A Day in the Life a Management Consultant

What do Management Consultants actually do?

If you're new to consulting, you might be wondering what exactly consultants do on a daily basis. While specific activities vary by project, certain core tasks are common across most consulting engagements.

This inside look will demystify the day-to-day work and expectations of management consultants.

The fundamental goal: solving client problems 

At its core, a consultant's job is to address clients' business challenges. This usually involves one or more of the following:

• Boost efficiency and productivity

• Reduce costs and wastage  

• Increase profits and revenue

• Improve competitive positioning  

To achieve these goals, consultants combine strategic analysis with practical implementation.

Core consulting activities and deliverables

Though projects differ, typical consultant activities are themed around:

Research and Analysis:

• Interviewing key client stakeholders

• Conducting market research 

• Analysing operational data

• Identifying improvement opportunities

Strategy Development:

• Performing benchmarking comparisons

• Modelling business impact of recommendations

• Creating data-driven presentations and reports

Execution and Measurement:

• Developing project plans and guides

• Overseeing implementation 

• Tracking progress against goals

• Quantifying benefits delivered

Examples of day-to-day consultant tasks

While there's no "typical" day, these examples demonstrate common consultant tasks:

• Report Writing: documenting findings and recommendations from process improvement assessments.

• Opportunity Analysis: researching new market/product potential and building financial models to size the opportunity for the client.    

• Project Management: creating project plans, guiding clients through execution, and governing progress to realise the predicted benefits.

End of the day

Though demanding, a consulting career provides immensely exciting opportunities to tackle complex business issues and drive strategic change.

This inside look shows that while projects vary, core skills like analysis, problem-solving, and execution are paramount. If you're up for the challenge, consulting offers profoundly impactful work.

Fortunately, Consulting Survival has all the training and community you need to set your consulting career up for success.