What is a consulting methodology?

Consulting methodologies are methods or approaches used by consultants in tackling a particular challenge, problem or client engagement.

Characteristics of a consulting methodology

Consulting methodologies typically possess some or all of the following characteristics:

• Based on a coherent set of design principles, concepts and theories
• Supported by a body of research undertaken either in an academic or commercial environment
• Enable a particular challenge to be tackled in a structured and systematic fashion with a high probability of achieving particular beneficial outcomes
• Likely to have been used in similar situations a number of times before and through use and application the methodology is likely to have been refined and improved

The value of a methodology

Management consultants benefit greatly from operating by reference to proven consulting methodologies. A consulting methodology provides a frame of reference, structure and often a prescribed set of activities and tasks that will be undertaken in a particular and logical order.

The Trendz Methodology DESIRE

As the thought of change comes to mind, clouds of options rise and give way to speculations. Whether the change would be feasible, what would be  period of change, how do we transition, who would be involved, how would the organization be impacted with the change and most importantly how much would it cost me?

All these questions keep floating in our minds and gets cloudier with internal and external suggestion of How We Could Do it.

Trendz understands this stage of change and hence steps in at this very point with its first Handshake : DESIRE

• We do a 360° review of the Need ‘Desire’ through the impacted set and the benefit perceived. (Need Analysis)
• With our global expertise in process/ business change we analyze the DESIRE and propose the implications, dependencies, technological impacts leading to converging at  ‘Strategic Goals’.
• With the Need Defined and Strategic Goals laid out, we propose the Big Picture Initiative Plan which indicates the flow of events the way it would shape the initiative.

ANALYZE

With the strategic goal in place an empirical framework is created (which may include a defined benchmark) and  a detailed understanding of the operations and work products are conducted to understand the status of the organization and plan the roadmap ahead.

• A process analysis is done through a layered discussion along with detail review of the process documents and work products/ product components. This when compared to framework / benchmark desired, leads to the generation of a strength ‘Convergence’ and Opportunities ‘ Gaps’ document. (Current State Analysis)
• With the Opportunity listing in place and having considered the reusability factors from the existing strengths in the organization, a detailed phase and activity level roadmap is made. This illustrates the timeline, effort projections, resource utilizations, dependencies, critical path, risks/contingencies , milestones and associated work products/product components resulting from each critical milestones. (Initiative Roadmap)
• To initiate any activity towards business / process change a blueprint of the existing process/business model needs to be set as the foundation for  change. This would serve as the neural network for process change. (Business Process Modelling)

ACTION

With abundant clarity in the initiative, individual focus tasks for change are initiated.

• Change towards adapting a new framework or moving towards a refined goal, needs to be supported with an appropriate interpretation of expectations, whether it is related to the framework, qualitative values or desired benchmark. To interpret the expectations and derived expectations a detailed ‘Interpretation Workshop’ is done.
• Focus teams specialists in the domain area are created, which monitor and engage in ‘Process Change’ (Enhancements, Review, Fresh Introductions) .
• Secondary reviews are conducted to assess the readiness and the feasibility of the changed process to be released in the organization. Initiatives like Piloting, Selective Trials and Weightage Analysis are done to enable gauge organizational impact. Having reached an optimal level of considerations as defined , the processes are rolled out in the organization. (Enable, Adapt, Rollout)

GOAL

Achievement of desired goals is of prime focus as they are one of the finite result indicators in any process journey. As important are the desired goals, Trendz emphasizes on the interim goals with equal or more focus as they are the definite indicators/ handlers of change.

• Enabling achieve a desired goal and ensure that it complies to all its direct and indirect requirements including the value change as projected by its institutionalization. (Compliance)
• Usage of critical processes could be assessed for their value creation through indicators of their ‘Capability’. Creation of process sets which include sub-processes indicating their process/ product capability.
• To forecast the performance of work product/ cycle of events are governed through usage/ governance of inter-dependent processes. Creation of probabilistic and statistical models enable gauging the future impact on the system. (Prediction Modeling)
• Engage in determination of stability which indicates confidence in our products. (Stability)
• Achieve the benchmark as an interim goal towards a continuing journey. (Goal Achievement)

TRANSITION

Enabling companies embark on the leading journeys towards change, Trendz handhold the initiative and raise the bar of quality and performance. Though this is a crucial part of our consulting process, it is equally important that we transition the working expertise to the process owners of the company who could lead the company ahead with the baton. The success of any consulting assignment is the transition of trust from the client to us and then back to the client, creating lasting relationships.

• Sustaining change involves managing People, Process and Technology. We believe change can be felt when it comes from within and when we can say it is an ‘Organizational Buy-In’ or and Ingrained Way of doing things.
• Innovation   is done at each stage of process improvement. The answers we seek are why and how much has this helped or how would it improve the AS-IS state of working.

Continuous Improvement

As the name suggests involves not only sustenance of existing capabilities but also adapting to newer challenges without any fear of impact to existing performance, goals, predictability and confidence.