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How to be aGreat Consultant

March 1998Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

Developer: Alex Wouterse

Reviewers: Tony Ecock

Steven Tallman

John Clarke


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Copyright 1998 Bain & Company, Inc.

How to be a Great Consultant

2Great Consultant

Key success factors

The function of expectations in predicting consultant success

Managing expectations for new consultants

Evolving expectations for experienced consultants

Key takeaways

Agenda


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3Great Consultant

Great cons ultants base their success on c haracterist ics that extend wel l

beyond analy t ical th ink ing .

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

trainingexperimentation

practice

Desire to succeed as a consultant

Five Key Characteristics


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4Great Consultant

Key success factors




Key takeaways

Agenda


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5Great Consultant

What people expect of you wi l l depend o n th eir n eeds and perspect ive.

If in dou bt , ask about th e expectat ions o f the people you wo rk w i th .

New Consultant

VP/Manager

Caseteam

Office Client

Is he smart enoughto get up to speed

rapidly?

Is she experienced

enough to help us

solve our problems

successfully?

Is she cooperative

enough to integrateinto the team and to

add own value quickly?

Is he open enough to

adapt to the office

culture and influence

it positively?

What does she bring

to the party?

Is he a team player?

Is he arrogant orcan I work with him?

Expectations and Differing Perspectives


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6Great Consultant

Bain VPs on what it takes to be a successfu l con sultant. ..

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 toughbusiness 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.

Successful Consultants: Bain VPs Perspectives


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7Great Consultant

Unsuccessfu l consu l tants . ..

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

thinkthey do, or theyre capable of, and they are tiresome to manage.

Unsuccessful Consultants: Bain VPs Perspectives


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8Great Consultant

Key success factors




Key takeaways

Agenda


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9Great Consultant

When you star t work ing, you h ear di f ferent th ings about B ain and w hatothers 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.

Start-Up Expectations


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10Great Consultant

Consul tant expectat ions and ro les are grounded in the Bain miss io n.

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

Mission Statement

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.

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

The Bain community of extraordinary teams

The Bain approach to creating value, based on a sharp competitive and customerfocus, the most effective analytic techniques, and our process for collaboration

with the client

Mission and Expectations


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11Great Consultant

The Bain vision of c l ient relat ionships is realized by del ivering results, not reports.

Your role as a consultant is a function of Bains vision for each client relationship.

RelationshiptoClient

Value Added Results

Fee-for-service Adviser

(Billing hours of advice)

Dedicated Partner(Selling profits at a discount)

Profit Participator

(Buying profits at a bargain)

EmpoweredEntrepreneur

(Taking full ownershipposition)

Consultant

role:

Independent and

objective Industry experts

Serve a client for a

fee

Strong alignment with

dedication to clients destiny Experts on the clients

industry and key strategicchallenges

Long-term relationships

Value-sharing wheneverpossible

Controlling role

towards clientmanagement

Exclusivity, no

conflict of interest

Focus on results

Active dedication to

success by full risksharing

Entrepreneurial role

based on experience

in results through

strategy

Client Relationships and Consultant Role


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12Great Consultant

The Bain mission and vision can be translated into co ncrete expectat ions for a new

cons ultant . Your ult imate succ ess wil l rest upon yo ur abi l i ty to meet theseexpectat ions.

What will make you

a great consultant at Bain?

Value Addition Client Relationships CommunicationExtraordinary

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)

Success Factors and Expectations


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13Great Consultant

What do w e expect from you as a new consu l tant in the area of value addi t ion?

Identify the

action/

answer that will

lead to

client value

Pyramid the

problemPlan the work

Execute the

workInterpret

the analysis

Identify key

issues of

workstream

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

Baseline:

Oversee

interdependencies

with whole case Help structure the

big picture

Create a completely

MECE pyramid of

the clients problem motivate the

client to take

action, or

prove the answer

Get to the heart of

the matter quickly

Build up realistic

HIT-based planning

and Answer-Firstconsistently

Master most

complex

analytical toolkit Coach other

team members

Develop

breakthrough

insights andsignificant

tangible results

on your specific

module

Distinguishing:

Expectations: Value Addition


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14Great Consultant

What do we expect from you as a new co nsultant in the area of cl ient relat ionships ?

Evaluate client

needsManage client

situation

Build

relationshipGenerate

impact

Sensitive to

client needs,

constraints, and

culture

Conduct

professional

and controlled

interactionsAlways run

well-prepared

meetings

Viewed as

expert by client Work with client

on relevant

issues

Help to supportchange in

individual

interactions

Baseline:

Cultivate acute

awareness of

others attitudesand values

Follow up all

client

commitments

Build personal

relationship

based onoutstanding

expertise and

empathy with

client

Turnaround

client team

members intoreal change

agents and

Bain friends

Distinguishing:

Expectations: Client Relationships


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15Great Consultant

What do we expect from y ou as a new consu ltant in the area of communicat ion?

Interact parallel

with clientDevelop a

presentationPresent

Ensure

consensus,

follow up,

and action

Leave a trail

Adopt a candid

and precise

communication

style

Help to create a

well-structured,

logical

presentation

Generate

flawless,

succinct Bain

standard slides

Rehearse

sufficiently

Prewire assigned

client employees

Present own

work with

flawless

execution

Note key client

questions and

observations

in meetingsand

presentations

Provide back-up

File

Baseline:

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

Distinguishing:

Expectations: Communication


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16Great Consultant

What do we expect from you as a new c onsu ltant in the area of extraordinary teams?

Self Team Office

Be receptive to

feedback

Sustain

commitment to

Bain

Be a true team

player 100% of

time

Contribute

positively tomorale

Manager(upward)

Be reliable

Be supportive

Act as an accepted

and responsible

member of office

community

Demonstrateprofessional

behavior to all

administrative staff

Systematically

solicit and use

feedback from

others to improveown performance

Successfully

motivate and

integrate other

new consultantsinto team

Leverage

managers

time and value

added

Manage proactive

contribution to

overall office

morale Network

Earn respect

Engage in informal

office activities

Baseline:

Distinguishing:

Expectations: Extraordinary Teams


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17Great Consultant

Acc ording to VPs, succ essful consu ltants do no t ignore the basics.

You can never overdo prewires

Send faxes well in advance of teleconferencesnumber your pages

Only produce slides afterthe 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, betterslides

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 forfact-based slides - avoid stoplight charts or subjective word slides

label appropriately

include sources

Rehearse presentations sufficiently to make adequate eye contact with the audiencedont 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

Tips from VPs


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18Great Consultant

Key success factors




Key takeaways

Agenda


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19Great Consultant

Expectat ions evolve for an experienced con sultant . Great cons ultants are

caseteam leaders and managers-in-training.

Consultant:

Point of arrival for the

caseteam leader role

Value addition Client relationship CommunicationExtraordinary

teams

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

Is fully accepted as

expert and business

partner by client

middle/upper

management

Uses communication

to convince and

motivate clients to

take desired action

Is an effective and

respected team

integrator and

contributor to office

morale

Shows potential to

grow into caseteam

leader/manager

position

Evolving Expectations


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20Great Consultant

State-of-the-art problem-

solving know-how and client

process skills

Over time in a consultants career, basic values remain the same but differ in

emphasis.

Junior consulting staff Senior consulting staff

TimeAllocation

Analysis/

problem-solving

Caseteam/client

management

Sales/marketing

Know-how creation

and experience sharing

Role:

Key success

factors:

Top analyst/problem solver Change agent

Leadership in

effecting change

(process skills)

Performance Partner fortop management

Sales/marketing, product

development

Role Development


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21Great Consultant

Expectations abou t your ro le wil l increase in l ine with you r broadening sk i l l levels.

Value addition Client relationships CommunicationExtraordinary

teams

Focus on assigned

workstream

Become expert incertain tools,

functions, tasks

Focus on big

picture

Gather and share

expertise in major

relevant

business/industryissues

Establish

relationship with

specific client teammembers

Become a respected

project team

member

Establish long-term

relationships with

key client decision

makers Earn personal

respect beyond

mere project/

business issues

Communicate

proactively and

professionally Create well-

prepared 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

Be a great team

player

Engage in informaloffice activities

Help others to

integrate smoothly

into the team

Actively contribute

to office/firm

development -

manage a majoractivity (recruiting,

training, etc.)

Junior

Senior

Expectation and Skill Development


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22Great Consultant

No matter wh at path you m ay eventu al ly take, there is sign if icant overlapbetween Bain and career key suc cess factors.

Bain Career

Build a personal track

record of value addition

Bullets on your resume

Develop a list of team

members and clients who

like and respect you

Personal network

Bain & Beyond


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23Great Consultant

Key success factors




Key takeaways

Agenda


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24Great Consultant

Great co nsu ltants...

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

Takeaways

Documents

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