From the course: Consulting Foundations

Run the consulting engagement

From the course: Consulting Foundations

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Run the consulting engagement

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- Delivering outstanding work is the hallmark of a great consulting firm. Delivery has two components, managing the work and doing the work. Managing the work requires you to identify tasks, interdependencies and critical paths. You'll have to build a plan that is appropriate for the project and that's not too cumbersome. You'll have to balance client availability with the work that needs to be completed. You'll focus deliverables and milestones to backward plan timing and staffing. Don't crunch the team with too little time or too little staff. Determine the client's project reporting needs like timing, frequency and the level of detail they'd like to receive. Ensure the plan provides flexibility. Things can change rapidly on a consulting engagement. Be prepared to adjust. Don't adhere to the plan at the expense of doing the right work. The plan will shift constantly. So you need to stay focused on creating your deliverables. In terms of doing the work, make sure the methods and tools you're using are sound. Structured problem solving processes can help you drive to the right answer and focus your work efforts on the most important issues. A standard problem solving process includes pinning the problem where you nail down the problem definition, identifying issues and generating options, narrowing those options and focusing your efforts, conducting your analysis to validate the recommendation and delivering the recommendation. Be sure to manage the quality of your deliverables and your team's output. Error free, high quality work helps clients approve your ideas and retain your services again in the future. If you build a solid plan that enables you to manage the work efficiently and you do the work in an effective and high quality way, your projects will run smoothly, your teams will be engaged and your clients will be satisfied.

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