What are the most important consulting best practices for new consultants?

Consultancies provide lots of opportunities to learn 'new' things. I suggest new consultants take advantage of the learning opportunities. Consultants also need to have strong work ethics such as ownership, honesty, time management, flexibility, and interpersonal communications. Always focus on delivering good quality services and products.

Absolutely critical to understand the clients needs. Pre-work is therefore one of the most important aspects of setting the consultancy expectations. Also, I'll always ask the client to state his/her understanding of what success looks like for them.

Sometimes 'best practice' is common practice. Use your expertise to go beyond the realm of "benchmark with our [insert consulting company] database and research". Benchmark is good and all but you still need to use your so called expertise to make those benchmark results applicable and sustainable. Just because you're a consultant following best practices doesn't mean you throw common sense through the windows. If you use the reasoning of deliverables deadlines vs budget then it could means your 'zero phase' activities of discovering your client's root cause (to craft your proposal) might have some glitch in them.

I feel the first and foremost skill to become a seasoned consultant is to actively listen. Transformation begins when you listen and have deep appreciation for the problem and ecosystem it originates from. What must follow is your skill to ask a series of questions to stitch the complete story. As a next step, it is important synthesize the information at hand to play back your understanding of the problem. Being explicit about the assumptions you are making in the narrative will be crucial to even start thinking about potential solutions. Always bear in mind, identifying and validating the problem you are solving for is half the job done!

Tão importante quanto entender as necessidades dos clientes é captar as necessidades que o cliente não entende que possui. Muitas das vezes o cliente "pensa" que sabe qual o seu problema e a habilidade do consultor é justamente entender que o problema não é aquele que o cliente pensa que tem.

The best consultants get paid for their expertise, not the things they do. You can move from the "more of" mindset—which means getting paid more, only when you do more—with these steps: -- Be the expert -- Attract, premium clients -- Create differentiated positioning -- Social proof across the buying journey -- Pitch to win with scalable service offers Then you won't spend time scoping and negotiating deliverables. You'll instead get paid for the results and outcomes you do for your client.

In my opinion, consultant in whatever field considered, is not a job for juniors, you cannot be an entry level consultant at all. You must be a senior and experienced acknowledge to become a consultant, I guess your question is wrong and does not make sense, thankful.

It is essential to set the expectations right - this includes clearly agreeing on deliverables which would mean setting the battery limits, exclusions, scope of work, and owner inputs including timeliness of such owner inputs.

The word "Then..." is a big one. Not an automatic mind shift! Besides practical more detailed steps, we all have fears of changing, imposter syndrome and great excitement that can sometimes hinder our progress. Please point to great sources on putting this approach into practice.

Always go back to the objectives. Your scope of work and deliverables should be agile and adaptable based on your client's changing needs and priorities. Consultants should be able to bring in a level of flexibility to the table, while still sticking to agreed-upon deliverables.

When mentoring consultants with little experience, I often saw their fear of communicating wrongly. This was both towards the customer or towards their team and project leads. For me, it is essential to be a visible role model and show again and again how to communicate. Yes, ChatGPT helps with emails. The 1:1 communication with clients is different. Sometimes I conducted role plays, so that these consultants could try and train different situations. Very detailed feedback on their communication style was very helpful. But the most important message was always: your communication is successful, when your audience understood (received) what you wanted to say (send). It's not about you - it is always about your audience.

Communicating effectively and regularly should follow certain principles such as: clear, concise, concrete, correct, coherent, complete, and courteous. Those principles are vital in consulting because it allows consultants to effectively convey ideas, reduce misunderstandings, and build trust with their clients or their teammates.

Use straightforward language to clearly explain they need to do to fix their problems and practical steps to implement those changes. Theoretical nonsense or just a statement of the regulatory requirement is not helpful at all. Helping them understand what needs to happen and how to do it will be far more valuable. It is these steps that lead to the most successful implementations. Also, change for the sake of change is not ok. Any recommendations you make should be based on real need and be valuable for them. Lastly, working within their existing framework and tweaking it to get to the goal will be a lot more sustainable for them and far less expensive then revamping their entire operation.

Frequency of communication plays a pivotal role in building and maintaining trust with clients. Regular and transparent communication fosters a sense of collaboration and reliability. This consistent interaction allows consultants to stay aligned with the client's evolving needs, ensuring that the services provided remain relevant and effective. Frequent communication helps clients feel valued and informed, reducing uncertainty and reinforcing the trust that is crucial in any consulting relationship. It's through this ongoing dialogue that consultants ultimately strengthen the foundation of trust upon which successful consulting partnerships are built.

Client need consultant to talk to them even if they don't call consultant they expect consultant to take initiative for advising in all steps.

Technology is a great thing to help everyone improve their performance, time management and results - so make sure you use the best software for your targets/goals! Whether it is Trello for personal time management/task completion, the right software to actually carry out your responsibilities and consulting etc. Make sure you get the best training possible around how to get the most out of software to make your work more efficient, save you time and improve consulting quality. If you don't feel like a bit of software is making your work better/saving you time/helping your development, the chances are you may not be using it right or can request a new feature to be added. If in doubt, ask for more training too!

Consultants tend to use a number of tools at hand to analyze and find the best solution for their client . The following are suggested frameworks that consultants might need to use; Benchmarking, Porter’s Five Forces, SWOT Analysis, GE-McKinsey, and BCG Growth-Share Matrix.

The definition of best is different for each consultant. The best for one may not necessarily be the best for the other. An accurate or good analysis depends more on the data than the tools. Hence I would try and dig deep to understand how good is the quality of data than going for the JUST the best tool! A good tool can definitely help save a lot of time for the consultant. But great tool come with a problem. They prevent the consultant getting to understand how the analysis was done and in some cases we blindly accept the outcome which could be risky for decison makers. I dont have too many white hairs but I would prefer to go stupid and simple for my analysis 🧐

For me, the best boots-on-the-ground methods are Simplicity and Honesty. Simplicity, because my clients don't want the high-level mumbo-jumbo consultant-speak. They want to know what to do in the most straightforward and unpretentious language possible. Honesty, because they are facing serious issues with the potential for serious negative consequences. No sugar-coating allowed. Put the cards on the table and tell them exactly what the risks and vulnerabilities are, and the best way to mitigate them.

Be responsive to your clients. Being responsive seems to be a lost skill these days. We pride ourselves on being responsive, whenever our clients have a question, or need help, we are available....

Underpromise and overdeliver. It's not always wise to strike while the iron is hot, make sure that you can stick to your commitments and are realistic about your goals and progress. With consulting work, you are your own boss, so make sure you find time to step back and consider all factors contributing to the full picture first before committing to timelines and outputs.

I'd recommend learning to underpromise and overdeliver. New consultants often come in to the project with fire in their belly and want to get going immediately on several projects. Be wary of overextending your capacity: build in cushion time and resources, so if the unforeseen happens -- from an annoying technical glitch to the very real time suck of managing the administrative side of deliverables -- all the way to force majeures, you'll be able to get back on track. In the best case scenario, everything goes swimmingly, and you can use that cushion to ensure your deliverables are of the highest possible quality, and still have time with your loved ones. (Bonus tip: new consultants need reminders life is more than just work!)

Si prometes una hora y media de consultoría, entrega eso. Y respeta tu tiempo también. Planifica bien tu consultoría y hazte una pauta clara de los puntos a conversar, para que no pierdas tiempo tú ni tu cliente.

It is crucial to effectively organize resources and manage workload to ensure smooth project execution and maintain a healthy work-life balance. Some tips to help you with this journey: 1. Prioritize tasks: Begin by creating a to-do list that outlines all of your assignments. Prioritize tasks based on urgency and importance. 2. Delegate when and where possible. 3. Utilize project management tools: Utilize project management software or digital tools to track projects, assign tasks, manage deadlines, and ensure timely communication with your team. 4 I agree with the idea of underpromise and over-deliver. Learn how to do so with your consulting engagements. Break larger tasks into smaller milestones: and accomplish them.

Procrastination is a sin. Avoid it or suffer. Yes, it's that simple. Of course, you can go ahead and end working all weekend, past midnight and sleeping 4 hours per day. Good luck with that.

Learning and improving should be a near daily practice. You do not know what you do not know, so seeking out information on new topics (to you) in your field may lead to new business in addition to new knowledge. At my company we have 5 -10 video calls every week covering new information and it is this continuous learning that powers our expertise, and ultimately a consultants ability to engage and help clients.

I think work experience and continuous learning makes it easy for consultants to achieve concrete outcomes. The most common way to get a good career in consulting is always by leveraging your skills and practical experience through learning.

It is essential that we cultivate a deep commitment to ongoing learning and development. This commitment ensures that we remain current with the latest trends and advancements in our field, and enables us to provide our clients with the highest quality service possible. The newly obtained resource , information or research would certainly add value to our discussion with clients and colleagues. It would deepen our understanding of the clients problems and therefore present valuable insights and solutions. I personally allocate time for learning and reading in my weekly schedule. In fact, I enjoy my early morning peaceful uninterrupted time to learn or search for reliable material to learn from or apply.

L’apprentissage continue est très importante afin de s’améliorer et offrir des solutions qui s’adaptent aux besoins évolutifs des clients. L’apprentissage continue permet aussi de s’améliorer et de maintenir un professionnel qui sera bénéfique pour les clients

As a consultant, we often think that we have to convince the client in every interaction that we are the experts. Here's what I learned about starting out as a consultant: ⚡ Don't listen to respond, listen to what the client actually says. ⚡ What hasn't been said? Clients often talk about symptoms, you need to help them find the true cause of these symptoms. ⚡Do you speak the same 'language' as the client? Consider the industry the client is in and what terminology they use. ⚡ Ask more questions and talk less about solutions, especially at the beginning of the assignment.

We only do what we’re really great at. When a client requests something we think could be done better elsewhere we refer them to a provider we know can provide great results. This creates and maintains trust with clients, maintains our reputation and is best for the client.

As a consultant, I recommend new consultants to master the "Listen-Adapt-Deliver" triad as a pivotal way to approach this. Allocate time to actively listen and fully understand the client's needs, adapt your expertise to create bespoke strategies rather than one-size-fits-all solutions, and focus on delivering actionable insights with clear, concise communication. This ensures you provide value that is both relevant and practically applicable, building a foundation for trust and lasting client relationships.

As a consultant, one thing I've found extremely helpful is to learn as much as you can about human behavior. Specifically, aim to better understand mindsets, habits and how to change them, work with them, or work around them. Even though you may only work with a client for a certain amount of time, for that time to be successful, you must have a level of understanding, respect, and accountability. All of which are based on the professional relationship you build. How well you understand behaviors, mindsets and habits, will determine your ability to build successful business relationships.

🔁When a client considers you as a 'Jack of all trades' based on your expertise in a particular area, make them understand that you are not one. 🔁Customise your services to suit specific problems of each client. 🔁When recommending a client to invest, spend on any product or services from external vendors, do not insist them to buy from a particular supplier, looking for personal gains -Ethics matters.