Using McKinsey & BCG Skills

Using McKinsey & BCG Skills Hi everyone and welcome to another episode of Fridays with Firmsconsulting. Today’s episode is dedicated to those learning strategy, operations and implementation skills: our Executive Program members. And, if you don’t already know about it, the Executive Program teaches members the key skills of McKinsey, BCG and other major consulting firms. If you work through each study carefully, you will be able to walk into any strategy, operations or implementation project and successfully compete it. In this episode we will talk about one of the most common challenges clients encounter as they apply their newly learned skills. And to explain this problem we will discuss the experience of a real client named Peter. Peter is a devoted Executive Program member employed by the consulting unit within an outsourcing company. He wants to use the Executive Program to help his team streamline their due-diligence approach. Peter feels they are not prioritizing the analyses, thereby wasting time and money. The team also lacks storyboarding skills, which results in key insights missed by senior management and, consequently, the influence of his team is very weak. Peter has taken significant time to teach his…

SMS approach: effective way to obtain feedback and stay on track

SMS approach stands for stop doing, do more of and start doing. It is an effective way to solicit feedback as you develop your career, grow your business or start a family. It is simple and effective way to very succinctly and in no vague terms keep up with your stakeholders’ opinions, concerns and needs, be it your boss, your teammates, your spouse, your kids or your siblings. You probably noticed this approach is heavily used in surveys. In fact my company, Firmsconsulting.com uses this approach to get feedback from clients and it works very well for us. We ask what should we stop doing, what should we do more of and what should we start doing. We then review results and look for patterns in responses to determine the changes we want to make. If you just ask for feedback, it likely will be vague, not comprehensive and not particularly useful Soliciting feedback from your colleagues or your boss, or even your family can be an awkward process. This approach helps you have a structure and makes it easier for people to provide more meaningful feedback. I remember whenever I asked for feedback in the past I often got…

Broadcaster management: new media strategy is needed

Broadcaster Management: New Media Strategy is Needed Summary: If you work for a state broadcaster your organization needs a new media strategy. The age of homogenous state broadcaster living off a guaranteed television license is not only over, but the license itself has stymied productivity, innovation, and creativity. A media strategy of locking in a market with legislation versus competitive products no longer works. Funding that media model with mandatory TV license fees is failing. When we think of a media strategy, we usually think of non-media companies trying their hand at media or traditional networks and cable companies adapting to a streaming mobile era. Worldwide, the largest segment of media companies is traditional state-owned broadcasters, SOEs, which collectively serve consumers across virtually every timezone. They also need a media strategy and face problems that are significantly different from those typically discussed. A new media strategy emerges The seventeenth was a day citizens of the Middle East will remember for a long time. At the start of one of the most watched television events of the year, one TV station redefined broadcast journalism and turned the tables on its peers. Within minutes of the first signs of trouble, the camera…

How can you prepare for a recession 2020

How can you prepare for a recession 2020 We are all thinking about this. How can I prepare for a recession? How can national lockdown not lead to it? As the COVID-19 continues to sweep across the globe, it's disrupting industries from restaurants to hotels, to airlines, to event planning. How can basically a worldwide quarantine not lead to a global recession? The coronavirus crisis is likely to negatively and severely impact not only the US but the global economy and individual economies of countless impacted countries. What is a recession? The National Bureau of Economic Research says a recession happens when there is a “significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months.” This is measured by the GDP (gross domestic product), which is otherwise known as all the goods and services made and produced by the American economy. In other words, a recession means the economy stops growing and experiencing negative growth. https://youtu.be/LS_nSjsQYJg When is the next recession? Economists don’t have a strong track record for predicting downturns before they start. No one knows when the next recession will hit. However, it is most likely we are going into it right now. You will…

Change Management (Global leader of McKinsey Organization Practice)

Change Management (Global leader of McKinsey Organization Practice) Leading large-scale change at your business is urgent, but how do you overcome the challenge change management presents? Interview with McKinsey & Company Global Leader Bill Schaninger, coauthor of BEYOND PERFORMANCE 2.0: A Proven Approach to Leading Large-Scale Change (Wiley, July 11, 2019) about: How to know when your company is ready for large-scale change What’s wrong with most approaches to change management What companies can do today to flip their odds of success Why organizational health is more important than ever What behavioral science biases leaders must guard against when building their change management vision About Bill: "Since joining McKinsey in 2000, Bill has focused his work on driving large-scale organizational and cultural change for diverse clients across North America, Europe, and the Middle East. An expert on the role of culture, values, and leadership in improving business outcomes, he helps top executives enhance organization-wide management effectiveness. In his advisory work, Bill has helped CEOs, government ministers, and other top executives assess organizational health and lead initiatives to improve it. He also brings strong experience in strategic human resources, helping organizations understand how to create world-class talent systems and winning workforce dynamics." https://youtu.be/fLxaerlK7xU Meet Bill Schaninger, McKinsey senior…

How to elevate professional skills and get your team to number one across the US

How to elevate professional skills and get your team to number one across the US Below we share with you a video and transcript of the interview with Denise Harris, one of our amazing FIRMSconsulting Insiders. Denise shares how she used FIRMSconsulting's training programs to strengthen her professional skills and achieve significant results for herself and her organization. My name is Denise Harris and I am proudly a FIRMSconsulting client. I am from a small town in New Jersey about 60-70 miles west of Manhattan. When I was born I was given up for adoption. And what I can tell you is spending time in an orphanage and being in foster care do bring a lot of life challenges. But I do believe that is all in how you accept those challenges in tough circumstances it really does make you a stronger person. Believe it or not, a few years back I actually got to know my birth family a few years back and I'm very glad that I didn't grow up in the hard streets of Trenton New Jersey and I did not have to face a number of challenges that my siblings, that I since came to know, they…

How to Stop Being Ignored

How to Stop Being Ignored Have you ever been in a discussion and had an important and useful idea to share but found the audience shutting you down or ignoring you? Yet, a colleague next to you seemed to be getting more attention for his/her mediocre ideas. Or worse, was repeating the idea you just shared but when he repeated it, the audience listened and thought it was valuable. It can be frustrating, especially if you are communicating correctly and the benefits of your idea are very clear. So let's address how to stop being ignored. https://youtu.be/qO9K2ogPf_g As you look for ways on how to stop being ignored, many of you will buckle down and think of ways to explain your ideas more clearly, speak more confidently and articulately. You may even go off to develop a business case to convince the group. Sometimes that helps, but often you just do not have permission to be heard, acknowledged, and accepted. An example of being ignored In a simple example to help us understand how to stop being ignored, let's assume you were in a meeting with a group of Ivy League MBAs and you were a community college graduate. Before…

What is productivity and how can it be increased?

What is productivity and how can it be increased? Every company wants to raise its productivity. We all want to raise our personal productivity. Most businesses understand the importance of productivity and believe they have a plan in place to improve it. We often assume doing more, producing more or completing more tasks increases our productivity. Despite sitting at the heart of competitive strategy, productivity is often misunderstood. We will define productivity and explain how it should be used to develop a strategy and manage the operations of a business. Summary: Productivity is the ratio of the total value of output divided by the total input cost. A competitive strategy is a plan to deploy a competitive advantage to increase productivity. A company essentially pursues one of two strategies to increase productivity: focusing on the output value or focusing on the input costs. It is a common mistake to increase productivity in the short-term by focusing on the wrong lever. The task of a COO is to organize the business to raise productivity by maximizing the lever the board has endorsed. UNDERSTANDING PRODUCTIVITY Viviana ran a lemonade stand. It was a basic stand outside her home composed of some old…

Disastrous First BCG Engagement

A young BCG associate, lets call him Bill, recently faced tough questions after his first engagement turned out to be, in his words, an utter disaster. If you are a younger consultant in Bill's situation, you may ask yourself similar questions: What happens when your first engagement is not just bad, but is a disaster? What went through partner's head when you performed poorly? Do you have a future? Should you consider leaving? When this happens you will also want to know if this was an anomaly or if management consulting is just not for you. Management consultants must have 5 attributes to be successful Management consultants must have 5 attributes to be successful. You can learn all of them over time, but you must be aware of them from day 1 with the firm: Will – do you have the burning desire to be a successful management consultant? Capacity – do you have the time and space to be successful? Capability – do you have the skills to be successful? Emotional Intelligence – can you read the personal dynamics at play? Political awareness – do you understand the rationale and motivations for client decisions? The filter to understand the reasons for failure and the…