What digital tools improve your consulting delivery?

One must never forget that the information is only as powerful as the understanding behind it - getting a deep understanding as to what the data is telling you is important. Also is the ability to "zoom out" as the closer you look the less you see

Though excel and Power BI are a must, leveraging the power of AI can help you in a long way to generate quality insights. Generative AI tools such as ChatGpt, Bard AI, Bing AI can be used as a starting point to help laydown a strawman for your project delivery Though some of the results might be a bit out-dated or not authenticated, what is more important here is the structure which the tool can help create. Once the structure is in place, a consultant can easily navigate the road map to deliver quality results.

To enhance consulting delivery, leveraging digital tools is crucial. Efficient project management is achieved through platforms like Trello, Asana, or Monday.com, enabling task organization and progress tracking. For seamless collaboration and communication, tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams prove invaluable. If you need further assistance or detailed guidance on optimizing consulting processes through these tools, feel free to reach out. Need any help in detail ? Just text me.

It turns out AI is amazingly good at data visualisation. Tools like ChatGPT can do complex data analysis with very simple prompts in very little time. This includes animations, interactive graphics and maps. Surprisingly AI is quite good at coming up with ideas fro visualising data. This is all based on Python but requires no coding or programming skills - everything is done by AI. My students find that it is by far the best tool for creating high quality visuals quickly and the easiest way to create maps.

Even before this, I'd think that solving a business need and understanding the core issues need to be distilled down into something that can be traceable. Further to that, representing the data into something that is meaningful and actionable rather than visually stunning graphs, is greatly important. We often also neglect the "real" users of the Dashboards or fancy graphs. It is not the management team or board members rather the person on the ground that will be using them, therefore it needs to always speak to the audience and change management and acceptance from the "real" users is of utmost importance.

When selecting tools, make sure that collaboration is the focus point. It is not helpful to go to a client and have to negotiate a huge amount of licensing cost for managing your project. Logically, if you are in the MS Cloud, it makes sense to utilise the licensing agreement the already available. Same with Google, etc.

Cross-functional collaboration and management are as vital to manage as scope creep and stakeholder engagement. Competing resources or resource scarcity can be a nightmare for any project manager. Collaboration tools make sure that tasks are tracked and that competing resources are utilized intelligently. This makes planning and utilization effective. Another advantage is real-time collaboration in shared files, which allows for feedback and necessary changes to be made instantly. Collaboration tools can help project managers improve communication and coordination between teams, share resources and knowledge more effectively, and create a more inclusive and collaborative work environment.

Test: Have someone else give your presentation, in practice. What "jumps out" at them is likely what will get highlighted by the audience. Try using the tool with which they are comfortable. You may learn a cool new feature!

It helps to know your audience. Different audiences respond to different tools. For example senior decision makers prefer simpler and more old fashioned presentations and tools. A lot of this comes with experience - if you don’t have a lot of it, ask your colleagues/mentors.

Doing research is a very broad activity and it really helps to know exactly what you want to do before you start. You can then pick the right tools and be more efficient with the process. You’ll find very different material on LinkedIn and Google Scholar so it helps to know what you’re looking for and where to find it.

Become your own digital librarian! Each other's research is great for future learning. Putting material in your own methods and new platforms helps to reinforcement.

My favorite tool is a good old-fashioned whiteboard. Several other tools help document these thoughts. But a quick diagram is worth a thousand words.

Be creative and remain old school. Storyboarding makes prototyping more appealing and easy to validate requirements. Drawing on a paper or white board is more engaging than using MS PowerApps to create prototypes.

Consider the value of Client Relationship Management (CRM) software, such as Salesforce or HubSpot, to maintain strong client connections and monitor project advancement. Market research tools like SEMrush or Moz aid in data-driven decision-making, enabling consultants to stay ahead of industry trends. Automation software, for instance, Zapier or Integromat, reduces manual tasks, boosting productivity. Cybersecurity tools like McAfee or Datadog Cloud Security Management are essential for safeguarding sensitive information, instilling client trust in your consulting services. These additional tools complement your consulting delivery, enhancing efficiency and overall success.