How do you handle tight deadlines and high expectations in consulting?

Prioritize and Plan: Start by thoroughly understanding the project requirements and priorities. Break down the work into manageable tasks and create a detailed project plan with clear milestones and deliverables. This allows you to stay focused and effectively allocate resources. Efficient Time Management: Implement efficient time management techniques such as setting realistic deadlines, utilizing productivity tools, and maintaining a structured schedule. This enables you to maximize your productivity and meet tight deadlines without compromising the quality of your work.

Setting yourself up for success is a great way to strategize how day to day activities will appear and how successful you are with your client according to planning. File organization can allow you to build infrastructure for you and your team. A strong foundation. Consistency is the next. For example every artifact is stored in a centralized location with the same naming convention allows to achieve success in versioning your works. Lastly, focusing on what the actual next step is without cutting corners. Once an assessment is made on how available your resources are, like as deliverables, and communication with stakeholders, then by all means save any time you can. Thank you!

As consultants have the vision but be able to proceed in several steps, use lean six sigma and agile methodology and adapt regularly. Prioritize.

Setting 'frames' is critical at the outset of the consulting relationship. Frames are the containers you will work from. A container of intent. What is the intent of the project. A container or reality. How realistic is the project, the deadlines, the process. A container of motivation. How motivated are the team members, managers and executives in getting this project done. A container of hurdles. How will we deal with the inevitable hurdles, issues that will come up. What process do we have in place for this. A container of communication. Let us set a standard and a process for honest, clear, productive communication. In that area, one frame I like to set is "don't complain about a problem, unless you've got a solution to suggest"

Be clear about your "going in" position. You want to be sure that you are "optimizing under constraint" and tight deadlines are certainly one of those. Often a consultant is focused on aligning with the client's desires and doesn't incorporate the potential impediments that these constraints may cause. How did the expectations get set in the first place? Business development? Wording in the proposal? To avoid setting yourself up for failure, ensure that expectations are grounded in reality and not MBH (Management By Hope). This rarely works out. Set realistic expectations with your client (even if they don't want to hear it) and work toward successful delivery given those constraints. Avoids failure and builds trust.

Rather then working on communication plan and use precious ressources to write... Slides... And to validate again and again without being able to fix and kick off change management Adjust regularly through a dedicated governance, without need of being to formal, you will loose energy and risk getting lost in drama and politics, forgetting the stake to attend for real and loose people who don't see that energy taken. Communicate INCLUDING consulting and information, and also accept you're not the smartest in the room, everyone has his / her appetite and will to keep it going. Communication is part of training, it shall be able to get involved, to test, to adapt, again and again in small circles of projections...

This particular topic can be difficult for most due to real life situations that are not commonly illustrated, unless in a required work training. There are real pressures that effect the way we work sometimes and how these pressures are recovered from is half the battle in maintaining balance, whatever your situation may be. When faced in a situation where you must choose to be better remember the good always comes out on top. This is illustrated by the well known yin-yang, in a bad situation there must be some good, and in a good situation there must be some bad. How you recover will improve your chances of success in any situation by absolutely making quality decisions without impulsivity.

Learn to assume. Learn to not think there is an end if it won't be achieved. There is always a solution. Say no and suggest something that makes more sense instead. Provide several at least 2 solutions to get it done with less resources, nothing is rigid, everything can be formed

Time management and capacity building is so important. OVER-Communicate expectations and a timeline. Make sure that you are not taking on more projects than you can handle. Key your clients up to date on movement every step of the way.

Upfront clarity is key to defining the scope and expected outcomes of your engagement. Think win-win. Who are you responsible to? What is their end goal? What do they want, and what do they need? What are you committing to accomplish? Who will be your contacts? Who will be the decision maker if disagreements occur?