A day in the life of a Consultant
7.45am
Time to get up; today is a big day, we have a workshop with all of the senior client team this afternoon, and I will be leading part of the discussions! While I am in the comfort of my bed I have a quick check of my Blackberry to see what has come through overnight. The client's project manager wants to meet with my Project Leader and I this morning to discuss the workshop so I book a cab to head straight to their offices.
9:00am
Arrive in the office, and meet up with the client and my Project Leader. We run through the materials I have prepared for this afternoons workshop and discuss which are the priority areas that we have to have decisions on. The client is worried about the amount of ground we have to cover and we discuss how we will keep the senior team focused during the discussions.
11:00am
I grab coffee with my Project Leader and we discuss some small amendments to our materials based on this morning's discussion. We then discuss my role in the workshop and how I can make sure the meeting runs smoothly.
11:30am
Spend time before lunch updating the materials and send through to our client's Personal Assistant to print in preparation for the workshop
12:30pm
Lunch meeting with Project Leader and Partner to discuss our overall approach to the workshop and to update the partner on our meeting this morning. She is happy with the updates that we have made and seems very relaxed about what I think is going to be a pretty intense afternoon. We have a good discussion about the different personalities in the meeting and what their individual priorities for the meeting are. It's great to get more involved with the senior client team and get more insight into the personal dynamics involved in running a large organisation.
2:00pm
The workshop kicks off. Everyone arrives on time, it clearly is an important meeting! The client project leader introduces the session then hands over to the BCG partner to begin the workshop. After about an hour we get onto my section and the partner hands over to me. Things have been going very well so far, but this is the first time I have been in a room with all of these people at once. As we get stuck into the detail of the proposals I have been working on my nerves evaporate and we have a very focused, and sometimes intense discussion. Not everyone agrees initially on what the priorities should be and we have to work hard to get agreement. My PL and Partner are very helpful in brokering the different agendas round the table, but I am still the one leading the discussions.
5:30 pm
Phew, after a very intense two and half hours the workshop concludes. Everyone agrees it has been very successful, and the client project manager thanks me personally for all my help. It's great when you get direct feedback from your client when they are happy with your work. I grab a well deserved coffee and share a cab back to our office with the rest of the BCG team.
6:15 pm
We have a debrief meeting and agree priorities for the rest of the week. I spend the rest of the evening writing up my notes from today's session and emailing some other members of the client's team to update them on the success of today's workshop
7:45pm
Covered most of the planned activities for the day. Time to head out for a swim and relax