3. Executive Summary
• This Log book includes the main topics and key take away from the first week of
management consulting specialization
• A Timetable was created in order to control the hours and costs
• Major consulting firms seek for professional with the following skills: ability to
communicate effectively ,critical thinking, capacity to solve problems, work in
teams and win globally
• It is very important to have an elevator pitch prepared to succeed when selling
yourself
• Working in teams, build a strong reputation and how to marketing yourself were
abilities developed during the course
• Build a reliable and extensive network is the key in consulting business as well as
the development of selling and pricing skills
•This log book also contains examples of team work activities and case studies
during the course, which were extremely important linking theory and practice
5. Best Consultants
Vault.com shows a ranking with the best consulting firms and the 3 first position
are:
• Bain & Co.
• McKinsey Consulting
• BCG – Boston Consulting Group
They look for caracteristics such as Communications (active listener and use well
the client time), critical thinking (structure of the work and the strategic “no”),
capacity to solve problems (give alternatives solutions) , work in teams (work
well with different people from different cultures) and win globally (know how to
win business in a global perspective).
6. Initial presentation
First impression is not in the first day that we meet someone
Get formal commitment from other people
Ask great questions
When evaluating ourselves, be honest, conscious, understand our limititations and roles inside a team
Set expectations and common rules when working in a team. Define a team leader
• Sharon starts the course introducing herself in a professional way giving her
business card (she was expecting us to present our cards).
• She asked us to fill a form and evaluate the quality of the question in this
questionnaire (the importance of smart questions!)
• She explained about the course, evaluation criteria and the importance of the self-
evaluation process
• We participated in a team exercise focused in aligning expectation between team
member
7. Elevator pitch
Be organized
Give informations
Be calm, clear and
confident
Keep eye contact
Why you are here?
What comes next?
1
2
3
4
5
6
In 30 seconds
you have to
deliver your
message…
“Over the past 10
years I build a
solid career in
supply chain,
strategy and
consulting.
Working with cross
cultural teams I
developed my
leadership skills.
I am a
multidisciplinary
and strategy
thinking
professional able
to solve complex
business
problems.
Your problems are
my motivation,
here is my card.
What about to
meet for a coffee
later?”
8. Toolkit Exercise
• Hard skills (knowledge and abilities) + Soft skills (interpersonal interactions) that
are important for a consultant
Exercise
• Group work to classify “tools” or abilities needed for a consultant into categories
Why the outcome was so bad?
Understand what is
the real issue
(Big Picture)
Define a
leader and
plan before
act
Negotiate the
resources
Present your
result with
confidence
Focus on
What the
client care
about!
9. Reputation
What is the most important for a consultant?
What you know
Who you know
Who knows you
Keys learnings:
• The value of a social presence
• The importance of building, updating and managing reputation (personal and professional)
• Colaboration in blogs and professional networks to build reliability
• Consultants must build a brand: trust, credibility and consistence
• Follow up your network. Keep in contact with people. Send Christmas best wishes!
• Be honest , trustful and be able to give before ask
10. My SWOT and Evaluation
• Criativity
• Flexibility
• Critical thinking
• Result oriented
• Persistence
• Cross cultural
team work
• Networking MBA
• Intelectual
resource capture to
solve business
problems
• Value of a MBA
• Family x
professional
interest
• Money restriction
• Introvert profile
• Lack of assertiveness
• Demanding
• Impulsive
• Impatient
Item
I demostrated an ability to
communicate effectively
I demostrated critical
thinking
I
demonstrated
an ability to
solve
problems
I contributed
to the success
of the team or
class
I demonstrated
global thinking
Summary
Score
Score 16 18 18 18 15 17
Comments
Presentations are organized
and creative. Respect to
other speakers.
Could improve confidence in
verbal communications
Ability to identify
critical issues and
combine discussions
with other contents.
Arguments supported.
Ability to solve
problems
using
alternatives
solutions.
Work
proactively
and sharing
knowledge.
Could spent more
time thinking
about impact
generated by
alternatives
solutions
Verbal Evaluation
Scoring: 18-20: Outstanding 15-17: Very good 12-14: Fair <12=minimum or no performance
11. • Networking exercise with the members of the class
• In 15 minutes you have to share informations about you with
the maximum numbers of members however with the goal to
build solid contacts for your network
Networking
Exercise
In a networking event dont move too fast or too slow....maybe you
are loosing some important information....
Importance of the word month
Eye contact and smile!
Face to face interactions
Be a active listener
Try to focus on the right person to add value
Be a conector
Start the conversation with a interesting topic Invite people that are alone to join your conversation
Second degree conection. Maybe you are talking with someone that knows your most important contact
12. Marketing myself
• How to get
myself know
• How I help
my clients
• What I do• Who I am
A Visionary and
entrepreneur
professional
Multidisciplinary and
creative
Cross cultural
experience
Problem solver
Solve complex
business
problems giving
alternative
solutions
generating
value
Networking, Word
of mouth, being part
of association,
comment on blogs,
creating a plattaform
to offer consulting
services, following up
my contacts,
generating content
Developing
alternatives
solutions at low
costs, analytical and
critical thinking about
processes and
products, strategical
approach to
problems
13. Writing a reference
• It is important to have your own criteria and guidelines to give references to
someone.
• References should always be honest, trying to link skills and professionals
objectives
• The following reference I wrote to a classmate using Linkedin:
“Guilherme is an energetic and passionate professional. He has an outstanding
ability to analyze problems and share creative ideas. Additionally, his relationship
and communications skills are remarkable. He shows a high degree of emotional
intelligence which drives his decisions in a weighted, fair and responsible way. He
always brings result-oriented insights adding considerable value in a work
environment.”
14. • Volunteers simulated a sales situation. Negotiating a product the two parts
should met their objectives: seller (sell its quota) and the buyer (buy the product
with a limited budget).
Listen the
client
needs
/budget
Ask smart
questions
Know
about
what you
are selling
Fulfill what
you
promised
Work in a
collaborative
way
Successful
sales
Selling skills exercise
Exercise
The price is how much the client is willing to pay!
There is no such thing as FREE!
Always bring creative and alternative solutions!
Be prepared: know your BATNA, limits and target!
15. • Cake Shop produce fancy cakes and acessories. They have physical and online
presence.
• The challenge was to propose a solution to help The Cake Shop to become more
profitable in certain operations.
Proposal – The Cake Shop
Company profile and challenge
Guidelines
to elaborate
the proposal
Executive
summary
Objectives
Project
structure
Time line
Engament
price
Issues /
Exceptions
Company,
NGO,
personal
profiles
References
Contact
infoBased on the presentation
Be careful when mentioning number (%) without alignment with your client
Start and finish your presentation in a strong way
Adjust your presentation according with your client
Roles inside a
team
Believe in your
solution
Key concepts and values
Results
Activities
Milestones
“selling skill exercise”
Back up
Consultant
background
Customer
and partners
Call for action at the end
16. Project Management
Constrain Optimize Accept
Resources
Time
Scope
Dimensions to
be considered
in a projects
Flexibility level
+-
• Its important to determine with the
client the priority for each dimension.
• All dimensions must be rated in just
one level of flexibility (Accept most
flexible, Optimize and Constrain least
flexible).
Example
What is the most important factor for your client?
Risk Management and other tools used in projects
• Risk assessment/management plan: Issue, likelihood (or probability to happen), Impact (can be
high, medium or low) and the back up plan. Should be elaborated together with the client
• Pareto, drill-down, 5 Why´s, Mind mapping, PEST and SWOT analysis: Strategical analysis and
company size up
When presenting your result to the client is important to:
Restate
Objectives
Summarize
info
Report
findings
Filter to
essential
Present
insights
Present
your
value
added
Conclude
strongly
with good
recommen
dation
17. Business Cases
Business Case # 2 – Urb.im
• Putting into practice the concepts learned in class, we had the opportunity to
analyze a case and present a proposal to provide consulting service.
• The feedback was really constructive and well done
• I really enjoyed to work with my team because of the collaborative and
productive environment created by its members
Considering the case studied, I could observe how a consultant recomendation can impact the
society
It is essencial to divide the work in a way to maximize the productivity
Respect betwen member is extremelly important
Commitment of all members is crucial when the time is limited
Be a good listener is a valuable skill
• The proposal should address the development of a roadmap to connect online communities
helping Urb.im to become an influencial leader in urban poverty and as a consequence
promoting Ford Fundation image
Be positive and trust in your potential
Alignment and set expectation is the key for success
18. Testimonial Dear Sharon,
For a long time I am interested in management consulting
in the fields of strategy and supply chain.
I decided to attend the MBA program in France because I
felt the need to change the course of my career. I have as
a major goal to increase my network and to exchange
experiences with people from different nationalities and
cultures in order to enrich professionally and personally.
During the course of the MBA I felt some disappointment
regarding my set goals. However, you came to change my
perception.
You are a person full of energy and passion doing your
work. You was able to transmit a positive vibration during
the first week of the specialization in Management
Consulting. After this week, I feel like a “light turned on in
the end of the tunnel” and many doubts and questions were
answered.
Thank you for all the brilliant insights and the extreme
influences in my career. Despite the short time, the week
was really productive.
Thanks again for all your hard work and dedication. I hope
you can continue disseminating all your positive energy
inspiring many future consultants.
Rafael Mohrez
