FOCUSCollect, Understand, Synthesize

Collect

CollectThis part of the model provides guidance to the collection of relevant data, avoiding the over-collection of data that are not useful.The most efficient teams are those that can look at the two piles of data collected and smile as they realize that the relevant data (pile 1) far outweigh the irrelevant information (pile 2) because the team continuously analyzed the difference.

CollectCollecting data is mundane but extremely important for team problem solving. Data are the tools that are used to prove or disprove hypotheses developed during the analytical process. The data become the basis for reports and presentations when the final recommendations are made. So how do you get good data?

Rule1: Design ghost slides to exhibit necessary data A ghost slide is a draft slide that is used to capture ideas at an early stage in the problem-solving process. It has a title, a data label, and the data. The most important part of the ghost slide is the title of the slide. The title is in sentence format, and it states the insight the so what of the slide. An example is The revenue from widget sales is on a steady decline. Since we are not sure what our data are going to tell us, the label is an educated guess.

Rule1: Design ghost slides to exhibit necessary data Basic chart formats you can use are: bar charts, pie charts, waterfall charts, era charts (from-to), flowcharts (steps), and Gantt charts (activities and timelines). Remember that most problem-solving in consulting is an iterative process and evolves over time. Use the slide to document youre your ideas throughout the life of the project

Rule 2: Conduct meaningful interviewsInterviews are a critical part of the data-collection process. In most consulting projects, interviews have more impact on the problem-solving effort than the secondary data. Interviewees provide direct and interactive feedback about the hypotheses you are testing.Your interviewees can also pass along original thoughts related to their experiences. They can also save you time in your search for secondary data.

3 tips for conducting meaningful interviews

Before the interview. Identify the right people (knowledgeable, responsive) and develop and share an interview guide (e.g., what are the three key topics to cover?)During the interview. Spend the time very carefully on insights and reactions to a hypothesis and build a positive relationship that would allow comfortable follow-up conversations.After the interview. Thank your interviewee, but more importantly, document, document, document.

Rule 3: Gather relevant secondary dataGathering the most relevant and powerful data is the backbone of good consulting and the opportunity for business school students to shine. Since the goal is to be as efficient and effective as possible, you need to address ways to minimize the gathering of data that are not relevant to the story. You can do this by keeping the context of the key question and hypotheses in mind as you gather the data.

Useful resources for secondary data Factiva a great starting pointBusiness and Company Research Center industry and company analysesMarket Research Monitor short industry reports and market sizingInvestText Plus industry reports by investment banksHoovers company data on the big firmsLexisNexis periodicals and newspapers such as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal

Operating Tactics for CollectingDesign ghost slides to exhibit the necessary data that are relevant to the storyUse primary research, and especially interview the client personnel; document interview guides ahead of time, and share insights with the team in written form in 24 hoursAlways cite the source of the data on each slide created.

Secondary data demo

Understand

UnderstandingAs the team gathers data, these data must be analyzed for their potential contribution to proving or disproving the hypothesis. The term used at McKinsey on an almost daily basis is so what? What is the meaning of the insight from these data for the project, and ultimately for the client?The biggest challenge teams face in the Understanding phase is developing high-quality insights

Rule 1: Identify the so whats Find answers to at least one of these questions:What is the impact of this insight on the project teams tentative answer? Will this insight change the direction of our analysis? Will implementation of this insight ultimately have a material impact on the clients operations?

Rule 2: Think through the implications for all constituents

The implications analysis digs deeper into the potential impact and broadens the scope of the investigation beyond just the immediate client. Evaluate the implications for the consulting team, the client project team, and the client implementation team.

Rule3: Document the key insight on all chartsExplicitly document the insight on each and every slide. All insights should be tied to some impact for the client identify the specific impact that the insight has on the eventual recommendation, and how that recommendation, in turn, affects the clients operations. Be as quantitative as possible in terms of potential impact, e.g., additional revenues, decreased costs, with an explicit statement of assumptions and a range estimate for the quantified impact.

Operating tactics for understandingAs so what? to sort through the analysis to find out what is ultimately important.Estimate the impact of the recommendations on the clients operations

SynthesizeThe final element of the model is to synthesize the information into a compelling story. Here is where the well-known pyramid principle related to organizing a written report or slide deck comes into play.

Rule 1: Obtain input and ensure buy in from the clientEngage the client actively. Actively involve the client throughout the entire process and never complete a project without a detailed implementation plan and a specific understanding of the impact that the changes will have on the organization.No surprises!

3 ways to engage the clientBefore the engagement: have substantial discussions with the client to make sure that the business problem is well definedDuring the engagement. the team must make sure that the key knowledge holders, political constituents, and ultimate implementers are included. After the engagement: consulting projects are sold most often on a relationship basis. Maintain a long-term relationship with your clients.

Rule 2: Offer specific recommendations for improvementConsultants exist to help clients. Every final set of recommendations should have a governing point. Every recommendation should be anchored in the general kind of change that the organization is pursuing, the financial impact of the changes suggested, or some other similar organizing context.

Rule 3: Tell a good storyFollow these 3 rules to structure your ideas effectively:Ideas at any level must be summaries of the ideas grouped below themIdeas in each grouping must be logically the sameIdeas in each grouping must be in logical order

Operating tacticsfor synthesisTell a story use a very brief situation and complication followed by the resolution, which is the most important part of the project.Share the story with the client and the team ahead of time to obtain input and ensure buy-inKeep the story simple and focus on the original problem and specific recommendations for improvement; include the estimated impact on the organization.