Lecture VII/ IIX - Inspiration from a consultant 20. 10.11
Four stages of Life (as
per Hinduism)
- The celibate student (find guru and learn until 25 years)
- need of good presentation skills
- solutions need to be unique and differentiated
- best problem solving is achieved when company's problem is regarded as personal problem
- role of the consultant
- The married family men
- Go after wealth and material pleasures (artha) as necessity under defined social and cosmic norms until one becomes “old”, then go into forest
- responsibility for one's own life and others
- specific solutions for every client, what worked for one, must not for other
- once convince people from the top “others will fall in line”
- roller coaster ride in a day
- client takes over the solution and claims it to be his own → need level of maturity
- role of principle consultant
“But of the good
leaders, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, the people will
say “We did this ourselves”
- The Hermit in Retreat
- “employee first, customer second”
- develop relationship of a partner, where you help to develop business, showing how to develop a team and motivate members
- Sanyaasa – The wandering recluse
- seeking moksha (few to achieve that as complete ascetic)
- role of a mentor, spending time on networking
What makes the consultant
profession interesting?
- diversity of work
- the expectation from client and firm to be asked as an individual to help out
- personal challenge to perform best
- develop deep relationship with clients (trust, and move with them after project has been finished)
- the ability to set direction to your own career growth
- the informal culture and team work
- Brand is “you” → individuals becomes brand
- 3 G's of life, i.e. Guru giving Gyaan and Gold
How well can you drive
change?? → Implementation is the tricky challenge
Management Consultancy
– Implementation of Solution: Driving Change and transformations in
organizations
The
change transition curve – depression curve
- stage
Shock,
numbness, denial
- stage
fear,
anger, psychological depression
- stage
cognitive
reasoning, understanding, acceptance, moving on
Message:
Adjust consulting behavior according to stage and personality of
client
“not
talking down at people” → carry people with you!
Newtons
first law – the amount of energy you put in the firm, through
repetition until they get
“first
change smaller groups to produce visible results, let the change be
noticed by others who then will follow”
“no
gain without pain” → Selling through good communication
“A
new master to whose cure to dance to”
India
is one of biggest saving country, similar to Japan “no saving on
bank = Freaking out”
“success
blinds you, failure teaches you”
Resilience
The
five greatest consultancy management obstacles
- employee and staff resistance
- middle management resistance
- poor executive sponsorship
- limited time and resources
Change
(something new to a system) vs. transition (reaction to change from
within)
“It
is the transition – and not the change that people often resist”
- loss of identity and their world
- disorientation of the neutral zone/ comfort zone
- risk of failure in a new business
Change
Management
- psychology background, or journalist who write well
- identify the changes that is required
- determine the major issues
- identify and assess the key stakeholders
- win the support of key individuals
- identify obstacles
- degree of risk forecast
Key
success factors
- acknowledge and respect the human factors
- implementing a new system in that people have to make the change
- work to increase the success of the others
- have pride in what you do, be firm
- create multiple options
- professional credibility
There
are cultural dimension to failure; in India for example to fail is
something terrible, no other chance is granted after second failure
(if at all)
In
contrast in U.S.; in silicon valley you have success when you failed
Lecture VI - Business
acquisition, Project Management for consultants 16-10-11
Consulting very
competitive industry → every one who retires becomes consultant,
and very low entry barrier, competition between private interest
consultants and professionals
What to do when no job at
hand?
- look helpless and watch nature take it course
- generating sales lead (the sales funnel)
- lead = potential assignment
We can improve chances of
success by
- differentiating
- pursuing right opportunities
- creating customised service offerings
- pro actively manage contact renewals
- cultivate long term relationships
Project Management
- consulting assignments need to be managed as projects
- professionally manage time frame, work load
- stay loyal to project (requires skills to lead in a good way)
Watch outs in Project
Management
- project integration
- people management
- quality
Reasons for project
failures
- addressing wrong requirements
- poor communications skills
Prerequisites for Project
management
→ qualify benefits !!
(what does the client get for his money)
project completion on
time! - even if that means to invest extra money, because consider
the lost revenues for the delayed time
Lecture V - Problem
Solving and Innovation 16.10.11
How do consultants view
problems? How do they analyse them and solve them?
- as a consultant you are either solving an existing problem, or enabling those who are solving problems (developing new tools) or discovering new problems to solve
Problem Solving –
Introduction (linear approach)
Symptoms → Issue or
Problem → Facts → Analysis → Inference → Direction to
solution → solution options → evaluation → finalisation/
recommendation
Difference between
symptoms and problems (is it a symptom or the core problem?)
Approaching clients in the
right way, not this e.g. “What are the stupid things you introduced
in the past that prevented you from growing” (although it might be
the truth)
Show empathy! (I am sorry
to hear that... many others are facing same problem...)
“Would you like to tell
me what you have done in the past six months?” to start a
conversation to obtain more information
A consultant has to have a
strong point of view for the inferences he worked out.
A good CEO reacts to
unexpected high revenues with the following statement: “Did I set
my goals to low?” leadership is about taking action, even if 100%
support is not present
Japanese production is
constantly striving for continuous improvements (in contrast to US)
Problem solving...
- a managerial problem can be described as the gap between a given current state of affairs and a future desired state
- the process of analysing the situation and developing a solution to bridge the gap
- Edwards Deming PDCA
Problem solving
framework (as a guide, not rule) to sustain creativity
- helps to think in a predictable manner (company members can follow the process → easier to share the work)
- If you ask “why” five times you reach the root cause
How
much does the average farmer in Kerala earn with one acre of land per
year? Around 20.000 to 30.000
inference –
Schlussfolgerung
“right noise to hear for
a consultant”
Lecture II – Consulting
Action in Process 18.09.2011
Skills/ Demand on Consultants & Consulting Methodology
The Growing needs
- technological developments (past 15 years)
- crisis in human resource availability (HR)
- undeveloped consulting skills of workers
- sophistication of the market place
Consultant Roles:
Advocate, Specialist, Trainer, Education...
Skills, competencies and
professional development (Try and find your personal style)
- form of sound interpersonal relationship with the client
- build client's interdependence rather dependence on consultants
- focus on the problem
- be non-judgemental
- be tolerant towards other consultants
- diagnose the problem → create multiple solutions → help client implement the solution
- being pro active – acting before expected
- communicate effectively
- help others become comfortable with change
- maintain and release human energy
- deal with conflict and confrontation
- disagree without being disagreeable
- objectively evaluate results
- be creative and innovative with clients
- be self-renewing and flexible (agility and robustness)
[Agilität
ist die Fähigkeit einer Organisation, flexibel,
aktiv, anpassungsfähig und mit Initiative in Zeiten des Wandels und
Unsicherheit zu agieren. Das Konzept stammt aus dem Bereich der
Produktion und wurde von Managementgurus wie Rosabeth Moss
Kanter und Tom Peters als Quelle für
einen Wettbewerbsvorteil genannt.
http://www.onpulson.de/lexikon/107/agilitaet/ ]
“The people who helped
you on your way up, you will meet on the way down”
Why methodology?
- brings in standardisation
- jump start on assignment
- branding brings in sophistication
- “If you don't know where you are going, all roads lead there”
Tips
- “Do not shine away/ feel bad about a job done well, but celebrate success!”
- “Core of child behaviour reveals when the parent is not there”
- “Never promise more than you are” → Be yourself
- Let information flow within organization rather than keeping it away due to personal reasons
- even as a professional remain assuming the stature of a student
- be prepared to walk away from a job if lack of co-operation
- “be aware of political situation but do not play it”
Soft Skill - “encourage,
motivate and believe in them”
- job related/ within the context
- people skills, e.g. giving feedback, dialogue, [leadership qualities]
- people are reluctant for change/ do not like patterns to be broken/ struggle to switch of the auto pilot (the way our brain works), that's why a skill is to be persistent and hard wired→ reinforcement concept
Self Management Skills
- Self- awareness “step back, and look at the larger picture/ goal in our life” “Who are you?” “Indians are caught up in the here and now?”
- debating skills - “patience, listen, wait for my turn”, in India debates sound like a fish market
- managing time
Presentation/ Writing/
Listening/ Communication
- CEOs have a problem with innovation and creative solutions and problem solving
- Indians have a cultural problem of giving bad feedback, they are “professionally dishonest”
Presentation skills
- need always to be prepared in advance
- channelize your fear
- interact with your audience
Listening skills
- “God gave you two ears and one mouth”
- active listening prevents prejudging
- L (ook) I (nquire) S (ummerize) T (ake notes) E (ncourage through expressions) N (eutralize fear)
Mnemonic – or
or mnemonic device, is any learning technique that aids memory.
(Eselsbrücke)
Writing skills
- prevent ambiguity by stating what will and will not be done
- get in the flow and be a medium for higher force ;)
Sympathy = Acknowledgement of another's
painful feelings.
Empathy = Mutual feelings of pain between
people.
Lecture I Management
Consultancy – A background to management and consultancy
by Prof.
D Ashok 15.09.11 Introduction to the Course
and to the Consulting Profession
consult → consultare
mearning to discuss, but its much more
management consulting =
problem solving
duration of consultancy
project/ assignments mainly 3 – 6 months, longer ones up to two
years, while governmental ones might go for ever
“capture knowledge of
assignments done to learn from the past”
Organization functions on
three fundamental levels
Strategy
Process (Business
Processes/ Supply Chain)
Technology
“atomic view”
“bird-side-view”
T shape knowledge →
choose a spot either broad on the horizontal or specific on the
vertical
Consultancy requires many qualities/ skills, e.g. analytic skills, change management/
psychology background
Who is a Consultant? “pure
hard work”
- skills, experience, intellectual capital and an integrated set of methodologies to solve problems
- identify new business/ technology, strategic opportunities and align process to technology
- make things look attractive – the entire package
example McKinsey firm
gives their consultants two weeks a year to go anywhere in the world
to work for an NGO (voluntary help and personal reward)
Differences in Consultancy
between US and Europe based on
- historical development that is linked to
- cultural values, the way business is done. For example in US managers are not afraid to say “I don't know this” and seek advice from an staff member. In contrast an Indian manager would not do that due to principle reasons, meaning “What is the staff member going to think about the manager not knowing a new technology e.g.” “Where goes the respect for the boss?”
- In Europe it is more common to seek advise from elderly people. “Father has to know everything”
The Ecosystem of an
Consultant
- Profession
- Consulting Companies
- Clients
- Skills
Conflicts of Interest:
shareholder vs. company
Current status
- diversified organization
- information technology
- large management and strategic consulting/ boutique firms (SME)
Why would you use an
consultant?
“I need help” because
overloaded work load, lack of certain expertise, problem solving
A consultant go follow two
approaches
- solution seeking by telling what to do – advantage is shorter time/ cutting of time
- help to find solution yourself – advantage is easier implementation though taking longer
An example of McKinsey
consultancy work:
US consultants forward a
project to India, where 200 Indians do research on that company/
topic/ gather data that is send back to US manager, who then pick
important information to present for the company. “outsourcing
human capital”
Basic strategy of every
organization:
buy make sell
strategy supply
chain supply chain HR/ CRM customer facing
Supporting Processes:
Finance, IT, IT organization
The consulting company
- Offerings
- Strategy
- boutique/ full blown
- large/ SME (objectivity)
- stand alone/ partnering model
- geographic coverage
- Areas
- strategy
- business process
- operations
- IT
- Outsourcing
- Horizontal Competencies
- software developers/ ERP implementers
- SCM (supply chain management)
- Geography
- distance/ coverage
- areas to be present in
- language/ culture
- ease of doing business (easy or not) e.g. in India takes 89 approvals to start business “89 touch points of confirmation/ corruption” while in China it only takes 2 days
- time zone
- Geographic
- select areas of services
- industry basically manufacturing/ service
- deep technical knowledge
- marquee names (serve as door openers)
- Competency “You hire for attitude, and train for skill”
- soft skills are very important – attitude how do you come across
- emotional communication
- active listening
- learning to manage the client relationship
- it is the mix that matters!
- Indian Consultants have a difficulty to tell bad news (disappointment of not getting something done/ pride issues) = rooted National Personality Traits
case study: Siemens
approach: looking from the
eyes of the consumer
Engineering Services –
drawings/ blueprint needs to be digitized
What are the possible
areas of service? What are the services? Where to be present?
Theory of Constraints
Technology used primarily
for Government & Defence, and Second largest use Banking and
Financial Service (BFS)
Key Challenges
- being ahead of the curve
- gaining industry expertise
- recruiting and retaining talent
- investing in new areas
- think global, act local “Glocal”
- right partnership for collaboration
- Risk/ reward delivery models
How consultancy works in
practice?
A project to be given for
one million Euro
Half is paid on the spot
The rest is suggested to
be paid when the “Analysis and suggestion” happens
Consultant proposed to
receive half now, and 0.75 later (risk factor)
Luckily, this new course was set into place! The lecturer seems to very professional with an international working experience in the US, Europe, China and India. His English is good to understand and I very much enjoyed the class :) Looking forward for the next ones...
