While I moved from consulting to IT Services over 16 years ago, all along, I have closely observed the evolution of the management consulting industry and often vision the future of the consulting industry. I ask myself, what is that one thing that I would do differently if I were a consultant once again?
During all my years of consulting, I saw consulting engagements, the Kick-off, Planning, Analysis and Design, Report Back, and Execution phases. While our engagements involved working closely with clients in the kick-off and fact gathering stages, working with clients diminished in the analysis and design phases. Often the report back/recommendation phase was with the CXO level. Often the stakeholders whose inputs were taken at initial phases found themselves eliminated from the entire process.
If I were to redo the consulting methods again, I will do the following.