一个麦肯锡咨询顾问的一天.doc

一个麦肯锡咨询顾问的一天一个麦肯锡咨询顾问的一天2007-04-15 20:56一个麦肯锡咨询顾问的一天(轻松版的：）2007-02-1011:55:36hour our by hour, Enno and his teammates carry forward a restructuring study for a high-tech client. Colleagues from nearby Frankfurt, Berlin, and Hamburg and from as far away as Chennai (Madras), India work together systematically devising and refining a business model for a troubled division.Setting the sceneOur team is working on a 3-month restructuring study for a high-tech client. Last week the client asked us to develop an affordable business model for one of the divisions, which is currently running losses. Our team consists of three associates, the AP (associate principal), the ED (engagement director), and the EM (engagement manager), namely, me. Our study is divided into three main modules: Sales and Service, Factory, and General & Administrative (G&A).Quality assurance07:30 I get up, shower, eat yogurt, and notice that I dont have any shirts ready to wear. I iron a white shirt and finish getting dressed.08:00 I jump in my car. Unfortunately, its raining so I cant drive with the top down.08:30 I arrive at the client site but nobodys there yet. I have some coffee and boot up my laptop, check e-mails, and plan my day. I call Visual Aids (VA), the group that produces PowerPoint documents in India, to request help preparing a discussion document for our weekly client meeting, which is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. today. Then I start working on the section summarizing our work on the factory module.09:00 The associates arrive. I have a morning briefing with each one individually. Florian, one of the associates, and I discuss next steps for the factory module. A member of the client team sees no need for more analysis and wants to close this module. Florian and I work out a way to communicate actions that are still required and issues that remain open. Now Florian feels ready to call in to explain his concerns.10:00 Mr. X, the manager responsible for offsite production, calls. Yesterday, I left him a voice-mail saying that we have no data on offsite production. I know him from a previous study, so we have a nice chat. I summarize the information he gives me, put it into a chart, and send it to VA in India.Getting ready10:15 Frank, the AP, comes in. Since the team is hard at work and the client is trying to expand the scope of our study, Im concerned about the level of quality we can deliver. I ask Frank to schedule a meeting after lunch to prioritize workstreams and develop arguments to manage our clients expectations.13:00 The whole team eats lunch in the client cafeteria. Frank shows up a bit late, but compensates by eating quickly.14:00 I continue to work with the associates on their pages for the discussion document. I also make a quick visit to Mr. Y, the client responsible for the G&A module to discuss that part of the weekly client meeting presentation. He agrees with our findings and makes useful comments that we incorporate into the presentation. He agrees with our next steps and helps identify those who will be responsible for moving the work ahead.Finishing touches15:30 In final preparation for the meeting, the team holds a premeeting discussion with Mr. Z, the client project leader. He helps us identify the most important issues to discuss and prepares us to ask the right questions. 16:00 Damn, the copy machine isnt working! I take two copies and rush to the meeting, while the team struggles to make another eight. Luckily, only two people show up on time, so nobody notices that the copies arent ready.16:20 Everyone arrives and the meeting starts. It takes longer than expected, but we hold some fruitful, constructive discussions.19:35 I call Johannes, a principal with whom Im working on an interactive workshop on How to Write a Business Plan to say that Im running late. The client comes first! I jump in my car and drive to the office in 20 minutes as fast as possible.20:05 We start drafting an agenda for the workshop.22:00 Leaving the office, I stop for a