独家优惠奖金 100% 高达 1 BTC + 180 免费旋转

What makes a consultant?

180DC NTU kickstarted its masterclass series this month with guest speakers Deandra Muliawan’s and Joshua Darryl’s presenting on tackling consulting projects. An ex-director of 180DC NUS and a former intern at the management and strategy consulting arms at KPMG Singapore, Muliawan has steadily amassed consulting experience in her university years. Darryl similarly has several years of consulting experience under his belt, having been a McKinsey consultant for the past three years.

Muliawan compared the job scope of a consultant to that of a doctor, a swiss army knife, and a relationship manager.

In her talk, she drew parallels between a consultant and a doctor due to the similar task of finding the root causes of a problem and prescribing a solution. In the same way that a doctor finds the underlying condition from which a patient’s symptoms stem and offers medical advice to address the condition, a consultant must accurately assess the problems faced by an organisation and identify solutions to alleviate them. Muliawan also stressed the need for a consultant to be adaptable to various situations similar to how a swiss knife can perform a multitude of functions for various needs.

Finally, she emphasised that consultants must be good relationship managers who forge strong working ties with the various stakeholders over the course of their consulting assignments. Darryl concurred with Muliawan’s conception of a consultant as a solution architect. Talking about how management consultants impact clients positively, Darryl defined the key responsibility of a consultant as helping organisations stay in top shape. This, he said, can be achieved through consultants bringing an outside-in perspective by combining deep industry knowledge with problem-solving tools and capabilities to solve challenging problems faced by clients.

Darryl and Muliawan both elaborated on a 7-step framework to tackle consulting projects. These steps, in chronological order, are the a) defining of a problem, b) structuring of the problem, c) prioritisation of issues, d) development of issue analysis and analysis plan, e) conducting of analyses, f) synthesis of findings, and g) development of recommendations.

Understanding and framing the problem before embarking on a consulting assignment is pivotal to the accurate assessment of the problem(s) that your client is facing. Here are the six steps to defining the problem:

i. Identify and classify stakeholders

A stakeholder is any party that has an impact on or is impacted by the range of activities being studied. Stakeholders who are relevant to your client’s programme or organisation must be identified. Upon the identification of these stakeholders, they can then be classified in accordance with the stakeholder mapping matrix.

ii. Understand client’s vision and long-term objectives

Since the effectiveness of recommendations developed for a client is contingent on their vision and long-term objectives, it is imperative that these be understood by a consultant. In the example cited by Muliawan, it is the vision of the client to grow his programme on a national level in the next two years.

With this goal in mind, a consultant may suggest that the client seek the government’s support and grants. If the client sought to turn his programme into a social business, however, a consultant’s recommendations would vary significantly. Such an endeavour by the client may instead require assessing the organisation’s impact or seeking initial investment to commence the business. Thus, the comprehension of the client’s long-term objectives is key to maximising the effectiveness of the recommendations put forth by the consultant.

iii. Understand the client’s current situation

Assessing and analysing the client’s current situation can help shed light on issues that the client may not have mentioned. With a greater understanding of the client’s present circumstances, consultants can better locate obstacles that prevent the client from attaining their long-term objectives. A gap analysis can then be performed by identifying the gap between the current situation and the desired situation.

Referring to the case study cited by Muliawan, a consultant may discover that the recruitment rate amongst a certain demographic is low due to widespread hesitance in receiving assistance from charity programs. This finding is then taken into consideration when prescribing a solution.

iv. Review literature

Given the possibility that the problem assessed by a consultant has already occurred elsewhere, it is prudent to conduct a literature review. Doing so can provide consultants with useful insights into how others have framed the problem and this can help enhance the quality of their analyses.

v. Articulate the problem in a SMART way

After completing the above steps, it is time to define the problem the SMART way.

Specific: formulated precisely

Measurable: expressed in figures

Action-oriented: geared towards action

Relevant: related to the main problem

Time-related: schedule is defined

vi. Test your problem definition with your client

Finally, obtain the client’s feedback on the problem definition. Keeping the client in the loop when framing the problem reduces the odds of misinterpreting the problem. This creates the bedrock for a successful consulting assignment and builds trust between the client and the consultant. Upon the client’s and consultant’s mutual agreement on the problem definition, it is best to document the final output in writing.

Dismantling the problem into smaller parts can aid in the conceptualisation of the problem or solution. This can be achieved through the construction of an issue tree, which graphically dissects a problem or a solution into its various components.

A “Why?” issue tree is utilised to identify the root causes of a problem and is created early in the project. A “How?” issue tree can be constructed later in the project (during the recommendations phase) to brainstorm the various permutations of the different components of the solution. These issue trees can help facilitate planning, problem-solving, and communication.

A good issue tree can help provide a bird’s eye view of the problem while simultaneously shedding light on the finer details simultaneously. Considering important sources of information and abiding by the ‘Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive’ (MECE) principle can help create such an issue tree.

i. Important sources of information

Client data on finances, operations, and logistics among others as well as market research can aid in constructing lines of reasoning in issue trees.

Consultants can gain access to other valuable information like the client’s branding and media presence through perusing their social media pages. In addition, researching what comparable and successful organisations have done to mitigate similar problems can illuminate tried-and-tested solutions and approaches which can be adopted. Reaching out to mentors with extensive consulting experience can also provide consultants with expert guidance in the construction of their issue trees.

ii. Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive’ (MECE) principle

This principle stipulates that the components of each line of reasoning are mutually exclusive in that they do not overlap and that all possible options are listed such that they are collectively exhaustive.

Items, problems, and solutions are arranged in a prioritisation matrix according to their relative importance during the process of prioritisation. Doing so can help solve a problem efficiently and effectively.

i. Decide the items to be prioritised (e.g. strategic options, investments, etc)

ii. Identify the dimension(s) to prioritise the issues on (e.g. ROI, effectiveness, impact, etc)

iii. Evaluate the items according to the identified dimension(s), using a prioritisation matrix if there are multiple important dimensions (e.g. rank investments from the highest cost to lowest)

iv. Arrange the items on the prioritisation matrix

An issue plan illustrates the measures to be taken to solve a client’s problem. A work plan, on the other hand, is a project management tool that divides the workload between the different team members.

i. Issue plan

The issue plan consists of six steps as shown below.

Developing an issue analysis plan according to the six steps, one might then arrive at a plan like the one below:

ii. Work plan

External work plans detailing the timeline and goals of the consulting assignment can be constructed for the client while internal work plans delegating tasks with deadlines to each team member can be devised for the team. Developing a work plan according to the four building blocks as stipulated below can help track progress over time and aid in teams utilising their efforts and resources effectively.

Analyses can be conducted to prove or disapprove hypotheses one arrives at during the construction of an issue tree. Consultants can collect their own data (primary data) or utilise secondary data such as industry reports or financial statements among others to do so. Here are some common analyses used:

i. PESTEL analysis

A depiction of the PESTEL framework This analysis assesses the potential impacts of external factors. It is utilised to proactively determine the negative consequences of changes and spot windows of opportunity for the client before others do. Such an analysis must be forward-looking and be pre-emptive in nature.

ii. Ratio analysis

This analysis calculates the ratio between quantities to determine the different aspects of a business or a program such as its profitability or impact, among others.

For example, an organisation looking to determine its most impactful programme would compare the ratio between the social impact of each programmes to its cost (social impact of the program ÷ cost of the program) across all programmes. It could then prioritise the programme with the highest ratio, deeming it to be the most impactful.

Referring to the issue trees and gap analyses, hone in on the implications of the findings. Keep in mind that synthesis is not the listing of facts or a summary.

i. Ideating quality recommendations

When prescribing solutions to address the client’s problems, ensure that your recommendations answer the key issues, fit the client, and are actionable.

ii. Presentation of recommendations

Ensure that the presentation of the recommendation(s) is:

(a) Concise and clear, using the least number of words possible.

In this way, the client is more likely to be attentive to your presentation.

(b) Structured

Framing the recommendations in a logical way helps the client comprehends your line of reasoning.

(c) Comprehensive

Devising recommendations for all aspects of the problem being solved ensures that the solution is as comprehensive as possible. Make sure that the recommendations are within the scope and that barriers to the adoption of the recommendations have been acknowledged. Synthesize findings Referring to the issue trees and gap analyses, hone in on the implications of the findings. Keep in mind that synthesis is not the listing of facts or a summary.

iii. Suggested template for the logical sequencing of arguments

(a) Situation

Elaborate on the context and important facts in an objective manner.

e.g. Company A operates the largest non-governmental hospital ship globally and provides humanitarian aid like free healthcare for terminally ill patients. It operates in 20 developing nations and 14 developed nations around the globe.

(b) Complication

Shed light on what happened next that led to the question.

e.g. Germany has seen a decrease in household discretionary spending.

(c) Question/Problem

The consulting report or slide deck will attempt to address this.

e.g. Germany’s overall contribution to humanitarian services has decreased due to the decrease in household discretionary spending.

(d) Recommendations

e.g. Company A would like to increase engagement and financial participation from Singapore ship owners and service companies.

Add a comment

What is your view?

Send

Related posts:

6. Hasta luego

Before Ruth left last week we snuck in one more little hike (!)– we climbed the highest mountain we think either of us have ever climbed – Volcan Acatenango (3900m) and camped out on the slopes to…

How Reading Fiction Affects Our Brains

Many people think that non-fiction holds a superior position to fiction. It’s not entirely wrong to have that opinion, as non-fictions provide us with everything you might need to expand your…

Emotional Intelligence. Make It A Priority in 2022. Your Success In Life Depends On It.

At a most basic level, emotional intelligence is the ability to understand your own emotions and other people’s feelings. A high level of emotional intelligence helps you engage with others…