How to improve your consulting life

Although I’ve not described the context for these statements fully, these types of statements make me cringe. Why? Because people who say these things often presume that consultants start dispensing advice without understanding and gathering an inventory of a client’s situation.

Eventually projects with consultants come to an end. Similar to completion of a good run as an employee of a firm, feelings at the end of a consulting project can be bittersweet. For me, the sweetness of successfully completing a project feels great, while the end of the day-to-day, close working relationship with the client can make one reflect for a moment longer.

The process of achieving an understanding of conflict management comes from our initial education on the playground and in utilizing these same perfected techniques, I was able to avoid conflict with various managers and clients throughout my consulting career.

For the past three months, I have been conducting a strategy review for a retail chain. As any consultant would do, I had gathered data, had conducted interviews, had prepared analysis, had derived recommendations and had begun preparing for a series of presentations. Initially, I had felt that I was being accepted within the organization through the assigned additional work given to me, which I took as a sign of both...

Typically, the freelancers that I consult with follow this scenario: They first ask their prospective employer a few intelligent questions. They then prThe great marketing material that you had prepared has gained the attention of the prospective client who wants to have a meeting discussing future possibilities. They are very seriously looking at hiring you for a 6-month assignment, on a day rate of £600. What do you do?

Throughout Bschool and at work, we are repeatedly told that collaboration with a team is a key element to successful develop any project. However, observing clients' employees function (or rather dysfunction) over the years, I have come to realize that numerous people become inefficient when asked to work in a team. In fact, researches have shown that when a team is slightly defective, individual performances of the entire tea

Conventional wisdom says that you're better off if your client is your friend. In our trade, being close to your clients is also a natural consequence of working long hours together. Yet after many years in consulting, I tend to see some limitations to this assumption.

While we wish every project could be a success, the simple fact is that they won’t. Explaining this to clients helps ground their expectations in reality. Consultants that understand the importance of managing client expectations surely have great client hands.

Consultants are by nature, outsiders. They are often hired by clients to provide an outsider’s view, a fresh perspective, unburdened by the politics, cynical attitudes and prejudices that are ingrained with tenured client employees.

If you've been in the consulting business for more than a year, it is very likely that you were at some point the victim of brain pickers. Brain picking is the practice of gathering ideas from several people without paying for the advising you get.

Improperly run, the meeting could be a miserable mishmash of confused topics and angry clients. As a consultant you must absolutely master the art of leading a meeting. Consider the following guidelines to make your meetings truly efficient.

Every cloud has a silver lining and every change presents an opportunity to evolve. The financial crisis has presented new hardships and difficulties, and while the demands of your job may be different now, your work remains as important as ever. Take an inventory of your current client list and prospects and consider their viability as future clients on the following metrics: