Welcome Professionals…

…as a top management consultant, we all want to create perfect results for our clients. But striving for perfectionism can actually constrain our value creation process.

For a long time in consulting business, I concentrated on achieving perfect results. At my former employer, we were especially great at pointing the attention to areas that were not perfect, yet. Each time when my project leader or partner or eventually the client found some flaws in my work, I used to beat myself up for that. I interpreted every necessary additional iteration loop as a defeat. I was striving for perfectionism.

Years later I was able to discover the drivers behind this behaviour and change my point of view. I recognized that it makes me very unhappy over time to strive for the perfect end product. The end product will never be perfect and if it was, I would already be busy with the next big thing. By having this tendency, it would be impossible for me to stop working and feel satisfied about it.

Today my motivation is different. I commit to delivering the best value I can in a given amount of time. I set time slots for me to work on a specific project and then do the best I can. I embrace opportunities for iteration, because it helps me improve my work. As an additional positive effect, it takes my client on a journey through my value creation process. Communicating intermediate steps and results makes my client value the work much more.

Everyday I try hard to concentrate on the value creation process! I am not attempting to create a perfect end product, but to give my best. Hopefully, that comes close in the end.

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! 

Welcome Professionals…

…applying good structure to verbal and written communication is a huge topic for consultants. As a top management consultant you want to be understood, you want to persuade the audience and you finally want to move your client.

Have you ever tried to apply the scientific essay style to a client meeting? Or throwing all your researched facts and figures to someone in a monologue? Here is what we can learn from the news publishing world.

Everybody has a cut-off line. And it may be different for each individual person. Imagine how you are reading a newspaper. For some articles you only read headlines, for other the subtitle intrests you, sometimes the picture with the respective subtitle is enough. And for some breaking news you would read the full article, then go to background information on page 3 and read the two comments from correspondents on page 5.

Apply the same style to your verbal dialogue and even to your slide structure:

1. Summarize whole story in one main message – the headline.
2. Frame the headline by giving a subtitle with a bit more information.
3. Summarize everything in an abstract – could be your executive summary.
4. Go into further detail, explaining the full story again, but be sure to make the full loop to support your headline!
5. If the audiene still wants more, go the further supporting material – this may be you backup section.

Get the idea? Whereever your audience stops reading or stops listening (and it will at some point, that is for sure), you want to make sure that your one key message sticks! In verbal communication, pause after each step and look for a positive confirmation to go on.

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!