Ankit Ahuja_BLP043_Consulting_03Jan’12

3^rd January 2012 the day started with excitement and anxiety all around. One on hand -Mercer one of the world’s largest HR Consulting firm was in the campus to recruit and there was a consulting class scheduled. The first thing I learned was how to imply the learning instantly as I was able to utilize the initial learning of how to deal with the clients in the Mercer interview. During the course of the day we learned many things like of Proposal Development, Dealing with Resistance and Stages of Discovery. I read the chapters 9 and 10 of Flawless Consulting by Peter Block as a part of the pre reading for the Consulting class.               `              

Chapter 9 of “Flawless Consulting” gives the detailed picture of how consultants find it difficult to talk to their clients because of resistance and the associated feelings. Dealing with resistance is difficult but we should engage the client in relation with the central problem. A consultant should stay away from defending himself, rather he should ask questions and encourage his client to talk. Best way to handle resistance is to blow itself out, like a storm, and not to fight it head-on. 

The three step process of dealing with the resistance as stated by Peter Block:-

1.) Pick up cues for resistance

2.) Name the resistance

3.) Be quite and seek response

Chapter 10 of the book explains about the discovery phase. The goal of discovery is to be effective and powerful. In this phase consultant should have the clear understanding of the client’s business and the context. Root cause analysis should be done to unframe the underlying problem which can be different from what client was stating.In the end  consultant should provide the information about  How the things needs to be managed and finally follow up with the necessary recommendations.

The day ended with the financial review of the SOIL’s future plan of building a residential campus and the transparency that was maintained all through the review session was amazing and it was a great learning curve that happened on the day.