As a management consultant, you are expected to deliver clear, concise, and credible reports that inform and persuade your clients. However, you also need to balance your objectivity and diplomacy, especially when dealing with sensitive or controversial issues. How do you write a consulting report that achieves this balance? Here are some tips to help you.
Before you start writing, you need to understand who your audience is, what their expectations are, and how they will use your report. You should tailor your tone, language, and format to suit their needs and preferences. For example, if your audience is senior executives, you may want to use a formal and authoritative tone, highlight the key findings and recommendations, and provide concise summaries and visuals. If your audience is technical experts, you may want to use a more detailed and analytical tone, explain the methods and data sources, and provide technical appendices and references.
Honesty doesn't mix up much with diplomacy! Thus, when presenting your final report (of course after considering the language and style to use adapted to the audience), it should be short (5-10 slides with any number of supporting slides in annexes to pull out when needed) covering your methodology, input data or references, discoveries (totally honest without any favouring even to your order giver) and finally recommendations covering actions, who will benefit of it the most and why. This guarantees establishing a long term recurring business relationship with at least 2 out of 50 of members of your audience (especially the executive level and above).
Your report should be based on facts, data, and logic, not on opinions, assumptions, or biases. You should present your findings and recommendations in a clear and consistent manner, supported by relevant and reliable evidence. You should also acknowledge the limitations, uncertainties, and risks of your analysis, and provide alternative scenarios or options if applicable. You should avoid making exaggerated or unsubstantiated claims, or using emotive or vague language that could undermine your credibility or mislead your audience.
Reports stand out as the most distinct and valuable outcomes in any consulting project. Therefore, I believe that: - The language used should be comprehensible to stakeholders. - The report's visual appeal significantly influences the long-term acceptance of the strategy, as stakeholders revisit these documents. - Emphasis should be on constructing a meticulously crafted narrative supported by data, to maintain ongoing engagement.
Your report should also be respectful and sensitive to your audience's perspectives, values, and interests. You should avoid criticizing or offending your clients, their stakeholders, or their competitors, or implying that they are wrong or ignorant. You should also avoid imposing your own agenda or preferences, or making unrealistic or impractical suggestions. Instead, you should frame your report as a constructive and collaborative effort, that aims to help your clients achieve their goals and overcome their challenges. You should use positive and polite language, acknowledge their strengths and achievements, and emphasize the benefits and opportunities of your recommendations.
Before you finalize your report, you should solicit feedback from your colleagues, your supervisor, and your clients. You should be open to different opinions and perspectives, and be willing to revise your report accordingly. You should also check your report for accuracy, clarity, and consistency, and proofread it for grammar, spelling, and formatting errors. You should ensure that your report meets the quality standards and expectations of your firm and your clients, and that it reflects your professionalism and expertise.
Finally, you should deliver your report to your clients in a timely and appropriate manner. You should also prepare a presentation or a meeting to discuss your report with them, and answer any questions or concerns they may have. You should also follow up with them after the delivery, and offer your support and guidance for the implementation of your recommendations. You should also seek their feedback and evaluation of your report, and use it to improve your future reports.
#Implementation Be sure to leave the customer with a suitable implementation plan! Why “suitable”? I’ve seen lots and lots of standard implementation plans that wasn’t ajusted to the situation, the organization, the capabilities of the group of leaders or the culture. Make sure to help the customer to be able to implement! No plan is effective before being implemented.