Week 3

The main topic of last week’s business consultancy lecture was process consulting to come to solutions. At first, we summarized and repeated last week’s key points, and afterwards we spoke about the definition of process consulting, methods that are often used in this approach (like for instance a research plan, solution development and the SAFe criteria for evaluation), and we also learned about the required or desired skillset for management consultants.

At the beginning, I would like to briefly summarize what process consulting is all about. With process consulting it is important to point out that it differs greatly from the expert or doctor/client approach. A consultant who uses process consulting does not focus on being an omniscient expert whose solution is an enormous improvement over anything the client has ever done before. He tries to build a relationship with the client and create a productive atmosphere to find the best possible solution to the real problem. He does this by working in a team with the customer, not without him or for him. It could be described as similar to the Solution Focus methodology developed and used by Dr McKergow, which builds on positive aspects of the customer's work to date and seeks to further improve those aspects that are not what they should be.

First of all, it is important to identify the problem as clearly as possible. In general, you should always take as much time as necessary for this step because only if the gap is really recognized and understood, the right solution can be developed. If you do not make enough effort to fully understand the problem, you will not be able to provide the best possible solution and may need to make an even greater effort in later stages. One of my preferred methods of identifying the problem is to ask as many questions as possible and use a variety of questioning methods such as open questions. One of my former superiors used to say, "Be smart, behave stupid," and the message he was trying to convey with that saying was that you should ask as many questions as you need until you have fully figured out everything you need to know, but it also means that your questions should be well thought out.

Detailed questioning and well prepared and executed interviews are also a part of the research, which leads me to my next point, the research plan. There are two different kinds of research, desk research (e.g. using your experience, client’s data, public domain data, etc.) and field research (e.g. interviews, observations and surveys). In my opinion, there is no “right way” to do research, that fits for every problem. Every gap has its key aspects and therefore also the research plan needs to be attuned to it. But in general, I would say, that it is important to have a well-balanced mix between desk and field research because none of the research methods alone will be able to lead to the desired results.

As soon as you have identified the problem and gathered all the necessary input, information and data, and the first decisions have been made, it comes to the most creative part of consulting, the elaboration of possible solution approaches. In my experience, this stage can be facilitated by out of the box thinking and writing down every idea you have, even though lots of them will be sorted out again later, due to different reasons.

After you developed different possible solutions, you need to make assumptions and put your solutions to the test e.g. using the SAFe method. SAF stands for: 

• Suitability – ergo the question if the solution addresses the key opportunities and threats
• Acceptability – the question if the solution will be accepted by the Stakeholders
• Feasibility – the question if the solution works in practice

Every criterion is important and has its raison d'être, but suitability is the most important one, at least in my opinion. A solution that does not do, what the client wants it to do, will also never be accepted and therefore never be implemented. If the solution fulfils the first criteria, it is way easier, to convince the stakeholders, even if they might be critical on the first hand and as soon as you managed to truly convince the stakeholders, they will do everything in their power, to put the developed solution into practice. Of course, every one of the previously mentioned criteria subsequently can be subdivided into a variety of subitems.

After following these steps, one should be able to deliver a fitting solution to the client and move on to implementation (actions).

Another thing we spoke about in our lecture, as mentioned in the beginning, is the key-skillset of a management consultant. In our lecture, we heard that there are six main capabilities which are the following:

• Problem-solving
• Interpersonal skills
• Personality
• Energy and ambition
• Education
• Experience

An acquaintance of mine, who works as a management consultant once said, that a good consultant only needs to manage three key points:

• Learn fast enough, so the client doesn’t recognize you have no clue at all
• Always be self-confident and now how to sell yourself towards the project’s stakeholders
• Always find the solution at least 3 minutes before the client discovers it himself

Of course, he said that with a blinking eye, but I guess there’s always a little truth in every joke that’s being made. His 3 main characteristics also go hand in hand with a few of the capabilities above like e.g. problem solving, interpersonal skills and personality. Nevertheless, it surely also is important to have a good education, energy, ambition and experience.

In our seminar, we tried to convert the acquired knowledge into practice with a case study. We focused on identifying the problem and on right questioning with different question-techniques. Every group was allowed to work out 6 key questions and ask them afterwards. I think, this really showed us the importance of figuring out the problem and collecting information before starting to work on possible solutions.

To put it in a nutshell, I really enjoyed last week’s lecture and seminar, because the “Solution Focus” and the approach of process consulting for solutions is also my personal preference in comparison to the expert or doctor/patient approach, therefore it was really interesting for me, to deal with it in detail. 

Picture Source: www.nussknackerei.at/ihre-nuesse/prozesse-optimieren-zufriedenheit-steigern [15/10/2019, 8 pm]