There are five key reasons why consultancies need more processes as they grow:

1. Standardisation. As consultancies grow, they need to ensure that their work is consistent across different projects and clients. Processes help to standardise their work and ensure that everyone is following the same procedures.
2. Efficiency. Processes can help consultancies to work more efficiently by providing clear guidelines for how tasks should be completed. This can reduce the time and effort required to complete projects, which can help to increase profitability.
3. Quality control. Processes can help to ensure that work is completed to a high standard. By having clear procedures in place, consultancies can identify and address any issues or errors that arise during a project.
4. Risk management. Consultancies often work on complex projects that involve multiple stakeholders and significant financial investments. Processes can help to manage risks by identifying potential issues and providing a framework for addressing them.
5. Scalability. As consultancies grow, they need to be able to scale their operations to meet demand. Processes can help to ensure that they are able to do this effectively, by providing a framework for managing resources and allocating work.

Some Key Definitions

A Process is a step-by-step way of performing actions over time. Each process has a trigger, individual steps and a result or outcome. For a consultancy, core processes are those which are directly involved in revenue generating activities whereas non-core processes are those that are not and are typically focused on areas of business support.

A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is a term which is often used interchangeably with process however it tends to be used where a process is highly documented, containing detailed steps and diagrams to ensure no deviation.

A System is defined more widely and is a way of doing something over a particular area. It is a set of processes, supporting tools and reports that are logically grouped together so that a whole area (however you choose to define this for your exact business) is managed in a consistent manner.

A Business Function is made up of systems, people and an organisational structure typically under a single accountable leadership. They may be quite different depending on the size or maturity of the company.

A One Point Lesson is a short visual work instruction in a single page format. An OPL helps convey the expectations of a process, solve problems, bridge a knowledge gap or improve a way of working in a process.

Business Process Modelling (BPM) is a formal discipline concerned with representing the processes of an organisation using a formalised Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN). Specialist BPM consultants will analyse and observe “as-is processes” in order to identify steps, responsibilities and bottlenecks, before making recommendations to improve the process.

Consulting firms can gain a variety of advantages from building processes and systems. There are also benefits for the employee.

Advantages for the Company

Processes are a great way for leaders to shift from being practitioners of their craft to being successful managers. Processes provide an effective form of management and leadership that allows the business’s leadership team to manage the organization in a consistent manner. By creating processes, there is agreement on what best practice looks like, allowing overall standards within the organisation to be raised. This also enables progress to be monitored and reported, while identifying any potential bottlenecks or improvements that need addressing. In addition, if employees leave the organisation having established processes in place ensures that knowledge isn’t lost and efficiency increases as staff turnover is reduced due to people understanding their individual roles more clearly. Cross-training prospects become available too which can widen recruitment pools as experience in specific ways of working becomes less critical for job candidates.

Advantages for Employees

Organisational knowledge can be a powerful tool for individuals, as it allows them to access the collective experience and expertise of their entire organisation. This means that training and learning processes become easier, faster, and more efficient. Additionally, by encouraging employees to tap into this shared knowledge base, organisational objectives are kept at the forefront of everyone’s mind. As a result, employees have a clearer understanding of their roles within the company’s vision which leads to less role frustration and role conflict as they know what is expected from them. Lastly, when people understand how their actions fit in with the bigger picture of an organisation’s goals, employee engagement rises naturally.

Consultancy Processes

In the table below are 186 processes grouped into 24 systems. This is an extensive yet incomplete list. The number of processes that would be documented and used in any consultancy is highly dependent on many factors. It’s a truism that as you grow you will need more processes. It’s also therefore true that many processes are irrelevant to many consultancies at a given time or not worth the effort of formalising. Nonetheless, this list gives the reader a flavour of the complexity of running a successful firm at a high scale.