Consultant Time Allocation and Deliverables Management in Project Delivery

PROJECT DELIVERY PROJECT DELIVERY Content: Time Allocation of Consultants Project Delivery Capability Map Deliverables Management Hourglass Development Path

PROJECT DELIVERY FOCUS PROJECT DELIVERY FOCUS When you are actively staffed on a project, your distribution of hours is heavily weighted towards project delivery. In many consulting firms, they requires you to be close to 90% billable throughout the year. Everything Else (~10%) Consultants are expected to drive their own professional development and support the ongoing growth of the business. At 90% billable allocation, consultants would target approximately 200 hours each year to critical activities outside project delivery. 10% Where Consultants Spend Their Time (breakdown of 2000 hours) Billable Project Delivery (~90%) Most of consulting is delivering on billable client projects. This is where all the revenue is generated and the firm s reputation, growth, and success is built. In many companies, performance reviews incorporate a consultant s total billable hours with expectations on being staffed on projects throughout the year. 90% 2

PROJECT DELIVERY PROJECT DELIVERY Consulting firms will have their own process for delivering client projects. In general, there will be a set of key activities that makeup their best practices from project initiation to close-out. Focus Areas and Key Activities Focus Areas and Key Activities Initiation Preparation Kick-Off Execution Close-Out Resource Planning & Mobilization Transition Planning & Management Project Definition Detailed Project Plan Status Reporting Project Kick-Off & Stakeholder Engagement Project Planning & Organization Team Onboarding Issue/Action Item Tracking Project Asset Archiving Project Governance & Communications Budget and Expense Management Budget & Cost Model Training & Knowledge Transfer Lessons Learned Case Study & Marketing Collateral SOW Development & Review Delivery Practices Alignment Project Metrics & Measurement Client Engagement & Preparation Risk Mitigation & Escalation Management SOW Submission & Negotiation Project Team Decommissioning Deliverables Management Change Management Priorities for Consultants and Senior Consultants 3

DELIVERABLES MANAGEMENT DELIVERABLES MANAGEMENT Client deliverables must go through a review process to ensure project standards and quality are met. This requires that the consultants working on these deliverables maintain a disciplined cadence of work progress and reviews. Example of Review & Delivery Timeline Example of Review & Delivery Timeline Work Assigned Scope of work and context behind the ask is explained. A team or single consultant is assigned. Manager Review Practice run and end-to-end walkthrough of the content. Partner Review Formal dry-run with the Partner. Content should be near perfect at this point with some buffer scheduled for any final edits. Deliverable should be close to 90% complete walking into the meeting and the manager is there to help refine the last 10%. Deliverable timeline and expectations are set. This is a stress test of your work. Expect tough questions and a strong critique of the overall deliverable. Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Reviewer Check-Ins More informal meetings with a senior consultant or manager to validate direction and check on progress. Client Delivery Formal presentation and delivery to the client 4

HOURGLASS DEVELOPMENT PATH HOURGLASS DEVELOPMENT PATH The development path can be illustrated as an hourglass. The journey begins as an inexperienced generalist, specializations emerge that support management capabilities, and over time the experience/knowledge enables sales and strategy. Breadth vs. Specialization Partner Expanded Knowledge and Competencies Sales: Your reputation and network allows you to represent the company at the highest levels and develop the trust needed to win new clients. Strategy: Your experience compounds over time and your contributions become more strategic in nature as you re able to synthesize years of knowledge and client experience. Highly Experienced Generalist Specialist Manager Initial Path to Specialization Domain Expertise: After a few projects, you develop expertise across a set of technical/ functional domains and become trusted with managing larger projects. Delivery Experience: You start by gaining as much experience as possible gaining exposure to a wide range of projects, clients, and industries. Inexperienced Generalist Junior Consultant 5

DELIVERABLES MANAGEMENT DELIVERABLES MANAGEMENT Client deliverables must go through a review process to ensure project standards and quality are met. This requires that the consultants working on these deliverables maintain a disciplined cadence of work progress and reviews. Sample Review & Delivery Timeline Sample Review & Delivery Timeline Work Assigned Scope of work and context behind the ask is explained. A team or single consultant is assigned. Manager Review Practice run and end-to-end walkthrough of the content. Partner Review Formal dry-run with the Partner. Content should be near perfect at this point with some buffer scheduled for any final edits. Deliverable should be close to 90% complete walking into the meeting and the manager is there to help refine the last 10%. Deliverable timeline and expectations are set. This is a stress test of your work. Expect tough questions and a strong critique of the overall deliverable. Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Reviewer Check-Ins More informal meetings with a senior consultant or manager to validate direction and check on progress. Client Delivery Formal presentation and delivery to the client 6