Professional Consulting Careers
Alberta Institute of Agrologists/ CMC
Banff, April 3, 2018 used with permission)
Darrell Toma, MSc, PAg,CMC
#202, 10328-81 Ave, Edmonton
Phone: 780-413-9262
email: [email protected]
Toma &
Bouma
▪ Consulting Overview
▪ Trends and Opportunities
▪ Project & Productivity Management
▪ Managing your key Assets
▪ To - Stimulate Personal Creativity
Consulting Careers
Objectives- What we will cover
Toma &
Bouma
My background
▪ Was with Deloitte for 13 yrs- Edmonton, economics
▪ In consulting since 1979 and over 750 projects, in
Cdn and 8 countries
▪ Work in strategy, market research, feasibility, econ
develop plans, alliances, tech co reviews; agri-food,
manuf, tech, services; several projects underway in
innovation, IRAP/ AITF reviews
▪ Work in teams/ with others a lot
▪ On AIA mngt comm, ICMCA reg comm, CAC comm,
Ed Chamber chair- Trade; other BODs
Toma &
Bouma
Consulting Must Have an Ethics Base
Competence,
knowledge
& ethics
Time
Core Values
Belief and Behavior
Technical Expertise/
Designat.-CMC, CAC, PAg
Theory/ Concepts-
eg. BSc, BComm
Sustained
Professional Service
Distinguished in
Service-Recognition
Professional
ethics Personal
ethics
Authority
Expert
Entry in
Practice
Qualified
*PAgs- are members of a regulated occupation and have ethics/ practice guidelines- 10,000 nationally
*CMCs same – regulated occupation- 3,000+ in Cdn
*Consultants- served by CMC (CAMC); have reciprocal agreement with 43 countries. Cdn leads
*Benefits- networking, PD, E&O insurance; access to global consulting marketplace and skills
*You can join- via CAC - provides you a consulting peer group and national network- Examples of other professions with a consulting focus are Consulting Engineers
*See www.cmcalberta.ca , CAMC Toronto
CMC, CAC/ PAgs
Toma &
Bouma
Toma &
Bouma
Consulting Skills
▪ You have technical skill and industry
knowledge
▪ Add in- CMC consulting process, problem
solving, tools- eg. SWOT, segmentation,
facilitation, VSM, etc.
▪ Consulting professional has independent
advice based on skills + best practices
▪ Career path – grow with projects, people
Toma &
Bouma
Consulting Industry
▪ Very large- $13B + and growing globally
▪ Serve all industries
▪ Trends- digital + ag/ food; climate policy;
international; management and operations
▪ In a trend you find an opportunity
▪ Lots of scope for more consulting growth
▪ My work- currently in strategy, planning, innovation,
technology
▪ Think of yourself as a “machine”- use data/ good
thinking to be sustainable (Ray Dalio)
Consulting Niche Opportunities- Issues
Toma &
Bouma
Toma &
Bouma
Trend to Opportunity ID
▪ Trade/ markets- need product plans, business
plans, program reviews, econ develop, market
research, negotiating, etc.
▪ Environ/ climate- many opps
▪ New crop opps- eg. medical marihuana, hemp-
feasibility, prodn plans, marketing, finance, etc.
▪ Policy and market changes- new rules, tax
changes, competition, etc.
▪ Change management- organization, human
resources, growth plans, technology, etc.
Toma &
Bouma
Project Management Overview
▪ Clients expect competent project management
▪ Projects are the way professionals work
▪ Can sole source- call or meeting
▪ RFPs- request for proposal; open bid- e-
bidding
▪ Project management is a core skill
▪ Consulting process involves client direction,
budget, propl confirmation and your independent
advice based on findings and methods
Toma &
Bouma
Project Management
▪ Projects= a budget of time and hard costs
▪ Time= rate per hour and total hours for a task
▪ Hard costs= actual costs and can be estimated
▪ Usually clients like a total fixed fee project
▪ If so is your risk (team) to complete on time
▪ Can have penalties for late delivery
▪ Someone pays for the time and costs
Toma &
Bouma
Work Product
▪ This is a critical area for risk management/ impact
▪ What is your work product/ do all know it?
▪ Define in letter or longer proposal- confirm it
▪ Your opinion goes on the report
▪ Objectives/ scope- finding, conclusions, recomm
▪ Place caveats and statement of use of report as
needed
▪ Work product may be timeless- use peer reviews (QC)
• We all work with others- to do a project
• Working with top level people is best
• To solve the problem at hand- need knowledge and experience
• Reduces solution time and re-work time
• So get to know who can help you- build a network of suppliers- different than you
• Lesson- work with good people who deliver
1. People are Key
Toma &
Bouma
• What is the goal? To complete project fast as possible, on budget with consulting quality
• Consider TOC- Theory of Constraints – see where the bottleneck is in a process; how to relieve it
• Try Lean thinking- 7 sources of waste
• Process (and waste) can eat up $$ and time
• And reduce rework and create less errors See Lean Thinking- J. Womack; Theory of Constraints- Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt
2. Process- are time killer/ cost $$
Toma &
Bouma
Seven Forms of Waste- cost $$
Toma &
Bouma
Lead Time
-
Adding Cost
(Opportunity or waste)
Adding
Value
Use Lean thinking – to see the red spaces- how to reduce?
Use 5- S process; Sort, shine, standardize, set in order, sustain
Quote Cash
Value stream mapping
Toma &
Bouma
We have 2 tool boxes- what is in it?
*Laptop- your hub for content/ analytics/ etc.- use your CMC tools and best practices
*Cell phone- your hub for communication- and more!!
Consulting Tool Box- Must Have
Toma &
Bouma
“S army knife”
Copy
Scan
2+ screens
Save time
Laptop software
-Win10
-Dr. Google/ Bing
-efax
-office suites
-Mendeley; Dropbox;
Evernote
-many apps
Toma &
Bouma
Snip it Sync cell
Daily Practice
- Email- collaborate/ inform/ communicate
- Templates- letter propl; forms; etc
- Spreadsheets- estimating/ controlling
- Smartphone & text/ apps- many
- Whatsapp- SIG
- camera is great- pic = 1000s words
- Mindmaps- software/ thinking
Toma &
Bouma
Daily Time Savers
- GPS- saves decision time/ new places
- 511- for winter travel
- Websites- for planning/ time & costs
- Social media feeds- as needed
Toma &
Bouma
Toma &
Bouma
Asset Management
▪ Asset management is very important
▪ You (skill & knowledge) + designation are keys
▪ Plus your owned assets
▪ Need to take care annually- think how to change?
▪ Do it and be sustainable
Toma &
Bouma
Asset Management
▪ Protect assets- house in spouse name, split income
▪ Use insurance - E&O, commercial, disability, etc
▪ Financial assets- personal and company
▪ Tax rates are different and you need to know
▪ RRSPs, TFSA, other investment vehicles- learn and
use for advantage
Toma &
Bouma
Asset Life
▪ Computers- keep current, <3yrs old, CRA rules
▪ Software/ apps/ DBs- lots to use, stay current
▪ Find and use productivity tools- to leverage your time
▪ Smartphone- <2 yrs old- if you don’t have get one
▪ Vehicles / other- maintain
▪ Knowledge- be current in your scope of practice
▪ Develop an investment-capital plan for upgrades
Toma &
Bouma
Asset Management
▪ Manage your time- 24 hrs for work, family, sleep,
personal- time management is critical skill
▪ You sell time/ knowledge- target 1500- 2000 hrs/yr-
reality is you will sell less; other admin, bus develop
▪ Health- avoid drugs, alcohol, manage weight, waste
line over 36 inches, etc
▪ Holiday- plan 2-3 breaks/yr
▪ Long life= good diet and exercise + good habits
▪ Have a plan to avoid major surprises and say no
when you need to
Toma &
Bouma
Give Back to the Community and Profession
▪ I coached in community sports, volunteer with
Chamber of Commerce, other professional groups;
have met many including- Nobel economist, many
CEOs, several Bank of Cdn Governors, Premiers,
MPs, traveled a lot, many volunteer BODS
▪ One CMC fund raises for a kids camp in Romania-
via church; many BODs/ community groups
▪ Another CMC- active in community and politics
▪ Give back, show how you are a leader/ participate
Toma &
Bouma
How to Start?
▪ By yourself- create a vision of what you want to do
▪ Sub-contract- work for others who have a contract
▪ Joint bid via a network- try to get a project
▪ Longer term- incorporate or join with another
▪ Get advice- accountant, legal- structure, bank-
operating line; and talk to other CMCs
▪ Start – try to get a project and build from that
success/ join a consulting network
Toma &
Bouma
Summary- In Your Career-
“Leave the Place Better Than When you Started”
▪ The consulting industry is large and growing
▪ Join a consulting network- CMC/ CAC- as a
Consulting professional
▪ Project & productivity management- keys
▪ Focus on what you can do to improve
▪ Thank you and all the best in your future
▪ Take a risk and soar!
Darrell Toma, MSc, PAg, CMC
▪ Toma & Bouma Management Consultants, Edmonton
▪ Over 37 years in professional consulting
▪ Economics, marketing, business plans, facilitation
▪ Contact: 780-413-9262; [email protected]; [email protected]
▪ Www.tomaandbouma.com
Toma &
Bouma
Toma &
Bouma
References
▪ Ray Dalio, Principles, 2017
▪ AIA, Mngt Practice Area, new guidelines, 2018
▪ Neil Perkin, Building the Agile Business Through Digital
Transformation, 2017
▪ Dr. Rick Crandell, Marketing Your Services, 1996
▪ Seymour Schulich, Get Smarter, 2007
▪ Temple Grandin, Animals Make Us Human, 2009
▪ James Womack, Lean Thinking, 1996
▪ Jim Collins, Good to Great, 2001