Monthly Archives: March 2016

TNF #027: Set the agenda – and get it confirmed

Welcome Professionals…

…as a top management consultant, you must set the agenda for a meeting. That is a no brainer. It is almost too simple to mention here in our Thursday Night Flight session. You want to be prepared, so you write down your objectives and you formulate the agenda for each and every client meeting. Every new consultant learns this within the first days and weeks.

Having said that, the agenda is usually the first business interaction when you and your client meet. After the usual small talk warmup, this is the first content that is put on the table.

You want to make sure that you get full confirmation for your agenda! Why? Because this determines how the whole meeting will run for you.

Firstly, there is an obvious reason for this. You want to make sure that all participants are on the same page. That the content of the meeting is actually addressing a true concern of your client. You want to channel the attention on the prepared content to have a constructive discussion.

Secondly, there is a non-obvious reason that is more than equally important. You want to get a couple of “yes”-statements from your client before you actually start. This is psychologically beneficial for the overall process of what you have to sell (ideas, projects, next assignment, etc.). Saying “yes” to your agenda sets your client on the right track, makes your client more agreeable and considerate than a first “no”.

Next time you set the agenda, you may want to step into your client’s shoes and phrase it from their perpective. Find formulations that mirror your client’s needs. Talk about what your client will win and gain in each step instead of what you were preparing. Use this simple first content for a number of “yes”-agreements.

Wishing you lots of success!

Malte

Thursday Night Flight is brought to you by Malte Müller Professionals. Sharing best practices for top management consultants on topics like communication, client handling, problem solving, appearance, and fitness. Check out www.mm-professionals.com for more material and free resources!

TNF #026: Saturday is the new Thursday

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Welcome Professionals…

…I have made a mistake and I beg your pardon. For the first time after 25 publications of Thursday Night Flight, I have broken the chain. I missed out on Thursday, 24th of March 2016. I am truly sorry for all irritation and disappointment this might have caused on your side, my dear readers.

I am feeling bad for disappointing my readers and I did also disappoint myself. I have broken my resolution of publishing something useful for top management consutants every Thursday and I will do my best to return to the steady schedule immediately again.

This statement goes in line with my new resolution to admit mistakes quickly and emphatically. This principle is taken from a very famous book of Dale Carnegie: “If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.” It makes great sense to me, both for private and business relationships.

In the past, I have had a different view. I would try to avoid mistakes by all means and would be very reluctant to admit any mistake. This is quite common for the perfectionist point of view, but it is foolish to believe one could get away without any mistakes being noticed. In fact, I know that I do make mistakes from time to time and that it is best to admit them to the client as quickly and emphatically as I can.

For the stated example of slipping the publication date for Thursday Night Flight, I could have remained silent. Hoping to get away with it without further notice. I could have found lots of excuses, some of them quite valid from my point of view. But I decided to openly admit and beg for your pardon.

Please accept my sincere applogies!

Malte

TNF #025: Parkinson’s law

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Welcome Professionals…

…did you ever hear of Parkinson’s law? It states that:

“work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”

Although it was meant in a humorous way when first articulated by Cyril Northcote Parkinson in an essay published in The Economist in 1955, it is widely believed to be true. We all can think of examples proving the truth of this statement.

It also applies to consulting work. It is one of the reasons why we operate under last minute pressure. It is also one important driver – though certainly not the only reason – why case teams work all night until complete exhaustion.

The only way that I found to work around Parkinson’s law is to set a thoughtful deadline and an allocated timeframe for each and every activity. I book working blocks for each task into my calendar and try to stick to it. I even reserve blocks for meals and free time. It works for me.

Have you found other ways? Let me know!

Malte

TNF #024: How to work-life balance?

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Welcome Professionals…

…in episode #024 of Thursday Night Flight we discussed the definition of work-life balance. To feel in balance, it is important to consciously devote time to the following elements:

sleep
physical activity
reflection
relaxation
connection
play

The key of work-life balance lies in the consciousness of allocation. It is essential to realize our needs and built them into our daily routines before they are unconsciously neglected. It may require some thinking to figure out what gives you the most relaxation or the most joy in play time.

But how fitting these activities into a busy consultant life? In the Thursday Night Flight series, we already described how to get the most out of your sleep and which physical activity fits best for a consultant.

In order to get the most out of you time, you can choose activities that combine many of the above elements. Let me share an example. A few years ago, I would play Badminton every Sunday morning. The reason for choosing Badminton was actually the idea of my wife. She enjoyed playing it and got me engaged in that activity, too. It is one of the few sports where men and women seem to have equal chances to win. We took that to the next level when we played mixed doubles with a good friend of mine and his wife. What we had created was a regular activity that combined many benefits. In only two hours we combined physical activity, play time, connection with my wife and connection with friends and finally relaxation when the four of us went to the sauna after each game.

From my point of view, this is a high-density work-life balance activity. With some creativity and consciousness, we can make more out of or free time and enjoy more balance.

Happy balancing!

Malte

PS: Read more on how to balance your life in my next post

TNF #023: What is work-life balance?

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Welcome Professionals…

…a perceived lack of work-life balance is the number one reason for top management consultants to choose another job. Does that always solve the problem? I doubt it.

You will want to achieve a balance of your working life and your other life while you are working as a consultant. This is a stretch and we all know it. The consulting life style is so much time consuming that it sometimes leaves hardly enough time to cater for the most existential needs like food and sleep.

To have a feeling of work-life balance, it is absolutely not necessary to spend the same amount of time on some “life activities” as you spend on your work. Your job is part of your life. What you do need to have a fulfilled life and a sustainable operating model is a feeling of perceived balance of your various priority items in life.

In any case, you want to make sure that you attribute some time besides the job for the following categories:

sleep
physical activity
reflection
relaxation
connection
play

Make sure that you consciously allocate time to each of the above categories. When you spend time on them, try to focus your attention on the actual activity that is on your agenda. As soon as you unconsciously skip any of these items for a longer time frame or sacrifice them completely in favour of work, you will feel unbalanced.

It is really hard to make these areas part of your regular habits. We will talk about this in upcoming episodes of Thursday Night Flight.

See you next time!

Malte