Shane Haven

A guide to setting up management consulting projects…everything you need to know

The purpose of this quick reminder is to try and capture all of the things experience has taught us need to be in place to ensure the project goes as smoothly as it can. The start-up is the foundation of the project.

This is written from the perspective of the engagement manager.

When reading this, remember we are trying to write a guide for project start-ups when there are numerous kinds of projects:

1. Projects with just one consultant
2. Projects with a small team
3. Projects with a small team full time…or part time
4. Projects run on the clients premises…or off their premises
5. Projects where the project team reports to someone not directly involved in the project

Anyway, you get the point. There are many, many variations. Our guide needs to be useful to them all. Therefore although parts may not apply to you, we think 90% will.

Start with understanding the client first. Always!

1. Make sure you have a network map that identifies all of the political and decision making network.
2. Ensure you have a client face-off chart to clarify who owns which client and who needs to be briefed and debriefed before and after each contact with a specific client and that your team understands their individual responsibilities.
3. Get the most up to date organisation chart you can.
4. Make sure you know all of the key client’s secretaries; they will get you in to the client’s office when nobody else can. They usually start off suspicious of your motives. If you can prove to them by demonstration that your intent is to help their boss, they will generally be more helpful to you than they are to their own organisation. For example if some documents need to be passed on to ensure the client is fully briefed before a meeting, make sure the secretary knows the reason.
5. Be honest.
6. The top clients expect interesting, exciting, value-adding updates with consultants. Don’t leave them in a one month void before the first update meeting. It is also wise to remember many consultants are at a client. Make sure you (and your team) stand out from the pack.

Your project team

1. Have a week zero if possible. A week zero is one week set aside prior to the project start to ensure everyone is briefed, familiar with the tools and ready to hit the ground running.
2. Have a team meeting every week preferably off-site.
3. If there are multiple locations in the project have one per location and try to get around to them or use conference calls.
4. The agenda should be relevant to the project but should also contain out of project elements. “Consultants Corner” where team-members have the opportunity to bring something new to the attention of the team is useful. Consulting training should be part of the meeting bringing additional content, experience on previous projects, techniques or processes to the team. This is a really good idea and should be made compulsory.
5. For large projects, a Project Balanced Scorecard should always be implemented and acted on. It is a pain to start with and sounds like too much work, however it is necessary so do it.
6. Although the aim is to discuss project issues within the consulting team meetings sometimes it is necessary to discuss them in the security of just your team and without the client. This is OK and the team needs to understand this. To do the job properly for the client you sometimes need to guide them through some treacherous waters. This means you have to know as a team where you are going and stay in front.
7. Create an On-Project Training Curriculum for the consultants.

Setting Consultant Expectations in Your team

1. Set consultants expectations carefully. Make them realistic and achievable but a stretch where possible.
2. This also feels like a lot of work to start with but will save huge amounts of time later. Bear in mind that this is what you will be judging their performance against at the end of the project or at review time. If you didn’t feel that your performance and contribution was going to be valued, how would you feel?
3. Spread the work to your team and stream leads (consultants running distinct pieces of work) but retain control. Get the consultants to write down what they think the expectations on them are, let the stream leads discuss with them and clarify and then ensure that you agree and understand. If you don’t – change them and make sure everybody fully understands.
4. When setting expectations try to ensure that any development needs that can be addressed are done so clearly. Sometimes this can mean getting clever about sharing roles or setting up opportunities to fulfil the need but think carefully about it. This means a lot to your team. You will need all of their commitment and support.
5. Talk to their mentors (if it’s not you and they have them) when possible. If you can’t, make sure the stream leads do. Believe it or not, this helps the mentors do their job properly too!
6. Set expectations about behaviour with the client, consulting guard, scope creep etc at the same time as setting results driven expectations.
7. Take the time to make sure that each consultant understands your vision for their stream (piece of work) and you understand theirs.

 Setting Client Expectations for your Project

1. Have specific sessions with the top client to ensure that both of you understand what success looks like.
2. Set the expectation with the client that this is going to take a lot of their time.
3. Set the expectation that you will be working as partners. This will need to be said in a way acceptable for the client, but you must be able to access the top client when you need to, and you should establish a coaching and feedback model as soon as possible.
4. Very early in the relationship describe what success looks like for you. Reference site? Further work in the group? Press coverage? Ongoing relationship? Discuss what this will take. You need to be tactful about this. Do not bring this up if the engagement’s value-add is not yet clear to the client.
5. Set expectations on how you will give feedback to top clients and their people.

Setting Leadership Expectations for your consulting company (assuming the most senior person on the project reports to someone not involved in the project – applies to larger consulting companies)

1. The key phrase here is “No surprises”. Just like clients, your leadership will get all bent out of shape if you surprise them.
2. Ensure that the leadership has sufficient information about the project on an ongoing basis so they make the right decisions when you ask them to. Spend time at the beginning of the project making sure that the leadership understands the aims of the project and the client’s real issues, and then define with them what level of ongoing involvement they should have.
3. If a senior partner visits the engagement team and client, make sure he or she is sufficiently prepared:
   1. What is the status of the engagement?
   2. What the key findings so far and likely findings?
   3. What are the implications to the client?
   4. What can the senior partner do to help the engagement?
   5. Are there any potential problem areas the client may raise?

Training the client employees who will need to work with you

1. Training has several objectives. Training the team is but one. Motivate and fire up the Client Team members. Take them through part of the emotional cycle of change quickly. Get the consultants and Client team to start to become one team. Build the momentum. Impress the client with your speed and knowledge.
2. Make sure sufficient preparation takes place before the event.
3. Have reviews of progress with the project team every evening to re-plan for the rest of the engagement.
4. Set the expectation that the client team is one team and you discuss your issues in the team first. Trust.
5. Develop guidelines for team behaviours in meetings, team events and in your representations to others. The joint team members (client employees assigned to the project and your team of consultants) are the role models.
6. Where possible ensure all members of the consulting team have exposure.
7. Dependent on the situation, let clients deliver training where they can e.g. Business overview.
8. Include senior clients in joint team training (for at least part of it)

Joint Team Selection

1. Joint Team selection is always a compromise. Get the best you can and refuse when you really have to. The reality though is that you will always have to take a chance on somebody that the client wants you to take but you don’t think will make it. This is your chance to let the client say I told you so by making them a star. Life’s always fair isn’t it?
2. Don’t make it obvious that you are rejecting people as joint team candidates. You don’t need enemies scattered through the organisation.

Joint Team Lead

1. Have detailed and written down expectations with the Client Team Lead. What decisions are yours, what is theirs and what has to be joint? Who supplies what skills? Who learns what?
2. Set the expectation that you will be talking to the top client by yourself in some circumstances. These can include coaching the top client on personal performance issues and talking about his staff. This has to be OK. It is part of the deal he is paying for and it will happen. The Client joint team lead may or may not be told what happens in these meetings. That has to be OK too.
3. Set the expectation that your team will be having internal-only team meetings for project business communications and training etc. and that the client will probably want to do that too.
4. Project issues however should be discussed in the joint team meetings.

Staffing

1. Use the staffing process to fill your needs for the project but also be sensitive to the consultants needs. Press-ganging should always be a last resort.
2. Make sure everybody has relevant work permits in advance.

Computers

1. Ensure you have a physical inventory of all of your computer equipment.
2. This consists of quantities, descriptions, license numbers and code numbers.
3. We know of many examples of printers going missing when being sent by courier back to a rental company and having to make insurance claims. There are more exotic examples of clients claiming ownership of consultant’s equipment. Use registered delivery and get a signature.
4. Only use licensed software that you are sure is legal, and you own.
5. Set-up and use regular backup routines for all files. This should be compulsory.
6. Set-up and enforce without exception a logical document tracking methodology including a hard copy log book. We would advise against allowing personal folders on the server (if you have one) as they become uncontrolled.
7. Ensure that all files that contain presentations used on the project are held on the server and are in the accepted format. You will never find them again if they are not.
8. Make one project coordinator responsible for this and review the computer periodically.
9. Ensure that the directory structure on the computer is sensible and logical. It is wise to use a mirror of the Project Work Breakdown structure as everybody understands that.

10.  Get rid of all of the junk that you normally find on the computers. Floating eyes etc. It fills up the disks, slows the computer down, causes crashes, and costs you memory chips!

11.  Ensure everybody has up to date virus checkers. If you infect the client they will be really, we mean REALLY, upset.

12.  Run a proper anti-virus software regularly on the main Mac or PC, also scan regularly on consultants laptops -especially if receiving data from the internet, Email or blue tooth etc

13.  Make sure all computers are password protected. They are regularly stolen and can yield vital information to your client’s competitors.

Project Control

1. Ensure each work-stream has complete and detailed work plans including agreed milestones.
2. Set up regular work-stream reviews and review progress vs. milestones – celebrate success.
3. Establish the project balanced-scorecard as soon as practical.
4. Establish the project communication policy as soon as possible to include 1-page (only) project updates internally and externally when necessary.
5. Agree expectations with the client as to reporting techniques and needs.
6.  Assign the A for someone during the RACI (Responsible for task-Accountable for task-Consult before doing-Inform after doing)

Expenses

1. Set expectations with the top client and his FD around your expense policies. Standard terms exist which detail our policies and have been written for the clients eyes. Use them with the top clients.
2. In general do not discuss expenses with the client employees.
3. Set expectations with the consultants around expenses. The rules are established and written down. There may be circumstances where you need to check with a client if a practice is OK but these should be few and far between.
4. Set up a process to track expenses on the project.
5. It is useful after a few months to be able to predict the ongoing expense “burn rate” and therefore the forecast to completion expense %. The client often wants to know this and you should have it at your fingertips.
6. Set up a process to authorise expenses.

Margin Management

1. Constantly be aware of your forecast-to-completion and usage rate of man-days at various levels on the project.
2. You should know what you have used and what your plan is at any moment. You will be asked so set it up from day one.
3. Manage margin by adjusting the man-day usage at each level. You are responsible for the margin.

Insurance Policies

1. Insurance policies are learned by experience.
2. Show the top client the emotional cycle of change chart. Tell them that “at some point in the project they will probably be upset and you will draw them the chart again and ask them where they are now. When this happens you are going to work out how to move them back up the curve!” This has the effect of moving them from an emotionally negative state to one where you can work on actions to change their position. You can also tell the future! Do it just in case. It may get you out of a sticky situation.
3. Make sure the client knows that the project design is your best thinking at the moment but it is bound to change over time as you learn more about the solutions. It may flip 90 degrees or it may have new work-streams. They should be OK with this as long as they understand why it needs to happen.
4. If, as often happens, you start a project in late summer or early autumn there is a high likelihood that it will all go pear shaped after the Christmas break. This is predictable and can apply to other times of the year when holidays are taken. If the timing is such that To-Be designs are about ready just before the break, people go on holiday and think about how it all fits together. This often leads to the “I don’t understand the big picture” or “This project design doesn’t work anymore” syndrome. You know this is going to happen. Be prepared. Tell the top client it may happen and tell him at the beginning of the project. They expect you to bring experience. Develop a view of the “Big Picture” in advance. Have a view of the new project design. Stay ahead.
5. Make a habit of pre-presenting (they must see and understand the key analyses and recommendations well before you formally present them) concerns to the top client.

Project Recording

1. The Project Book is compulsory.
2. The Project book should contain the history of the project as a record for inclusion in or reference for a final report. It is the responsibility of the project lead to maintain the project book. It is project confidential and should contain all proposal letters and invoices as well as records of important decisions and variances from the proposal letter terms.
3. Each Work-stream should maintain a record of its work with meeting records, as-is descriptions, to-be solutions, recommendations, scoreboards and KPIs. This will form the basis for the final reports from each work-stream. It is much easier to set this up as a standard format, with Logo’s etc. at the beginning of the project than after everybody has started up. Set the standard.
4. There should be a master copy of this folder that stays in a specified location, the project or work-stream room, so it can always be found. If anything will go missing it’s this book. You should be firm about this.
5. Establish a project library and policies for the capture of knowledge, articles, books, news articles relevant to clients business and use this to impress the client with your speed of access to information about their industry.
6. Identify a Knowledge Champion for the project.
7. Establish a Quotes book for useful and entertaining quotes from the client and the joint team.
8. Build a project RACI with the consultants and the Joint team.

Physical Logistics

1. Ensure you have enough space and offices from the client. This includes meeting rooms, etc.
2. Ensure you have travel arrangements sorted out and the best deals you can get for hotels, taxis etc.
3. It’s worth comparing rates with the top client’s secretary or whoever does his travel. If they have better rates use them. If you do let them take advantage. Either way it will get back to the top client that you are working at reducing the expense bill to them. And every little helps.
4. Set up a War Room (a secure room to share information and discuss the project outputs) as soon as possible.
5. Ensure everybody has a valid site pass if needed and that they all know the rules that must be adhered to. You should always stay within the rules. No exceptions.

What you can say yes to

1. Just about anything that doesn’t commit you or your consulting firm financially.
2. All reasonable expenses.
3. Changes in scope that do not substantially affect the contract or the timing or resource level necessary for the firm to commit to fulfil its contract. Be careful.

What you can say no to

1. Changes in scope that do affect contract, timing and resource levels.
2. Unauthorised expenses from any source. It is not your problem. If it is not an expense for your project or cannot be justified bounce it.
3. The key test is can you justify it to the client.

Team Morale

1. Discuss Quality of work life and 5.4.3 with the team.
2. Have fun with the team, team event.
3. It is worth having a team event or team dinner to celebrate successes. Do this when you have someone to celebrate or it can come across as a “hollow”

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