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How to be a Great Consultant

Developer: Alex Wouterse Reviewers: Tony Ecock Steven Tallman John Clarke March 1998
Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant Agenda

Key success factors The function of expectations in predicting consultant success Managing expectations for new consultants

Evolving expectations for experienced consultants

Key takeaways

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Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant Five Key Characteristics

Great consultants base their success on characteristics that extend well beyond analytical thinking.
Baseline analytical expertise, but also Excellent interpersonal skills and knowledge of people management facilitation motivating others conflict management Frank self-awareness of strengths and weaknesses Receptiveness to feedback from a variety of sources Ability and willingness to act on feedback training experimentation practice Desire to succeed as a consultant
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Great Consultant 3

Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant Agenda

Key success factors The function of expectations in predicting consultant success Managing expectations for new consultants

Evolving expectations for experienced consultants

Key takeaways

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Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant Expectations and Differing Perspectives

What people expect of you will depend on their needs and perspective.
Is he open enough to adapt to the office culture and influence it positively? Is he smart enough to get up to speed rapidly? VP/Manager

Is she experienced enough to help us solve our problems successfully?

Office

New Consultant

Client

What does she bring to the party? Caseteam Is he a team player?

Is he arrogant or can I work with him? Is she cooperative enough to integrate into the team and to add own value quickly?

If in doubt, ask about the expectations of the people you work with.
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Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant Successful Consultants: Bain VPs Perspectives

Bain VPs on what it takes to be a successful consultant... Few consultants have the total package when they arrive. The best consultants leverage either extraordinary analytical or client skills and then develop the rest over time. Paradoxically, team skills are not a way that consultants distinguish themselves. Almost everyone we hire has excellent team skills based on where and how we recruit. Over time, there is no substitute for the ability to quickly crack a tough business problem/analysis and design/execute an efficient path for gathering the data to back it up. This is what we do day in and day out. It creates client success stories and smooth team operations.
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Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant Unsuccessful Consultants: Bain VPs Perspectives

Unsuccessful consultants...
are arrogant and unreceptive to feedback. They stop three-quarters of the way through the analysis because they are confident its right and dont convince skeptical clients to change. do not become expert in the functional or industry area they are working in. The clients question their value-added - often from their first interaction.

do not get out in front of their managers. They are executing another persons to dos rather than designing their own path. They dont live up to, let alone exceed, expectations. Their lifestyle is totally reactive. And their morale is understandably low.

treat the Bain job as an extension of school. Like courses and professors, cases and team leaders are good or bad. Case work is an assignment, not a personal mission. Also, they think in terms of us/them rather than joining the team and pulling for the joint cause. As a result, they do not add as much value as they think they do, or theyre capable of, and they are tiresome to manage.
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Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant Agenda

Key success factors The function of expectations in predicting consultant success Managing expectations for new consultants

Evolving expectations for experienced consultants

Key takeaways

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Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant Start-Up Expectations

When you start working, you hear different things about Bain and what others expect of you.
You sign up. Then, they tell you what you are really up to. Get on a good case. Work for a good manager/mentor. If you are not involved in recruiting, thats a bad sign. The first year you will probably do spreadsheets, spreadsheets, spreadsheets. A great analyst can get away with lousy team scores. Make a good impression on the VPs you are working with. Thats all that counts.

This module aims to tell you what you really can expect and what is expected of you.
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Great Consultant 9

Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant Mission and Expectations

Consultant expectations and roles are grounded in the Bain mission.
Mission Statement Bain & Companys mission is to help our clients create such high levels of economic value that together we set new standards of excellence in our respective industries. This mission demands

The Bain vision of the most productive client relationship and single-minded
dedication to achieving it with each client

The Bain community of extraordinary teams The Bain approach to creating value, based on a sharp competitive and customer
focus, the most effective analytic techniques, and our process for collaboration with the client We believe that accomplishing our mission will redefine the management consulting business, and will provide new levels of rewards for our clients and for our organization.
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Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant Client Relationships and Consultant Role

The Bain vision of client relationships is realized by delivering results, not reports. Your role as a consultant is a function of Bains vision for each client relationship.
Empowered Entrepreneur Relationship to Client Profit Participator (Buying profits at a bargain) Dedicated Partner (Selling profits at a discount) Fee-for-service Adviser (Billing hours of advice) Value Added Results Strong alignment with dedication to clients destiny Experts on the clients Industry experts Serve a client for a industry and key strategic challenges fee Long-term relationships Value-sharing whenever possible Controlling role towards client management Exclusivity, no conflict of interest Focus on results Active dedication to success by full risk sharing Entrepreneurial role based on experience in results through strategy
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(Taking full ownership position)

Consultant Independent and role: objective

Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant Success Factors and Expectations

The Bain mission and vision can be translated into concrete expectations for a new consultant. Your ultimate success will rest upon your ability to meet these expectations.

What will make you a great consultant at Bain?

Value Addition

Client Relationships

Communication

Extraordinary Teams

Expectations are integrated into a business system (recruiting, training, professional development, performance management) Expectations are linked with market positioning and Bain brand (results through strategy)
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Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant Expectations: Value Addition

What do we expect from you as a new consultant in the area of value addition?
Identify the action/ answer that will lead to client value Baseline: Identify key issues of workstream

Pyramid the problem

Plan the work

Execute the work

Interpret the analysis

Help to formulate specific hypotheses logical mutually exclusive/ collectively exhaustive (MECE)

Develop blank slides Design analysis to complete the slides Design templates to gather data Identify checkpoints Develop a timeline

Gather representative, primary data in the most efficient way Perform zero defect analysis Avoid crunches

Reality check Anticipate client reaction Deliver expected results

Distinguishing: Oversee Create a completely Build up realistic interdependencies MECE pyramid of HIT-based planning with whole case the clients problem and Answer-First consistently Help structure the motivate the big picture client to take action, or prove the answer Get to the heart of the matter quickly

Master most complex analytical toolkit Coach other team members

Develop breakthrough insights and significant tangible results on your specific module

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Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant Expectations: Client Relationships

What do we expect from you as a new consultant in the area of client relationships?

Evaluate client needs Baseline: Sensitive to client needs, constraints, and culture

Manage client situation Conduct professional and controlled interactions Always run well-prepared meetings

Build relationship Viewed as expert by client

Generate impact Work with client on relevant issues Help to support change in individual interactions

Distinguishing: Cultivate acute awareness of others attitudes and values

Follow up all client commitments

Build personal relationship based on outstanding expertise and empathy with client

Turnaround client team members into real change agents and Bain friends

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Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant Expectations: Communication

What do we expect from you as a new consultant in the area of communication?
Ensure consensus, follow up, and action

Interact parallel with client

Baseline:

Develop a presentation

Present

Leave a trail

Adopt a candid Help to create a well-structured, and precise logical communication presentation style Generate flawless, succinct Bain standard slides

Rehearse Note key client sufficiently questions and Prewire assigned observations in meetings client employees and Present own presentations work with flawless execution

Provide back-up File

Distinguishing: Use

communication to convince and motivate clients to take desired action

Independently prepare a crisp presentation compelling storyline high impact slides

Be proficient and convincing in larger, formal presentations

Guarantee achievement of desired results

Make excellent BRAVA and practice area contributions

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Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant Expectations: Extraordinary Teams

What do we expect from you as a new consultant in the area of extraordinary teams? Self Baseline: Be receptive to feedback Sustain commitment to Bain Team Be a true team player 100% of time Contribute positively to morale Manager (upward) Be reliable Be supportive Office Act as an accepted and responsible member of office community Demonstrate professional behavior to all administrative staff Manage proactive contribution to overall office morale Network Earn respect Engage in informal office activities
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Distinguishing: Systematically solicit and use feedback from others to improve own performance

Successfully motivate and integrate other new consultants into team

Leverage managers time and value added

Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant

According to VPs, successful consultants do not ignore the basics.

Tips from VPs

You can never overdo prewires Send faxes well in advance of teleconferences number your pages Only produce slides after the story or executive summary is written in the best presentations, taglines correspond to the executive summary verbatim producing slides and then trying to make a story out of them is the single greatest cause of yield loss at Bain Create fewer, better slides reduce rework - create client ready slides for the first time use graphics technology to leverage your work, not expand it use fewer words, bigger text Develop a bias for fact-based slides - avoid stoplight charts or subjective word slides label appropriately include sources Rehearse presentations sufficiently to make adequate eye contact with the audience dont read slides to people who can read slides for themselves slides support the story and are no substitute for real-time commentary Start with the end in mind if the end product is a board presentation, blank out a board presentation - dont try to start with a management level presentation and convert it

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Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant Agenda

Key success factors The function of expectations in predicting consultant success Managing expectations for new consultants

Evolving expectations for experienced consultants

Key takeaways

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Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant Evolving Expectations

Expectations evolve for an experienced consultant. Great consultants are caseteam leaders and managers-in-training. Consultant: Point of arrival for the caseteam leader role

Value addition Carries out analytic value-creation process for major piece of work Masters analytical toolkit relevant to large parts of the case Cracks toughest business problems

Client relationship Is fully accepted as expert and business partner by client middle/upper management

Communication Uses communication to convince and motivate clients to take desired action

Extraordinary teams Is an effective and respected team integrator and contributor to office morale Shows potential to grow into caseteam leader/manager position
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Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant Role Development

Over time in a consultants career, basic values remain the same but differ in emphasis.
Sales/marketing

Time Allocation

Know-how creation and experience sharing Caseteam/client management Analysis/ problem-solving

Junior consulting staff

Role: Key success factors: Top analyst/problem solver Change agent

Senior consulting staff

Performance Partner for top management Sales/marketing, product development
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State-of-the-art problemsolving know-how and client process skills

Leadership in effecting change (process skills)

Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant Expectation and Skill Development

Expectations about your role will increase in line with your broadening skill levels.

Value addition Junior Focus on assigned workstream Become expert in certain tools, functions, tasks Focus on big picture Senior Gather and share expertise in major relevant business/industry issues

Client relationships Establish relationship with specific client team members Become a respected project team member Establish long-term relationships with key client decision makers Earn personal respect beyond mere project/ business issues

Communication Communicate proactively and professionally Create wellprepared parts of presentations Use communication skills consciously and systematically to motivate others to take action Create and supervise the creation of complete presentations that convince the client

Extraordinary teams Be a great team player Engage in informal office activities Help others to integrate smoothly into the team Actively contribute to office/firm development manage a major activity (recruiting, training, etc.)

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Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant Bain & Beyond

No matter what path you may eventually take, there is significant overlap between Bain and career key success factors. Bain Build a personal track record of value addition Career Bullets on your resume

Develop a list of team members and clients who like and respect you

Personal network

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Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant Agenda

Key success factors The function of expectations in predicting consultant success Managing expectations for new consultants

Evolving expectations for experienced consultants

Key takeaways

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Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant Takeaways

Great consultants...
execute on more than good analysis develop excellent interpersonal and people management skills self-assess for areas of potential growth use feedback to achieve full potential proactively manage caseteam work, managers, and clients are aware of career milestones and their shifting roles, and actively manage transitions capitalize on opportunities to go beyond baseline performance to achieve distinguishing results in value addition, client relationships, communication, and extraordinary teams integrate caseteam work and firm asset-building into personal and professional aspirations
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Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.