Project Insights

The last blog I wrote outlined a few good practices to ensure a successful outcome for consulting projects at SIPA. That mostly covered the initiation of projects and how we start building our relationship with clients. As the project has progressed there are a few more insights into the process that I would like to share.

The group dynamic is extremely essential to what the project outcomes will actually look like. For me- I am the person on the team that always thinks about how to maximize value for clients. It's important to have the other roles too- the one who ensures deadlines and academic requirements are met, notes are cited, and the substantive matter is robust. But given my personal inclination towards being a people’s person- I find the job of aligning clients needs to the project a natural role I take on. A key learning playing this role has been to approach every check-in meeting with the client as a chance to listen to feedback as opposed to a one way communication of the team presenting to them. This is so essential because it gives the opportunity to temper the project based on what's most important to the client in the current timeframe.

A professor once gave the class a tip- if you are able to figure out the current needs of a client and tailor your project to that, it’s likely that your engagement with the client for those few months will be more fulfilling. I have found that to be an extreme tactic in delivering value to the client. While scoping the project is necessary to establish structure in the beginning- teams have to be agile and adapt their deliverables to client feedback and their findings. Once we start approaching the check-ins with this lens- every time they react and give feedback to your work, it becomes a gift that helps you structure your project further.

This being said, agility and adaptability must come in the boundaries of what you have defined as the “north star” for your project. If we were full-time employees for these clients it would make complete sense for us to substantiate all the tangential claims we have come across in our expert interviews and research. But the reality of consulting projects is that it is short-term in nature and the most successful outcome for clients is a deep understanding of a niche as opposed to broad based claims. So while it's useful to edit and modify the exact deliverable for the client it would not be advisable to completely change the direction of a project half-way through. A broader understanding of the direction was agreed upon in the start and that serves as the “north-star” for you and can guide you to deliver an in-depth understanding of those specific issues the client finds useful.

Managing this can be difficult sometimes because for students on some projects- the subject matter is entirely new. This means that every paper and interview reveals new information about the ecosystem of the subject matter. Meanwhile, the clients have been specializing in this very area for a decade. While doing the groundwork for check-ins the teams may believe that changing direction to pursue new leads is useful, but chances are- the clients already know about this and have created strategies to address them. Sticking to the larger area they have defined for you is useful, because in the larger scheme of things- you have helped your client check the box for an area of inquiry they were curious about. Not every consulting project leads to deep integration in the strategy of a company. Sometimes it’s as important to understand the subject deeply- and for the company to confidently be able to say that they are sure they are not pursuing that area currently.

In the end, it all depends on how you define success and for me it's enabling the client to make future decisions about the company- however big or small!