Plan  Preparing the Deck  Working in a Consulting Team  Q&A

24 High-functioning Teams  Trust your team members Don’t micromanage  Flexible roles Remember the overall needs of project  Clear ownership Set clear and delegated responsibilities  Know when to escalate Avoid delays, roadblocks

25 Things to Remember  If you don’t bring up the problem now….  Ask people their preferences  Remember to bring the workstreams together periodically

26 Q & A