Trial, Error, and Insights: Navigating the Early Stages of a Research Consulting Project

The success of a months-long research project hinges on one central thing: strategic planning. It took me years to realize the value of planning, considering that I am the kind of person who likes to go with the flow, and rigid plans tend to scare me. But since my last year of college, and starting this program, I have learnt strategies to balance structure with flexibility—a lesson that has already proven essential in this project.

Research Approach 

One of the first challenges of this process was orienting ourselves in a complex and evolving research landscape. Our clients work towards bringing energy access to energy poor economies, and the energy sector, as well as governments, are always changing. While secondary research can provide a good foundation, this project requires more – we need to synthesize the vast information available into actionable insights. Not all the research directions prove to be useful, and flexibility to pivot and refine focus is crucial for success. I quickly realized that research in this context is different from academic work. Instead of exploring every interesting detail, we needed to develop a targeted, high-impact approach—one that prioritizes practical relevance over theoretical depth. This required identifying which information was truly essential and which details, while interesting, wouldn’t meaningfully contribute to the final recommendations.

Teamwork: Navigating Different Work Styles 

The biggest lesson of the first phase has been to discern ways of effective collaboration in a research-intensive environment. Everyone brings unique strengths and approaches to projects – some prefer methodical and step-by-step processing, while others (like me) lean towards a more flexible approach. Through my projects over the past few years, I have learnt that the former provides more clarity, keeps everyone on the same page, and sets clear deadlines. But not every plan can be followed to the tee; things come up, plans get delayed. That’s where the flexibility and willingness to change plans becomes important. 

At the start, we spent time defining roles and research priorities—an exercise that helped provide clarity but also revealed the need for continuous communication. As the project evolved, we had to frequently realign expectations, integrate findings across different workstreams, and adjust responsibilities based on emerging insights. One of the most valuable aspects of teamwork has been learning from different thought processes. While I tend to focus on big-picture strategy, working with others has helped me refine my ability to dive deeper into details, verify assumptions rigorously, and structure arguments more clearly.

The Power of Planning 

A major takeaway throughout this process is that good planning does not have to be rigid – it means setting up a structure that allows for adaptability. I used to see planning as something restrictive, but I’ve come to appreciate how it actually makes complex projects more manageable. The first example of this is in terms of determining clear milestones and research responsibilities – we approached this in a progressive manner. First, building foundational knowledge, synthesizing key terms, and then splitting research responsibilities and creating a tentative project outline. Doing this gave us an idea of what our final outcome would look like, and broke up the project into smaller, manageable chunks. 

That said, one of the biggest challenges has been balancing depth with efficiency. It’s easy to fall into the trap of endlessly researching every detail, but time constraints mean that prioritization is everything. One of my goals moving forward is to refine my ability to distill insights faster and avoid getting caught up in unnecessary complexity.

Looking Ahead 

This project has reinforced that planning is about clarity, not having a rigid schedule, and that adaptability is key to problem solving. While much of our initial focus has been on establishing a knowledge base and refining our approach, the next phase will shift toward synthesizing information, interviewing external stakeholders, and building a clear, compelling narrative from our findings. As the project moves forward, I know we’ll run into new challenges that push us to rethink, adjust, and dig even deeper into our research. But with the groundwork we’ve laid—solid teamwork, structured planning, and a flexible approach—I feel confident that we’re ready to tackle whatever comes next.