I recently completed the Consulting Skills Workshop led by Anja Nilsson, an expert in the field of management consulting and a SIPA alum. The workshop equipped me with foundational consulting skills, such as deconstructing questions and understanding the broader context and scope of consulting projects.
My recent collaboration with Team 9 reinforced that consulting is both expertise-driven and centered on problem-solving. It's essential to recognize the working styles of team members, pinpoint our clients' needs, and continually contribute to enhancing our client's performance.
Consulting can be fast paced, requiring adaptability. Consultants may work across various industries, functions, or geographies, making the job diverse and often requiring continuous learning. For example, we need to keep continuing learning during our team collaboration. We separated the teamwork into two parts at the start, one part is benchmarking the similar methodologies among the investment firms, another part is figuring out current engagement activities of our client. This required us to comprehend evaluation methodologies of public equity investment firms, extract vital data from sustainability reports, and coordinate effectively with our client. The continuous process of learning, research, and collaboration was particularly vital when establishing our objectives and plans. We also crafted open-ended questions to delve deeper into client-specific queries.
Our team's diverse backgrounds became an invaluable asset. With members hailing from sectors like the United Nations, economic research, and finance, we leveraged individual strengths. This diversity bolstered our capabilities in information gathering, framework creation, and external presentation of our project.
A significant takeaway from Anja's workshop was the art of feedback. She emphasized the importance of concise, strength-focused feedback. I learned to communicate genuine feelings based on observed actions while maintaining respect. Providing constructive suggestions has proven crucial for our team's collective advancement.