Category — consulting101

Out of a recent discussion with a new colleague came a simple question – “what is the best way to organize project files into a folder structure, and how should the files be named?”
There’s not one right way for this, but this is how I do it:

Folder structure – keep it simple and consistent
One folder per project, and within it, a general outline that I keep more or less the same for every project and adapt it to the specific needs / complexities that come up:

In this folder I capture everything that relates to the project, the only other place where files will be stored is the Outlook Inbox (I keep separate .PST files for every major project, so I can clean my Outlook afterwards and archive both .PST and project folder together).

There will be cases where a file that was sent to me via email will be saved in the folder structure as well, which is in effect an unnecessary redundancy, but… a) it is often important to log who sent what when, thus deleting the mail does not do you any good, and b) it is always good to keep a second, clean copy of a file someone sent you, in case you tinker with it and forget to make a duplicate copy.

Don’t create too many sub-folders – just enough so that you can oversee the contents of a folder easily. When too many old versions of the same document pile up (I sometimes have over 50 versions of a file), they go into the “old versions” folder, and get deleted after the end of the project.

The folder “Meetings and Milestones” often helps because in creating documentation for steering committees etc., you normally have to take slides/information from all over the project.

The folder “Single tasks” comes in handy to just file away everything that you did on the fly, mostly quick slides for colleagues, a pivot table that the VP wanted to see, stuff like that.

BTW, the numbers in front of the folder name just keep things in the order I want them to be in, they have no other meaning.

File names – Consistent and self-sorting

I was taught a simple scheme after which to name my files, and it has proven very time saving again and again. It goes like this:

YearMonthDay_ClientName_ProjectName_
DocumentName_Version_Editor.XXX

• YearMonthDay: For example, 20100521 for May 21st 2010. 100521 works fine as well. Chose the date when the document will be presented / is due.
• ClientName: Self explaining. Make it short (“ACME” instead of “ACME Corporation”)
• ProjectName: Self explaining. Take the official one that the client also recognizes
• DocumentName: Must clearly state what is contained (“SalesForecastQ2″ is better than “Forecast”)
• Version: Count up from “_v01″. I do that in regular intervals when saving the document, and at least before sending it to someone else to indicate that there have been changes compared to the version before. When delivering the document to the client, either delete the version numer or replace it with “_final”
• Editor: Put your initials here when you save the document. “_JD” for Jane Doe. That way, everyone in the team knows who made the last edits on the file.
• XXX: The ending of the file type, e.g. “.ppt”

Thus, a file could be named 20100524_ACME_SalesUp_SalesForecastQ2_v04_JD.ppt. If you keep the file structure like that, the files automatically sort themselves if they are sorted by file name, giving you great oversight within the project folder structure.

What are your secrets in dealing with the masses of files that must be handled on a project? Share it in the comments!

Out of a recent discussion with a new colleague came a simple question - \"what is the best way to organize project files into a folder structure, and how should the files be named?\" There\'s not one right way for this, but this is how I do it: Folder structure - keep it simple and consistent One ...

Although everyone knows since grammar school that spelling is important, it still sometimes is underestimated – as you see with this lovely decorated cake.

For consultants, producing work that is free of spelling errors is critical. Why? Because we hardly ever have tangible products or results to show our clients. The closest they get to that during a project are the things we present to them. Thus, consulting clients tend to put a disproportionately high attention on even the smallest details when they receive a something from you – the latest PowerPoint deck, for example. In the worst case, you lose credibility and trust, because your client perceives you as working inaccurately. Even if that does not occur, you might still waste crucial face time with your client trying to gloss over a stupid mistake he noticed.

Spelling correctly whilst producing your deliverables quickly and often with many revisions is a challenge. Here’s 5 tips to help you out. [Read more →]

Although everyone knows since grammar school that spelling is important, it still sometimes is underestimated - as you see with this lovely decorated cake. For consultants, producing work that is free of spelling errors is critical. Why? Because we hardly ever have tangible products or results to show our clients. The closest they get to ...

Following up on the last Consulting 101 article, “Shopping for the first day – clothing“, today let’s have a look at the gear for your weekly travels to the client side.  Most people run with two bags: an onboard-roller-suitcase and a laptop bag. Some prefer a suit bag over the rollercase, but as I try not to talk about things I have no clue about, you’re on your own on that one.

Onboard rollers (or trolleys, or the things with wheels to lug behind you)

• Size matters.
  Be sure to buy one that does comply both with your local and international carryon-luggage size standards. The “gold standard” of business travel is to not check in any luggage, which gets you more time before and after the flight, as well as the certainty that your luggage always is where you are – not a 100% sure thing if you check a bag in, especially when you are checking it in late. Thus: Be ready to take it on board, and have it at the size that allows it.

[Read more →]

Following up on the last Consulting 101 article, \"Shopping for the first day - clothing\", today let\'s have a look at the gear for your weekly travels to the client side.  Most people run with two bags: an onboard-roller-suitcase and a laptop bag. Some prefer a suit bag over the rollercase, but as I ...

[UPDATE: There have been incredibly good and information-packed contributions in the comments to this post - go check them out!]

You signed your contract, you hopefully took a good vacation, maybe you even moved to a new town – now you are getting ready to become a consultant. Awesome!

Of course, by now, you have the consultants’ lifestyle all figured out… and you decide it’s time to go shopping to get the right gear for your newly found life on the road. This post and the next one should give you some input on what to get, what to spend money on, and what you can safely put on your “someday/maybe” list. Let’s start it off with clothing. [Read more →]

You signed your contract, you hopefully took a good vacation, maybe you even moved to a new town - now you are getting ready to become a consultant. Awesome! Of course, by now, you have the ...

While reading through “born to be riled” by Jeremy Clarkson, the fabulous motoring journalist and presenter of BBC’s “Top Gear” (the best show about cars – ever. Period. Even girls love it. It’s the best going show on all of BBC… nuff said.  Now where was I?) … right: reading this book, which is a collection of Clarkson’s newspaper columns, I came across a very interesting tidbit:

“I’m often asked what qualifications you need to work on Top Gear, and I’ve always given the same advice. Like cars by all means, but love writing. Love it so much that you do it to relax. See the new Alfa or whatever as nothing more than a tool on which your prose can be based.”

Let this sink in for a second. This is a guy who gets to drive the newest, fastest, most exciting cars in the world in the most exciting, remote, fun and crazy locations in the world, and is paid for it. But his message is not “boy, you got to be a complete petrolhead to be fit for this job” – he says that you really need to love writing, the journalists’ basic process, so much that you do it for relaxing, to be fit for that job.

With consultants, I think, it is a similar story.

There’s the consultant’s lifestyle. Although of course not as glamorous as often depicted, there is a lot to it, especially for the young and eager types out there. You travel a lot – in fact the airplane is your bus and the taxi is your bike. You sleep in fancy hotels. You wear a dark suit. You get to meet the top management of large corporations – and they even pay you really good money for all that exciting stuff.

If your motivation to be a consultant is to lead the lifestyle (of course, only thinking about the shiny advantages), then you might not make it far. Or become quite miserable fairly fast. Probably both.

Here’s the inside scoop: Consulting, at the entry level that I (can) talk about, is all about the basics. You don’t get paid for looking posh. You get paid for doing a lot of work, under often less-then-perfect constraints (like… time). This work entails hell of a lot of research, analysis and synthesis of data – what other people sometimes call “gruntwork”. I call it crunching. You’ll have to sift through thousands of pages in search of one key figure. You’ll need to take an unsorted mess of data, throw it up in the air, and catch it in wonderfully organized, storylined, factchecked, approved and finetuned Powerpoint charts.  There is nothing fancy about the work. It can be tedious. Yet, this is what you are mostly measured by. What you do to help a project succeed, your firm and your clients.

Jeremy has it right. He tells us that only when you are good at the basic tasks of your job, then you can hit it off. I, for myself, don’t love every data deep-dive that I have to make. I don’t love spending hour after hour in Powerpoint (though I trade Excel for Powerpoint at any time. I loathe Excel, powerful as it may be). So I don’t expect you to do it. But I do absolutely believe that you cannot be a good consultant (as I said, in the junior’s ranks) without being comfortable with it, and the more enjoyment you get out of it, the merrier.

For all of those contemplating the move into consulting, this means you should think about the actual WORK you’ll be doing at least as much and as seriously as you do think about the perks you’ll have.

As a closing remark, this posting has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I, after a year in consulting, find it almost comforting to work in Powerpoint. I sometimes get so much fun out of making good slides that I am scared of myself. That is a totally unrelated issue, and I am dealing well with it, thank you very much.

While reading through “born to be riled” by Jeremy Clarkson, the fabulous motoring journalist and presenter of BBC’s “Top Gear” (the best show about cars – ever. Period. Even girls love it. It’s the best going show on all of BBC… nuff said.  Now where was I?) … right: reading this book, which is ...