Consulting: Tools for Success February 5, 2001 Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management

Deborah Bernstein Rod Blacklock Suzie Sergi Vin O’Reilly Diane Weiss / Consulting Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management

Agenda Consulting: Tools for Success Objectives Top 10 Lists Skills Lessons Learned Feedback on Your Questions Conflict Resolution Exercise Q&A Vin O’Reilly Diane Weiss / Consulting Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management

Objectives Provide honest feedback about a career in consulting Tie current learning to skills needed in consulting Helpful hints for Dianne Weiss Consulting Project Vin O’Reilly Diane Weiss / Consulting Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management

Reasons TO go into consulting Exposure to different companies, industries, and people Flexibility of schedule - Autonomy Non-repetitive projects Training / Learning - formal and informal Well-defined career path Multiple responsibilities Vin O’Reilly Diane Weiss / Consulting Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management

Top Reasons NOT TO go into consulting Work / life balance Travel Fix and run Always at the bottom of the learning curve Metrics Multiple stakeholders Perception of consultants Inability to affect change Vin O’Reilly Diane Weiss / Consulting Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management

Sills Most Often Used Vin O’Reilly Diane Weiss / Consulting Communication skills –Feedback –Reflective practice –Listening skills –Interview skills Thinking on your feet Managing upward Presentation skills Time management skills –Multi-tasking –Multiple projects –Prioritization Conflict resolution Writing skills Project management skills Facilitation skills Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management

Lessons Learned for Diane Weiss You will rarely implement the optimal solution but you can always implement an effective solution Expect to be treated like an outsider; sometimes it will work to your advantage; sometimes it will be a barrier Your interests, the firm’s interests, your staff’s interests and the client’s interests are not always aligned Rule of thumb: Give the client what they want, but tell them what they need to hear Linkage: Tie the solution to the root cause Learn to practice conflict resolution versus conflict avoidance Vin O’Reilly Diane Weiss / Consulting Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management

Question: What are specific consulting tools that could help with Diane Weiss? Project management –Mobilization document roles and responsibilities discuss team expectations –Statement of Work / Job Arrangement Letter scope maintenance –Workplan timeline –milestones / interim deliverables accountability Establish and document deliverables Vin O’Reilly Diane Weiss / Consulting Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management

Question: What are specific consulting tools that could help with Diane Weiss? Project management (continued) –Status meetings (client and team) Establish desired outcomes for every meeting Create an agenda End with action items / next steps Process Analysis –Flowcharting Data Gathering –Interviews –Focus Groups –Survey Vin O’Reilly Diane Weiss / Consulting Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management

Question: How do you define the scope? DON’T START WITH THE SOLUTION List assumptions Assess the situation before identifying the problem and creating a statement of work and deliverables Push back on the client Write up a problem statement Use root cause analysis Vin O’Reilly Diane Weiss / Consulting Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management

Question: How do you set expectations and manage them? Establish team roles and responsibilities and stick to them! –Open discuss work styles with your team –Appoint a client point of contact / relationship manager –Hold team-mates accountable and have repercussions Set up regular meetings with the client to avoid surprises and get feedback Give real-time feedback Establish and document what you expect from the client Vin O’Reilly Diane Weiss / Consulting Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management

Question: How can we best prepare ourselves for the profession or an interview? Vin O’Reilly Diane Weiss / Consulting Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management Industry Financial Services High Tech Higher Education Healthcare Retail / Manufacturing Entertainment Characteristics Internal / External Profit/Not-for-Profit Large/Small Public/Private Types of Consulting Management Consulting –Strategy –Risk Management –Change Management –Crisis Management Technology Strategy Human Resources Process –Operations –Supply Chain Systems Implementation Marketing Tax and Legal Financial Valuation Answer: Be focused

Question: How can we best prepare ourselves for the profession or an interview (cont.)? Be focused about what kind of consulting you want to pursue Talk to people: network Follow up with interviews that did not go well Get your resume referred from someone within Check your resume –don’t underestimate past work experience –don’t forget charity work Research the company Vin O’Reilly Diane Weiss / Consulting Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management

Conflict Resolution Exercise Break into your new second semester teams 1 person from each team should volunteer to be a facilitator / scribe Please answer the following question: WHAT IS AN EXISTING OR POTENTIAL CONFLICT THAT YOUR TEAM MAY FACE AS A CLIENT SERVICE PROVIDER? Each team member must produce 3 responses Report your responses to the scribe As a team, group common responses together Identify the most frequently occurring response As a team, identify 3 action items to resolve or minimize the conflict discussed Vin O’Reilly Diane Weiss / Consulting Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management

Thank You Vin O’Reilly Diane Weiss / Consulting Deborah Bernstein Rod Blacklock Suzie Sergi Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management

Recommended Reading Managing the Professional Services Firm – by David Maister First Break All the Rules –by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman Emotional Intelligence –by Daniel Goleman Vin O’Reilly Diane Weiss / Consulting Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management

Things to Inquire about when talking to Consulting Firms Expected Travel –Staffing model National practice Regional (e.g. Northeast) Training opportunities Simultaneous projects and obligations Focus on Industry vs… Service Lines Average duration of projects Salary, bonus, and benefits structure Independence rules Ethics Calibre of clients Vin O’Reilly Diane Weiss / Consulting Boston College Carroll Graduate School of Management