What are the best ways to build a consulting culture over time?

Consulting requires that your clients or internal customers first have the trust in either the consultant (experience, qualifications, etc.) or a proven methodology. Therefore I agree that first and foremost to build up your consulting identity, and then to also invest in the soft skills of becoming a trusted advisor. "The Trusted Advisor" by David H. Maister et. al, is a helpful resource.

Investing in our team members to upskill and upscale will always go a long way. Leading by examples and letting the team visualise it will aid the progress .. Setting up a thought process and mind set that we are our own brand ambassador would help pick on this attribute that much faster and deeply.

One area of focus I have found helpful is truly focus on the defined business problems. The associated outcomes they would like to unlock with real goals that are quantifiable and aligned to key stakeholders. If outcomes are not yet defined a true solution oriented consulting practice will help develop and execute a plan of action to achieve those outcomes.

Three things that matter - 1. Understanding the purpose. Why comes first, How comes in later. 2. Problem solving attitude - ability to put yourself in the client's shoes to understand the real problem, ability to see beyond the obvious, ability to connect between facts and possibilities. 3. Create a shared acceptance - rather than 'selling' articulating the real benefits; create an environment to implement change by building collective consensus.

Focus on Client - Client and its needs should be at the epicenter of the solutions. Long term relationship with client is the secret sauce of success. Solutioning and result oriented mindset - Delivering tangible value through solutions matters the most in any consulting culture. Ethical Standards - Nonnegotiable. Culture should be embedded by integrity, honesty, transparency and ethical conduct in all its interactions with clients.

Developing consulting skills is no different than developing skills in any discipline. It takes desire, motivation, and an endless amount of effort. Clay Christensen, who some consider one of our greatest business advisors said, "You can talk all you want about having a clear purpose and strategy for your life, but ultimately this means nothing if you are not investing the resources you have in a way that is consistent with your strategy." Ask for feedback, lean into being uncomfortable, and having a growth mindset will lead to positive outcomes.

To build a successful consulting career, focus on continuous learning, networking, and delivering exceptional results. Specialize in a niche, cultivate a strong online presence, and seek mentorship. Develop effective communication skills, build client relationships, and stay adaptable in the ever-evolving business landscape to thrive in the competitive consulting industry.

Beyond traditional skill sets, at Arvato Systems, we place a strong emphasis on the art of storytelling in our training. Transforming technical concepts into engaging narratives has not only proven effective but has also gained significant traction. This practice not only aids in honing communication skills but also facilitates a deeper understanding of complex subjects. Furthermore, it improves cross-functional communication by making content more accessible and fostering collaboration across different departments. Overall, fostering such a consulting culture is geared towards establishing deeper connections and promoting more effective collaboration within the team as well as with our partners and clients.

- In consulting, soft skills are the hard skills. You can learn technical skills. Some soft skills are much harder to learn and to adapt to. If your interpersonal skills are not strong, that behavior change will be difficult. You’ll have to want to change. - You have to have a curious mindset, asking “why” questions to dig deep into the problem in order to get to a root cause. - When consulting, you are working with another person or people. Developing your people skills, collaboration, relationship building, building trust, being authentic are critical. The old adage “people buy from people”, that relates here too. If you are not genuinely interested in the clients business, they’ll know, and building trust with them is a key to success.

As a consultant, it's important to recognize that personal growth is integral to professional success. We face intricate challenges in both our personal and business lives, and by acknowledging and addressing these challenges, we can cultivate a mindset of continuous self-improvement. By doing so, we not only enhance our problem-solving abilities but also promote authenticity and resilience within the consulting culture. Combining personal development initiatives with professional skill enhancement creates a holistic approach to consultancy, ultimately fostering a well-rounded and adaptable community of consultants. First and foremost, it's crucial to prioritize personal growth in order to succeed professionally.

For 20 years, I oversaw the Consulting Division for the startup I co-founded. One of the key's to consulting success is a mindset that is fully and completely focused on the CLIENT'S needs, problems, business goals and key decision makers, and NOT your (the consultants') tools, offers or solutions. I see many consultants' pitching their work way too early in the sales process. It's all about them (your client) and the relevant results you can deliver, NOT about how great, big, fancy you and your consulting team is. By having this mindset, we closed multi seven figure contracts with some the largest healthcare companies in the world, even though we were a tiny start-up.

Understanding the context is very important in consulting. Context in the sense, the context of the organization, the context of the problem and the people involved in it. Consultant should have a wide perspective on the socio economic and cultural dimensions. Understanding of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies will help in enhancing consultancy skills

LISTEN. If you are a consultant and you: - talk more than you listen, - have more statements than questions, you might be doing it wrong.

The right mindset defines the right start, ensures the right standards, and helps establish the right level of service. The right mindset helps define the basic tenets, guidelines and principles of getting engaged with the customer. It helps handpicking the right consultants, the right "hands on the deck" A good consultant is akin to a trusted partner for any organisation and a complete alignment to the strategy, vision, and aspirations of an organisation is critical. It's also necessary that the consultant has due cognizance of the culture that the organisation intends to imbibe. The right alignment of thought process and mindset are seminal to enable this. The other aspects can be defined and established based on this mindset.

I feel it's the mindset that truly defines everything. A way of life, a habit or literally the way you think, perceive and do everything!

Fostering a consulting community is an investment every Consulting firm looks forward to, an ideal consulting community has cross-industry experts combined with practice consultants with specialization in tech, AI , Data and other areas, each member brings network opportunities and best practices from respective areas to build a community of practices.

Cultivating a consulting community is vital. This involves nurturing relationships with peers, colleagues, and stakeholders. Such a community is key for exchanging knowledge, insights, and best practices. As part of my consultancy company, we create this by engaging in platforms, events, and forums, fostering communication and collaboration. This approach not only enhances our service quality through shared learning but also opens avenues for innovation and growth, aligning with our focus on ESG, Risk & Regulation, and Change Management. Our community is an integral part of maintaining and advancing our standards in the consulting field.

An important aspect in cultivating a consulting community is to think about what type of personalities and competencies you need to have around you to develop yourself and thrive with your projects and customers. There is more competition in consulting than in others business areas so good networking is crucial. Communities are often grouped around a common subject or domain, AI, politics, cyber security but high-quality deliveries are often based on interdisciplinary teams - so it can be a big advantage to engage in different communities.

Building a consulting community practically involves creating a network of professionals who share knowledge, experiences, and insights. This can be achieved through industry-led meetings, technical workshops, and conferences. But my personal favourite is 1-on-1 coffee catch-ups. Online platforms and social media groups also offer effective ways to connect and engage members. It's important to encourage active participation, collaboration, and the exchange of ideas. Offering training sessions and mentorship programs can help in skill development. Additionally, fostering a culture of openness and inclusivity is key to sustaining a vibrant and supportive community.

The consulting industry is also special in that today's colleagues may be on the client's side tomorrow and vice versa. This possibility of rapid changes in contacts, perspectives and negotiating positions is what makes our business field so exciting and incomparable.

In early stage of your career, you may not understand the importance of testimonials, documentaries, and case studies however as you grow in your career your history will create define your achievements. Influencers are not build in a day they are build based on their consistent years of hard work and achievements.

It's always inspiring to see someone in your team or even yourself to excel in the field because at the end dedication and hard work definitely pay off. We know that consulting is a demanding and high-pressure job, so it's important to take a step back and celebrate wins. We and the team do deserve a pat on the back for the any exceptional work.

Beyond the numbers, our joy and celebration of consulting successes and milestones mean more than just statistics within the company. It's not solely about technological accomplishments; it's about finding joy in individual growth, fostering strong team cohesion, and witnessing tangible improvements in the lives of people benefiting from our solutions.

Encouraging collaboration, continuous learning, problem solving mindset and knowledge sharing are some of the things that have helped me push a consulting culture in my team.

I have seen in my experience, celebration and rewarding is a boost to the productivity and morale of the individual and team. This is something I would always do time to time to promote a good working culture. This helps showcasing individual value in the team and organisation as well. Celebrations on your consulting achievements can be communicated via internal team meeting, success boards, social media platforms like Linked, etc., team members and professional network will also get to know about your achievements and celebrate your success with you.

Build a strong consulting culture by regularly evaluating performance. Establish clear metrics and key performance indicators. Foster a culture of accountability and continuous improvement. Encourage constructive feedback and utilize assessments to refine strategies. This iterative process ensures ongoing development, adaptability, and sustained success in the consulting environment over time.

IMO like any other performance evaluation Feedback plays and pivotal role in visualizing the overall progress. feedback can be from any stakeholder that is involved during the process. Another point is KPI, to use quantifiable metrics and KPIs to objectively measure performance. besides this we must acknowledge and celebrate accomplishments and success stories.

What has worked for me in evaluating the consulting performance is measuring client success. The dimension of performance that was the reason for the consulting engagement getting initiated in the first place, should be the yardstick for evaluating the consulting performance. If the consulting firm has not been able to move the needle on the problem at hand, in my opinion, the performance is not worth a credit. All other controls and measures are secondary. The primary metric should always be client success.

Based on my experience, evaluating consulting performance is not just about measuring metrics and numbers. It involves setting up a feedback loop that encourages continuous improvement. To gain valuable insights into the tangible and intangible parts of your consultancy, it is important to solicit input from clients, team members, and stakeholders. Furthermore, fostering a culture that values learning from both successes and challenges is crucial. Keep in mind that the true measure of consulting success is not just meeting targets, but the ability to adapt, learn, and evolve in response to the dynamic nature of the consulting landscape.

Feedback, Feedback, Feedback! Ask not only the client but also the other individuals or groups you worked alongside. What was successful? What worked? Where were the challenges and bottlenecks? What problem did you solve and overcome? What could you do better next time? What were you most proud of? Not only does this build confidence for the consultant and client, you can see where there is room for improvement on the next project.

Building a culture or changing the organisational culture towards a consulting culture takes time. Depending on the strategic business objectives and outcomes expected, scale & size of the operations, there are different ways to build/change a culture. One of the ways is to establish an independent consulting team within the organisation with some internal passionate and external consultant resources, that has clear targets to achieve, including driving culture change . With success, slowly expand this team and tilt the organisation’s balance towards consulting. Meanwhile, adapt the organisation’s value system towards those needed for a consulting culture, demonstrate behaviours like problem solving, startup mindset, and others.

Consulting is an industry but equally important are the skills it provides you to diagnose and design solutions to complex business problem. Whether these are tech, strategy, process or people problems - the approach and skills are transferable whether you are in external or internal consulting.

I've worked for Deloitte, Arthur Andersen/Andersen Consulting, E&Y, FCG, and a smaller boutique consultancy. To this day, I am still thankful for having started my consulting career at Andersen. The combined focus on skill development aligned to a methodology, and a culture based on meritocracy ... all wrapped by a World Class HR function predicated on "up or out", was an invaluable benefit. I would argue that contribution of a methodology, and the guiding hand of a communicative and engaged HR function, are the most over-looked components of growing a consultancy.

Don’t create boundaries and do not limit yourself. Keep up with the latest trends and technologies. Understand the needs of the client and identify a scalable solution that fits the requirements and within budget.

Consulting as a Nature of Business means to solve problems, be the advisor to customers, have a strong understanding of the market/space (of consulting) and performance is the peak focus, in addition. Now evolving to a Consulting Culture in the long term means accepting what will work for you and letting go of what you may not want to take from classical Consulting, both. Hence, more than focusing upon Consulting Culture it is better to adapt to ‘Work Competencies at the Workplace’ in Consulting that you want to adapt & then balance this out with Vision, Leadership Style and Organisational Goals, at different stages of growth. It is best is evolve to a Culture that you can call your own & create an environment that enables your future.