Meetings can either be a powerful catalyst for collaboration and decision-making or a drain on time and productivity. Whether you are in consulting, strategy, operations, or product management, the ability to manage meetings effectively is a crucial skill that can significantly impact the success of your endeavors. In this short article, we will explore strategies […]
Category: Skills, Tips, and Tactics
In the previous article, we introduced the key skills an effective consultant is expected to possess — but now what? As an aspiring consultant, simply knowing which skills to show on your CV is not enough; you’ll also need to know how to hone and highlight these skills, which is what we’ll be covering in […]
The role of a consultant is dynamic and complex, requiring a unique blend of skills that go beyond pure technical proficiency. In this 2-part article, I will outline the 5 key skills of an effective consultant, then discuss how to hone and highlight these skills. Being a consultant is no easy feat, and almost every […]
Being a management consultant is a rewarding yet challenging profession. Business consultancy can involve helping to increase a business’s capabilities, develop a new product, or enter a new market. While you may be a highly proficient management consultant, the pressures of the job can make it challenging to take consistently good care of yourself. According […]
In consulting, one of the most coveted and highest compensated roles is that of the engagement manager (EM). This role is crucial to the functions of a consulting firm. They often have significant influence on the success of a consulting engagement, as they often interact directly with clients and oversee engagements end-to-end. Similar roles are […]
During one of my recent consulting experiences, I received a piece of advice from my supervisor that saved our engagement. His advice was specific to consulting, but applicable to other areas of business too. I was assigned to a typical strategy engagement – should client X selling product Y increase sales in market Z? Our […]
LinkedIn is an often overlooked part of the management consulting application. A candidate might spend hours on their resume and cover letter but put little thought into their LinkedIn profile other than a profile picture and a cheesy blurb in the “about” section. LinkedIn is actually a key part of the management consulting application. Although […]
Recently, I had the opportunity to run an “Impact Workshop” that aimed to reflect on our role as advisors (“consultants”), explore our individual motivations, and agree on behaviors that reflect our role. Surprisingly, one of the biggest revelations was how much we underestimated the importance of facilitating and how much of a central role it […]
As consultants, we are required and recommended to take notes for the meetings we attend. This seems like a simple task because formal education has forced us, at one time or another, to take notes. The world of formal education, however, is typically parsed out so an individual only needs to focus on one subject […]
If you are a STEM major looking to go into technical consulting, whether at a large generalist firm or a small boutique one, you will likely need to draw upon your knowledge of digital tools and skills. However, some of the specific technical software you might use in graduate school may not be the same […]
As Marcel M. Robles once said, “soft skills have more to do with who you are than what you know”. We have machines to deal with hard skills that are physical, repetitive, and require basic cognition. Learning hard skills will prepare you to work with these machine-like abilities. However, building up your soft skills will […]
If you are a recent graduate, the consulting industry offers a great way to get a head start in your career, and to hit the ground running from the outset. The industry understandably attracts high achievers who have big dreams, high hopes, and great expectations for how their professional careers will play out. Consulting firms […]
Live for the moment, seize the day, carpie diem. These well cited cliches for stress management are based on the logic that by focusing intently on the present moment we can set aside past regrets and future anxieties. Doing so can provide us with a greater capacity to perform and succeed. Interestingly, such mottos directly […]
Whether it be a personal website or your client’s e-commerce platform, understanding website analytics can help you to uncover critical data that leads to success. In this article I will explain a few key analytics that you should look for, and quick fixes to improve website engagement. What are analytics? Website analytics involves tracking and […]
Although virtual meetings have become a norm of working life post COVID-19, there is much that still feels strange about them. Be it physiological difficulties caused by staring at a screen for hours at a time or psychological troubles resulting from the knowledge that your face is being projected onto other people’s screens, there is […]
The concept of virtual meetings is fairly simple. You host a meeting that would otherwise be held physically via an online platform, most probably Teams. One may assume that the etiquette that applies to in-person meetings would also apply to virtual meetings. This would not be completely incorrect. All of the basic rules of etiquette […]
Marketing is an incredibly important function of any growing business. Marketing is generally the initial point of contact in a customer’s purchasing journey. It is where the company connects with customers. In this article, I would like to share a few tangible pieces of advice that may benefit you if you are planning to jump […]
Has your manager ever said, “Could you build the team slide deck?” Have you felt unsure where to begin? Communicating through PowerPoint, also known as a “slide deck”, is an important part of any consulting, strategy, or analyst role. These materials serve multiple purposes including as a visual presentation aid, material that can be shared […]
Time is like currency. You spend time completing tasks, eating meals, working out, and hanging out with friends. When you spend your time, it is not lost, but rather exchanged for something else. You may receive a salary, full belly, stronger muscles, or simply an enjoyable time. This basic transaction occurs every day of your […]
As part of a consulting engagement or broader enterprise strategy alignment, you can expect to plan and run an offsite at one point of your career. While an offsite can provide a great environment for team building and alignment, planning and running one could be stressful and time-consuming as it involves multiple executive-level stakeholders and […]
The current era is one of innovation and transformation in which new discoveries are constantly being made. This is occurring in all fields of knowledge, but some are making more progress than others. Innovation is of great importance to corporations as new methods can be used to operate more effectively and efficiently, which can ultimately […]
Your manager is arguably one of the most important people you will engage with during a summer internship. Your manager may be assigning deliverables, connecting you with colleagues, and answering your questions. Regardless of what company or industry you work in, you will most likely have one-on-one meetings with your manager. The cadence of which […]
It’s no secret that a healthy workplace is a more productive workplace. However, with remote work and working from home on the rise, many employees have faced challenges with transforming their spare bedroom or basement area into an organized and productive home office. The environment which is chosen for your day-to-day work should be well […]
When we start using Excel, a lot of us dabble with it by creating simple formulas. After that, we might perform some more complex calculations using some of Excel’s pre-set functions, and in this context by far the most powerful feature in Excel is the nested IF function. In this short post, we will first […]
Whether it’s your first time on a new project, or a task you have done many times before, you will always have to balance the volume of work with the time available. If you are working in a new functional team serving unfamiliar clients in a new industry, then there will obviously be tasks that […]
As work and non-work activities become increasingly blended, having a clear purpose and creating your own definition of work-life balance will be critical to a sustainable career. As most of us spend the majority of our time working, it’s important to consider where that time is spent, how to manage your tasks and energy, and […]
For many years, Excel has been a cornerstone when it comes to analyzing data. Released in 1985, it has grown to the point where every workplace is required to have it. Although Excel can be beneficial in any industry, some people dread the sight of a blank spreadsheet. To help you combat your Excel anxiety, […]
As the number of opportunities you have increases so too does the complexity involved in making a decision. For example, think of the last time you tried to pick a movie to watch. How long did it take you? The average Netflix user takes around 18 minutes. This is partly because there are lots of […]
4 Stages of Learning to Help your Projects and Career The difference between knowing a lot of facts and understanding how to use those same facts can be observed from the level of insight obtained. Often the same information is available to many people, yet some can reach greater insights and create more value. This […]
Journalists have a very specific writing style. Newspaper articles rarely have a storyline, or a narrative curve. Instead, they make their most significant statement right in the title, and the first sentence of the first paragraph. As we proceed reading, we are gradually unfolding the issue at hand, finding out more circumstantial details about the […]
When asked about important skills to succeed in the consulting field, there are generally some pretty standard responses: communication, organisation, team work, problem solving, and analytical thinking. Whilst these are undeniably central to the role of a consultant, there is one skill that no one ever acknowledges. Consulting is a ‘people game’. Your role as […]
Expertise in case studies is considered a given not just among the veterans of business life, but even for newly aspiring consultants, who wish to break into the consultancy industry. Market-sizing, competitor-analysis, pricing-strategy and legal risk-assessment are all components to a standard case study which we tend to give primacy to, yet in many cases, […]
Numbers are at the foundation of understanding both science and business. Both fields rely on translating real world events into data points which are then used to answer questions and generate insights. Coming from a health and science background I am familiar with looking at health data and being able to gain insights to make […]
One aspect of consulting career development that I don’t think those new to the industry sufficiently appreciate is the importance of having a community of mentors. Yes, most firms have a system whereby each consultant is required to have a designated mentor to be an official guide (formally titled Coach, Counselor, etc.). Yet, beyond that, […]
As a corporate strategy professional, I execute and coordinate all of the key activities of the firm that span multiple business units and functions. This involves orchestrating company-wide planning for the Board of Directors and executive leadership team on the firm’s long-term strategic direction, annual operating plan, budgets, capital investment strategy, as well as informing […]
Categories
The Slide Writing Bible
In management consulting and many other sectors, people spend a lot of time creating PowerPoint slides as it has become the basis for communicating, both internally and externally. However, slide writing is often very challenging. It forces you to structure your thinking and the slide deck needs to include the right content as well as […]
Conducting market research is a key skill required in consulting. Consulting involves working on different assignments in completely different industries, hence knowing how to conduct market research is a fundamental skill all people who want to work in consulting need to have. In addition to doing market research, you need to know how to best […]
Looking back to consulting recruiting in graduate school, I always think about how interesting it was that so much of the conversation among candidates was about getting an offer from a top consulting firm. Yet, I don’t remember many conversations about succeeding within a consulting firm after joining. I want to shed some light on […]
As a regular mentor to new consultants, I regularly find myself addressing some challenges of consulting life by simply recommending gear acquisitions based upon my personal experience. After much extensive feedback about how helpful my recommendations have been, I thought it would be helpful to share the wealth with a wider audience. For those who […]
Whenever you hear people speaking of the “imposter syndrome”, you will hear them say things like “I don’t belong”, “I am not worthy”, “did I make the right choice?”. Whenever you find yourself questioning why you belong in the spaces you are in, immediately block those feelings out. If you are sitting on your own, […]
As I’ve progressed further along in my career, the importance of being able to manage upward has become clearer to me. If you think your relationship with your manager is a one-way street with the manager doing all the delegating and you doing all the following, think again. At its core, managing up isn’t just […]
A job can be defined as a group of tasks and responsibilities that are assigned to one person. We have all had some type of job where we had to do a certain set of tasks in order to help the group or organization be successful. How we perceived the tasks that made up the […]
When one thinks of management consultants, one inevitably thinks of highly efficient workers. This is because an efficient way of working is essential as a management consultant. Only those who work efficiently are able to complete all tasks within the limited time available, satisfy their supervisors as well as clients, and get enough sleep on […]
Due to COVID-19 and the lack of physical interaction the “virtual coffee chat” has become a thing. I receive 2-3 LinkedIn messages per day asking to schedule a call so that I can share my personal experience in consulting, answer recruiting-related questions, and sometimes even review a resume on the spot. However, due my busy […]
Making a shift into the consulting world may feel daunting, especially if you have no prior exposure to the industry. As such, learning how to be as confident as a consultant presents a conundrum. How are you supposed to be confident when you do not have a consulting background? Case interviews are synonymous with consulting […]
It’s been a while since we were distanced from the office, and it’s not looking to end anytime soon. Many tech companies such as Microsoft have announced that they plan to let employees work remote permanently. Working from home is the new normal. As much as people are tolerant of interruptions from a weak internet […]
Everyone was new once. For many of you, that first day is still to come. In this blog post, we will focus on three things that young analysts need to be aware of. Some mistakes are avoidable if you can get your head around them. Others you will probably notice yourself doing anyway. Hopefully you […]
Categories
Creating a Dashboard
At the most basic level a consulting engagement (or any strategic project) will typically contain three-phases: Structure and propose a strategy Implement and execute on the strategy Track the performance of the strategy Phase 1 and 2 are where the consultants spend most of their time, but phase 3 is also an essential part of […]
As someone who does volunteer career coaching, I have unexpectedly been fielding some questions from prospective consulting candidates about how best to manage a second job while attending to a consulting career. The people I talked to wanted to continue doing something they were passionate about, things like running a start-up or bartending. I’m sure […]
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 […]