“The key to success in consulting is always going above and beyond what is expected,” James O. McKinsey said, and if you are planning to become a management consultant, you should make this your mantra.
If I am being totally honest, management consultants should gather skills like a child collecting candies during trick or treat. But how should you start? Obviously, you first have to get relevant education, but it will only take you so far.
To survive in the industry, you have to become a power package of both hard and soft skills. This sentence surprises a lot of people as they think that it would be enough if they were good at their jobs. But it is a field that’s interconnected, so communication and networking have to be your best suit.
But even to develop those skills, you have to get better at others. It’s like a complicated web, but once you get into it, you’ll be able to figure out everything. So, without much delay, let’s get started. I’ve listed all the skills that you need to develop to become a successful management consultant.
Skills required to be a management consultant
I get it. You googled the same question and got bombarded with options. But worry not, I’ve done the research for you. Here are all the skills that you need to acquire to become a successful management consultant.
Problem-solving
One of the key skills of a management consultant is to help a company overcome the hurdles they’re facing. But it’s not the same as helping your friends overcome their ex. So, you’ll have to gain a good understanding of several theories and methods to help a company with its problems.
For example, you should be efficient in SWOT analysis, know about Porter’s five forces, and learn how to create issue trees. On top of these skills, you should also know how to use the Pareto analysis and the MECE principle to help a company determine and solve its problems.
Consulting
One of the key skills of a management consultant should be consulting. Like, obviously, right? Yes, but it takes some years to master it, even after having several relevant degrees. It’s because consulting requires in-depth knowledge and proficiency in your chosen field.
So, how can you become a pro at it? Lucky for you, I came across one of the most comprehensive courses on ‘Consulting in the Age of Gen AI.’ It’s by 10X Consultant and is slowly becoming a favorite among professionals.
I’ll give you five reasons why it’s so ideal:
- It’s hosted by industry expert Shen Pandi, who has years of knowledge in consulting.
- It’s suitable for both freshers and professionals.
- It’s affordable – you actually get what you paid for (if not more).
- It’s thoroughly planned and covers all aspects of consulting.
- It will also help you crack interviews as it includes role-playing for different scenarios.
So, it’s definitely worth checking out.
Relationship building
As a management consultant, you’re not only in charge of solving the problems of a company but also responsible for its long-term growth. For that relationship building with your client and other industry experts is very important.
If you have a good bond (well, a professional one, of course), communicating solutions will be much easier, and you’ll also be able to make them trust your decisions easily. This will allow you more freedom in your work.
Apart from your clients, you should also build rapport with others in the industry. It’ll not only help you learn new things about your field but will also open more opportunities for you in the future.
Communication
If you plan to become a management consultant, there’s one skill that you should work on first, and that is communication. By the way, just to clarify – by communication, I don’t mean just your vocabulary or your way of speaking.
Being a good communicator also includes being proficient at understanding body language and creating presentations, decks, emails, and reports. Apart from these skills, you should also be a good listener – because if you don’t understand a problem thoroughly, you won’t be able to create solutions.
Critical thinking
Next to communication, one of the key skills required for a project management consultant is critical thinking. You should be able to think out of the box, explore different perspectives, and bring in solutions that have never existed before.
You also need this particular skill to be able to identify symptoms that others may miss and recognizethe root causes of a problem. You can improve your thinking capabilities by reading case studies and past stakeholder analyses or by using the fishbone diagram.
Gaining industry knowledge
It’s quite obvious that industry knowledge is required for every professional. But it is one of ‘THE’ key skills for a management consultant. It’s because they can learn from how other companies are operating to modify and improve their strategies.
So, if you are planning to be a management consultant, you should focus on keeping yourself updated about marketing shifts, changes in industry regulations, lean and agile methodologies, etc. Apart from these, you should also learn about ESG, M&A trends, CX optimization, synergies, and integration.
Time management
You must have heard management consultants complaining that they’re always working. It’s because they actually have a lot to handle. So, having time management as one of your top five skills is absolutely non-negotiable.
Start by setting some boundaries. Remember, work-life balance is crucial, and overworking yourself will lead to burnout and it’ll negatively impact your work. Then try the 80/20 rule. It’s about focusing on that 20% of your workload that will provide 80% of the result.
Next, try blocking some time for important tasks and avoid multi-tasking as much as possible, as focusing on different tasks simultaneously will only delay the whole process. To manage your time proficiently, you can also try out some tools like Trello.
Research skills
Management consultants have to be really good at research. It will not only help you gather data for building good strategies but will also be useful in recognizing market trends and changes in consumer behavior.
You should first focus on your primary research skills, like being able to conduct interviews and surveys efficiently, and then work on your secondary skills, like analyzing case studies, data from the past, etc. You can also develop some key skills like A/B testing and KPI tracking.
Leadership skills
If you are planning to be a management consultant, you should first learn how to be a leader. By that, I don’t mean you should start bossing around everyone. A true leader knows how to navigate challenging situations without making everyone around feel overwhelmed.
For example, during a bear market, a company may have to incur substantial losses and thus may lose investor and stakeholder confidence. It’ll be your responsibility as a management consultant to restore that.
The same goes for employees. They may feel that their jobs are at risks. So, you should plan strategies that will calm them down and make them re-focus on the growth of the company.
During a conversation with an industry leader, I remember her mentioning that EQ (emotional intelligence) is as important as IQ for a management consultant. So, keep that in mind.
Presentation skills
“How to present an idea in the simplest way?” – if you’ve ever pondered upon this question, you need to work on your presentation skills.
As I have said earlier, management consultants have to communicate with investors, shareholders, managers and also employees. This means the method and style of communication should vary as obviously their knowledge about a particular thing is not the same.
So, you should learn how to structure your message and also practice to make it visually appealing.
Project management
As a management consultant, you’ll probably get in charge of launching big projects on behalf of the company. So, you should have some project management skills up your sleeve.
If you’re starting from scratch on a project, try focusing on the SMART goals first. Then use the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to achieve those and then move on the next steps of allocating resources, identifying risks, implementation and creating feedback loops.
Following this will help you have a clear vision about the project and you’ll also have achieve your goals faster.
Data analysis
If you go to a business class, I bet you’ll hear your professor talk about the importance of data analysis at least five times within the first week. It’s because that’s how important data is for a business.
So, as a management consultant you should be mindblowingly awesome at analyzing data. And how can you become that? By learning how to use softwares like SPSS, Python, Power BI, Tableau, R, etc.
Adaptability
You have heard me say it before, and you’ll hear me say it again – a management consultant won’t make it far without being adaptable. You will have to work with different teams, manage professionals of different levels and imagine doing all that without being adaptable.
You will not only create a toxic environment for others but you’ll also find it hard to concentrate on your work. Moreover, being adaptable is being open to different suggestions and varying opinions and that’s important if you’re leading or managing a team.
So, if you want to meet every kind of client’s expectation while being super collaborative with your team, you need to be adaptable.
Process improvement
Companies hire management consultants to improve what’s not working for them. So, process improvement is a very important skill that one should acquire.
To become a pro at it, you should learn process mapping, bottleneck analysis, benchmarking, root cause analysis, pilot testing, Six Sigma, etc.
Collaboration
Just like adaptability, collaboration is another soft skill that a management consultant should have. As I have explained before, they often work will several departments, so if they’re not flexible working efficiently won’t be a thing.
Collaboration is also one of the skills needed in management consulting because it helps co-create and benefits long-term growth. It also leads to open communication between team members, which is crucial to making a project successful.
Financial knowledge
Well, money is a business’s fuel. So, if you can become a pro at managing it, your career will skyrocket. Not only do financial management consultants get paid handsomely, but there’s also a lot of scope for growth in that field.
A relevant degree is obviously needed, but along with that, try to get more certifications to become a master at budget planning, forecasting models, drafting balance sheets, etc. Financial knowledge wil also help you to craft effective risk management strategies. So, the benefits are endless.
Technical skills
Depending on your job profile as a management consultant, the technical skills you would require would differ. But there are some basic tools that you should learn. For example, PowerPoint, Jira, MS Project, etc.
If your job is more on the technical side, then you should learn SQL, ERP systems, and big data tools like Hadoop, Spark, etc.
Improvement is the only way to grow
Management consultants never get to stop learning, as once that happens, their strategies become irrelevant to the industry. Also, it’s because the market is never static; it keeps changing, trends come and go, and consumer preference changes as well.
So, you have to constantly observe, learn, and adapt to new things. If you’re planning to become a management consultant, get ready for a lifetime of learning, but I can promise that it’ll be fun, too.
All the best!
