Consulting Roundup: How to Succeed While Working Remotely

Tweet it:'Finding new and effective ways to work remotely and stay engaged with both your clients and your workforce is more important than ever to the success of your Consulting business'

We Asked Consulting Experts: 

How are you staying engaged with your remote workers and what are you doing to keep up visibility with current clients?

Finding new and effective ways to work remotely and stay engaged with both your clients and your workforce is more important than ever to the success of your Consulting business. We asked consulting experts from firms of all sizes: “How are you staying engaged with your remote workers and what are you doing to keep up visibility with current clients?”

Here is what they said:

Sean McDermott, President & CEO, Windward Consulting Group & Wheels Up World

“I personally hold virtual office hours via Zoom every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 12:00 - 12:30pm. Sometimes we talk about the company, sometimes people just socialize. Sometimes on Friday we play a short game, like online Bingo. We hold a weekly Covid-19 Company Update call on Thursdays at 5:00pm. We hold a virtual company-wide happy hour about every two weeks, and teams are encouraged to hold their own when they deem necessary. I also produce and send short 5-10 minute videos out to the company on an ad-hoc basis (about once per week).”

Bob Vuong, Principal at Deloitte

“I've found effectively staying connected requires some significant changes to include increasing frequency and diversity for outreach. With my internal teams, I've increased the team meetings. I've increased internal checkpoints with my teams and shortened meeting durations, some of these meetings are now just to give a quick update, and are sometimes geared towards team discussions. With my clients, I've diversified my platforms from the typical email and Zoom/Teams meetings. I've invited them to connect with me on Strava (a social health platform), Peloton (a fitness platform), etc.”

Kelly Waffle, Managing Director at The Hinge Research Institute

“At Hinge, we have been using a remote working model for about 10 years and leverage a number of video and online collaboration platforms to enable us to be connected. In addition to all of our weekly internal meetings, we also have a weekly virtual coffee gathering to catch up and stay in touch. For our prospects and clients, we try to use online video collaboration, instead of just phone calls, as much as possible for connection. Brené Brown PhD, noted professor, lecturer, and author defines connection as “the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship." This connection ensures that our remote working is effective.”

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Samantha McKenna, Founder & CEO, #samsale Consulting

“I suggest mixing up your team meetings.  Many of your reports won't know how to effectively engage only in conversation remotely, so do things to connect your team like hosting a game day online, bringing a stand up comedian to a team meeting or recruiting outside sources to come "in" and inspire your teams.  This takes the pressure off of, "Ugh, I have to make small talk again..." every so often.

As for visibility with your current customers, your presence on LinkedIn (posting, engaging, connecting) has never been more important, but neither has your opportunity to #givefirst.  Look for opportunities to be of additional value to your clients to offer them a perspective or value-add that they need.“

Megan Miller, Senior Product Manager, Deltek from 5 Ways to Use Technology to Manage Your Business and Project Financials Remotely

“Staying in front of clients is vital so you need to use technology to prompt reminders so you can talk to them when it matters most. This is not any different than what you would normally do during business development but important now as you have teams that are spread out more, the key is to capture [and share] that info so everybody is working from the same version of the truth, and so you are not 5 steps behind in the info you are looking at.”

Cathy Wilkes, Principal Consultant, Volare Consulting Group

“Staying visible in a remote work environment is a matter of staying in tune and in touch with my clients. Listening to understand is critical. I make sure I keep up with what is happening in the industry as well as what is happening internally. Awareness is key as well as asking better questions.  I create a wider lens of awareness for senior leaders and business owners, greatly reducing the risk of blind spots in decision making.”