March 17, 2023

By: Syed Shoaib, Specialist - Consulting, LTIMindtree

Dealing with consultants can be a tricky business. On the one hand, businesses need their expertise and outside perspective to ensure the success of process transformation consulting. But on the other, consulting can often come at a decent cost.

Consulting has been around for decades, with experts coming in and out of various industries depending on consumer wants and needs. However, what all clients need from consultants remains unchanged – integrity.

Over the years, businesses have turned to consultants due to various reasons such as providing expertise and manpower for one-time engagements, bringing outside perspective into an existing business, etc. Consultants also help validate existing business processes and thus re-enforce confidence.

However, a responsible advisory is more valuable than raw expertise. I have, in my experience, been able to condense the tenets of responsible advisory under three ideas:

Listen to the pain

Sometimes, the solution to a problem is in the problem itself. We need to look at the right places with the right attention.

The key to providing responsible advice is to understand the core pain points a client is suffering through in order to achieve optimal solution as a part of a process transformation consulting exercise. Oftentimes, solutions already reside within the problem itself – consultants only need to look closely enough to find them. It’s also important for consultants to look at how their decisions and ideas may impact not just current operations but also potential future ones like economic recessions and natural disasters so they are able to create contingencies accordingly. The same goes for digital frauds too, which frequently take businesses by surprise if they aren’t careful.

Take an example of the Covid-19 pandemic that took global (and even local businesses) by surprise. One of the volatile factors of the pandemic was not just human health effects but the uncertainty related to how far and long the pandemic would last. It did seem like a never-ending thing a few months ago.

For some businesses, remote working was an option, while for others, remote working was not an option to adopt. In such a case, the organization’s human resources division had to think of strategic and innovative ways of not just keeping the business running but taking care of the people working for them, including the ones ensuring the safety of the workforce. Much of this is still relevant if we look at consulting industry trends 2023.

Even though organizations can prepare for contingencies, not all contingencies can be made using mathematical and strategic models. Some need a human touch too. Because, in the end, business is about people and their best interests.

Not just people but even institutions suffer due to pain points. Take an example of a consultant hired by a hospital to transform its operations from manual-based processes into ones operated digitally. While the consultant may have presented neat diagrams and presentations about how this transformation would work, were they considering their client’s best interests? Was it really an optimum solution, or was it simply recounted from some other organization?

Maybe no one cared to ask this question from the hospital side. Partly because they do not hold expertise in such an area, that stops them from asking the right questions; this is where the ethical responsibility of the consultant comes into need – to advise what is best and right for the particular “hospital” in perspective. Because in the same industry, two different organizations suffer from different kinds of problems, which need to be genuinely felt before advising a solution. Just like two different hospitals do not have the same problems to solve.

Listening is a core skill in consulting, regardless of the consulting industry. There is a difference between providing an industry-standard solution and providing an industry-standard solution that is tailored to the individual client.

A successful project is not a project that merely meets a timeline. A successful project solves a problem effectively. It is adaptable and accepted seamlessly because it is the right solution.

One-size never fits all

The primary attribute of a good consultant is understanding that he/she needs to educate the client in the area of expertise that the consultant holds. Knowledge transfer should be made with the excellent intention of empowering the listener with helpful information that will enable the listener/client to ask more questions and deepen their understanding. Solution expertise usually comes from the consultant, but the understanding of pain points is best known to the client, at least in the beginning.

As a consultant, it is also necessary to help validate the problem statement presented by the customer/client. Because sometimes, as the consultant goes deeper into the problem statement, the true nature of the issue is unearthed. It even happens at the end of the problem validation exercise. Often the problem statement itself changes completely. Along with this, the initial approach should be transformed.

“Improvise, Adapt Overcome” is a popular slogan among the U.S. Marine Corp. This represents a never-ending endeavor towards agility of strategy and action. This should be the mindset of advisory, where the advisor is agile in his ideas and able to move from one pillar of thought leadership to another in pursuit of excellence.

It is true that everyone requires the best advice tailored to their specific situation. What works for one person may not work for another. The same problem can have vastly different consequences on different organizations, even if they are within the same industry or region. If left unresolved, problems can quickly escalate and cause further issues; therefore, it is vital to focus on the root cause of a problem in order to take the appropriate steps for resolution. Having foresight into how a situation will progress allows quality advice to be provided. There is no single approach to tackling any given scenario from start to finish.

In a world that is VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous), there are multiple external factors (along with internal factors) that amplify the magnitude of a problem. Considering all of these (or at least most of these) and then traversing a situation is necessary to see the true depth of the situation and measure our options. Competition is a never-ending force that affects the flow of business, and innovation is one of the surest ways to come across this.

Innovation should not be confined to the products offered by a business; rather, it should also extend to the approaches taken in doing business. It is impossible to predict all potential threats and opportunities in business. However, we can strive to make decisions with our best interests at heart. The quality of consulting services is measured not only through successful problem-solving but also through its ability to anticipate and mitigate future problems. A comprehensive solution aids in constructing a robust foundation on which businesses can develop their boundless potential.

Build a relationship that lasts

Cultivating a long-term relationship with our customers requires more than simply providing advice or consulting for business or technology problems. The foundation for such a partnership must be built upon good intentions and the prioritization of our customers’ best interests. This will allow us to provide quality consulting services that extend beyond transactions and enable us to form reliable connections with our customers over time.

Communication is key. Being able to share the real issue at hand requires a level of trust. This is necessary, especially when the customer seeks robust consulting advice from a consultant. It’s never a good idea to assume something without validating it because the formulation of a solution requires input. And the nature of input determines the impact a solution makes. In comparison, the quantity of input requires trust.

Empathy is fundamental to collaboration, an often-overlooked aspect of the business world. Transactions are transient, while businesses must build strong and lasting connections in order to withstand external pressures such as competition and economic volatility. Such relationships can be mutually beneficial over the course of many years, allowing both parties to succeed despite challenging circumstances.

Empathy helps build trust, make business relationships stronger, and develop mutual respect. Empathy drives innovation and supports overall people’s well-being – especially during times of crisis.

Individuals and organizations that have high levels of empathy are skilled at understanding situations that much better. This results in better decisions each time in pursuit of a positive impact for all the stakeholders involved. This is the driving force for moving together faster and creating pleasant customer experiences.

Conclusion

Being responsible in business and advisory goes a long way in achieving collaboratively. The future of business is always uncertain. However, we can introduce a degree of certainty with a decision to be responsible and true in every way. Finding success in the success of the client is the ethos of good consulting.

Why LTIMindtree?

LTIMindtree propagates a high standard of ethical consulting across ranks of the organization. Our client success story is a testimony of our responsible approach and customer-first mindset. The mindset to do more with less for more, has helped LTIMindtree rank high across advisory firms, and we continue to be better each day to get to the future faster, together.