Here's how you can mitigate the risks of not incorporating strategic thinking in consulting projects.

The first commitment of any consultant should be to never lose connection between every action in the plan with the business goals, objectives, outcomes, priorities and imperatives that initiated the engagement in the first place. The biggest and least focused risk in assignments is the disconnect at some point between the actions being taken as part of the assignment .. whether in envisioning, planning or execution, with the original strategic or tactical goals. Then all reporting, reviews, remediations .. everything starts diverging from true north and ultimately ends up burning time and money with little to no progress to show for it.

As a leader in project management, I emphasize risk awareness to ensure our consulting projects are strategically sound. Here’s how we tackle this: ??We conduct thorough risk assessments at the beginning of every project to anticipate potential challenges and strategize our approach. ??We develop multiple scenarios to understand different outcomes and prepare strategies that address each potential risk. ??Our team keeps a vigilant eye on project progress, allowing us to adjust our strategies in real-time and mitigate any emerging risks.

Strategic foresight is essential for success in consulting. Ignorance of the future can lead to outdated fixes and neglected problems. Taking this into account, I support adding strategic analysis to all projects. We are able to offer enduring solutions by matching solutions with our clients' long-term goals and market trends. In order to get the best results, let's continue to be attentive and proactive in risk mitigation.

Tendo presente que toda organiza??o tem objetivos de longo prazo, muitas vezes dita miss?o, parece n?o fazer sentido iniciar qualquer trabalho de consultoria sem a pedra fundamental que é entender a estratégia da empresa. Mesmo que o trabalho n?o seja abrangente ou grande, precisa estar em harmonia com a estratégia.

When you are presented with a problem statement, the first action is to rush in and address it quickly. Also it suits many consultants to say, "Hey don't blame me, this was your problem statement." There's no joy in doing a patchwork job. Whatever be the problem statement, it's the duty of the consultant to dig deeper and check for themselves, if indeed the problem has been correctly identified. Because often you could be treating merely the symptom.

In general, and especially when it comes to consulting, the question of "business justification" becomes crucial. Nothing should move forward until an idea, proposal or initiative justifies the cost and effort that the organization and its people will be put through, from a business perspective. Business justification is all about the expected benefit to the organization - whether in market share, competitive advantage, customer acquisition and retention, future readiness, revenue and profitability, etc. And initiative, for example, introducing a new ERP software, or changing the organisational structure, should be the outcome of a holistic and comprehensive business strategy review rather than a standalone decision

Scenario planning should be a collaborative process where all individuals and stakeholders concerned should assess the logical outcome of actions. Create BEST, WORST and MOST LIKELY outcomes. Then let the people involved decide whether they want to live with this or push themselves out further. 9 times out of 10, I have seen people rise to the occasion.

Scenario planning, done in various ways under different names, is one of the most important steps early in the envisioning/strategy phase, and a great opportunity to bring together all the key stakeholders and influencers. As a consultant, usually meeting them individually and understanding their perspective on the assignment/ask including benefits/risks/concerns will provide very good context on the general tendency within the leadership. With that, it will be possible to put together effective workshops on a business/strategy focus and get the scenario planning underway, and done consistent, so there is shared vision and commitment upfront.

As the leader of our project management team, I'm a big advocate for scenario planning to keep our consulting projects strategically sharp. Here’s how we make it work: ??We imagine different scenarios for each project, thinking through various challenges and opportunities we might face. This prepares us for anything the market might throw our way. ?? We also take each scenario and seriously consider the potential impacts. This helps us figure out the best strategies to use in different situations. ??Armed with our scenario insights, we adapt our project plans on the fly.

Stakeholder engagement is the most important part of consulting. L Continuous ongoing interaction with key leaders and influencers in the organisation as well as the impacted groups provides the best opportunity to ensure that the strategic goals and objectives of the initiative/effort/assignment are always in focus. This lets us as consultants raise risks, barriers and other issues that are preventing the business benefits from being achieved. It also helps us mobilize support, get inputs, delegate effectively and ensure ownership never gets diluted.

As a leader in project management, I prioritize stakeholder engagement to ensure our consulting projects are rich in strategic insights. Active engagement is important, we hold frequent meetings with all stakeholders to gather diverse insights, ensuring our project strategies are comprehensive and well-informed. ??We actively incorporate feedback from these consultations into our planning process, allowing us to address concerns and adapt strategies promptly. ?? Maintaining open channels of communication keeps stakeholders informed and involved, fostering a collaborative environment that enhances the strategic depth of our projects

Let’s tell the truth here - strategic thinking always starts from the top. When you deal with outdated structure on consulting side (Client Account Lead thinks he owns the account and is gatekeeper to all ideas - especially ones he don’t understand - and he is too important learn anything new - so he default to “autopilot” - let’s do everything as we always did). On client is usually person that talks only to Client Account Lead from Consulting and to vendor sales people selling him licenses. Result? Constant stream of bad decisions resulting in a massive technical debt that compounds because only solution client thinks of is change consultancy for “cheaper”. While primarily cause of failure are outdated information of stakeholders.

As I learned from a respected colleague many years ago, asking this one question in context of anything I do for a company will ensure I don't lose sight of strategy even if deep in execution mode: "What is the impact of this activity on the business outcomes expected?" If I can drive a clear connection between my immediate task and the business value, it's all good. And if I can do that across the assignment including work that my stakeholders are doing, then even the occasional review of strategic alignment will show up little to no surprises.