Consulting Skills – The power of workshops

February 14, 2025|Accountants, Kim's Blog, Lawyers, Management Skills, Marketing, Psychology, Relationship Management, Strategy|

At the recent PM Forum – PM Forum training workshop on “Coaching and Consulting skills for marketing and business development professionals” we spent time considering key consulting skills. In particular we focused on how to achieve engagement, buy-in, commitment and implementation for a “consultancy” project. As well as looking at stakeholder engagement in detail – and the various phases of a consultancy project – we considered the power of workshops in taking everyone on the journey so that buy-in is built-in from the start. There were also comments (see below) about how the role of marketing and business development professionals in professional services was changing. Consulting Skills – The power of workshops.

Current coaching and consulting challenges in professional services marketing

Delegates commented on their biggest coaching or consulting challenge and things they’d like to discuss and learn at the session. Their comments revolved around the themes of communication, behaviour change, strategy and skills:

Communication
- Stakeholders who do not listen
- Effectively getting a message of urgency across (deadlines doesn’t work…)
- Encouraging stakeholders to think differently or to challenge their established view
- Communication as the team continues to grow
- Influencing and getting the value of what we do across
- Communicating value and having more strategic input
- Conveying the value of feedback
- Influencing a wide range of people (partners) with differing views and opinions
- Securing face time with partners when they are resistant to letting BD support them
- Convincing fee-earners of the benefit of letting us help

Behaviour change
- Changing ‘the way we’ve always done things’
- Helping to bring change when time is so limited for fee earners
- Influencing stakeholders in a different direction so they don’t continue with the norm.
- Changing behaviour to match best practice where poor (but to date successful) approaches are embedded
- Achieving ‘buy in’ and change
- Managing when recognition and reward systems are not aligned (or conflicting) with agreed strategies
- Learning how to effectively build momentum and keep things going
- Overcoming resistance to change for the better of the firm

Strategy and skills
- How to manage different views and steer them in the right direction
- Promoting new strategies on obtaining new opportunities
- How to apply different management styles
- Adopting a flexible style to suit different stakeholders, especially more challenging personalities

I smiled when delegates used comments like “endlessly busy” and “enthusiastic refusal”.. I reframe the stubborn and refusenik styles more positively as “legacy protectors”. These resources may help dealing with difficult behaviour:

Anger (and complaints)Managing client complaints – Process, anger and apologies (kimtasso.com)
Arrogance Dealing with “difficult” people – Nine strategies for dealing with arrogance (kimtasso.com)
Bias What do you do when a male colleague doesn’t like women? (gender bias) (kimtasso.com)
Can’t get a word in Confidence – How to get a word in when people keep talking (kimtasso.com)
Stubbornness and closed to new ideas fixed views and closed to new ideas (dealing with stubbornness) (kimtasso.com)
Resources to help you deal with difficult interactions (kimtasso.com)
Cultural differences How can I improve my cross cultural communication (kimtasso.com)

The power of workshops in professional services marketing

Workshops are a favourite tool of consultants. They are also an effective way to tackle many of the challenges above because they:

Involve many people in interactive communication
Identify common interests and shared, aligned goals
Provide an opportunity to explain, explore and educate
Enable everyone to explore the issues, voice their views and contribute ideas
Harness the power of champions, sponsors, supporters and advocates
Leverage peer pressure and group dynamics
Allow you to crowdsource (creative) ideas
Promote a sense of “one team” tackling a common challenge
Flush out issues and objections at an early stage
Keep concerns and criticisms out in the open (rather than underground)
Take everyone on a journey so that buy-in is built-in from the outset
Often take place in a different physical environment – where the usual distractions are minimised
Help build collaboration, consensus and team spirit

Like coaching and consulting, workshops demand a lot of skills. Delegate insights included:

Asking great questions
Igniting interest and curiosity
Sharing and building on ideas
Providing direction and guidance
Listening
Learning something new
Providing feedback, encouragement and motivation
Supporting individuals and teams
Enabling people to use their knowledge and skills collaboratively
Focusing on key aims and outcomes
Helping people to find their own solutions
Using data and evidence to reality-check ambitions and strategies
Improving performance

Workshops – versatile and hardworking tool in the consulting skills toolbox

Most of the responses to a consulting skills scenario exercise focused on having a great kick off meeting. However, a series of workshops – breaking things down into bite sized pieces – are a great way to get everyone involved in the consultancy project at every step of the journey. And to maintain momentum.

So by the time you get to the end of the project, everyone has seen the data and information, been able to contribute their thoughts and ideas, anticipated where there may be problems and developed solutions to keep things progressing smoothly during implementation.

Often, consultancy projects are organised around a series of workshops – for example

Aims, scope and diagnosis
Analysis, problem-solving and identifying potential solutions
Feasibility of different options, choice of solution and implementation plans
Project planning and management
Evaluation and review

Alternatively, a strategy consultancy project might span a series of workshops:

Kick off meeting
- Rationale – Situation, goal(s) and scope
- Rules of engagement and process
- Team bonding
- Takeaway actions:
  - Consider information needed and submit two weeks before next meeting
  - Consider other issues to be addressed

Analysis
- Analysis of external information
  - Economic and political factors, technological developments, sector trends, market developments, competitors
- Analysis of internal information
  - Fees, profits, clients, services, skills, capacity, past performance
- Takeaway actions:
  - Consider any other trends or information
  - Decide which are the most important changes (do a SWOT)

Synthesis and objectives
- Identify the most important issues – Consolidation of SWOT
- Identify the key challenge(s)
- Agree on SMART objectives
- Takeaway actions:
  - Review objectives
  - Consider which possible strategies might be appropriate

Strategy options and choices
- Look at possible strategies – consider systemic impacts
- Choose which options might work best
- Work up the different strategies and outline terms of reference/scope (some firms might create separate project teams to work on these independently)
- Takeaway actions:
  - Review the overall programme and work streams
  - Develop agreed strategies and work streams

Programme review
- Present and assess each strategy work-stream
- Allocate priorities and resources
- Develop communication and roll out plans
- Takeaway actions:
  - Communications and implementation activities

Progress review meetings

An alternative approach is to structure things around just two workshops – as fellow professional services consultant Tony Reiss suggested this in a 2018 article about strategy development The Two Workshop Process for Developing a Strategy | Tony Reiss

Workshop best practice

There are numerous resources online to help you plan, design and deliver a great workshop. But to highlight the key points:

Before the workshop (Prepare)

Gain stakeholder engagement, buy in and sponsorship
Agree the aims of the workshop (and key questions to be answered and outcomes achieved)
Allocate planning and administration responsibilities
Decide on the best time, format and location/venue
Identify and invite the attendees
Consult on the agenda, scope and order of business
Consider the terms of engagement/operating protocols
Organise logistics (transport, accommodation, audio-visuals, break out areas, refreshments, materials for exercises, translation facilities, other resources etc)
Select, brief and rehearse chair and external and internal speakers
Design interesting interactive exercises to promote relationship building and collaboration
Prepare and circulate briefing papers and advance preparation
Speak to as many delegates in advance (to anticipate potential issues and politics)
Develop a risk and crisis management plan
Circulate information about any last minute changes

During the workshop (Facilitate)

Arrive early and ensure everything is set up (tech check especially)
Adapt to any final changes
Agree who will be responsible for taking minutes
Greet your delegates and enable them to relax and meet each other
Set the scene – remind everyone of the aims and purpose of the workshop
Manage introductions (ice breaking) and warm up exercises
Provide guidance on problem solving, brainstorming, whiteboarding and governance techniques
Organise groups for break out discussions and report backs
Monitor the schedule, keep an eye on energy levels and arrange breaks when needed
Oversee the use of interactive polling and research exercises
Arrange interventions if conflicts arise
Consider introducing team-building or competitive elements
Ensure regular summaries/synthesis and progress reviews before proceeding to the next topic
Primarily you will need to draw on your facilitation skills which are summarised here:

How to facilitate groups – Guidance for those organising and facilitating October 2019

How to facilitate groups – 2 (Herding cats in professional services) January 2022

Allocate sufficient time for questions and additional discussions
Close the event on a positive note with clarity on the achievements and next steps
Thank everyone for participating

After the workshop (Follow up)

Ensure confidential papers are removed/recycled
Debrief with senior leaders
Circulate any additional information that was required or requested
Circulate a note of what was agreed and next actions/timescales
Obtain feedback from participants
Arrange payment of invoices and update budget
Update project plans
Evaluate workshop effectiveness and learn for future events
Relax and celebrate!

What are your top tips or best practice (or resources) for designing and facilitating effective workshops? Please let me know so I can add them.

Delegate discussions, polls and takeaways

Delegates find it helpful to be reminded of the main ideas that emerged during the session discussions, so the following notes supplement the learning resources for the workshop.

How are marketing and business development roles in professional services marketing changing?

Delegates suggested – following a breakout discussion – that the main changes in marketing and business development roles were:

It is getting harder to generate leads
It has become much more data driven
A growing emphasis on digital marketing and AI tools
AI removed a lot of the small admin tasks that took so much time
Much more time spent helping fee earners develop own content (e.g. for LinkedIn and personal branding)
Less human and face-to-face contact
MBD can be seen as (and classified as) support services, making it hard to move to consultant stage
Explaining that thought leadership isn’t just writing an article!
Pressure to measure and evaluate everything
More consultative role to help fee-earners develop their personal brand
Need to have evidence to support proposals for influence
Shift towards seeing MBD as advisors/consultants as opposed to support
Increasingly, fee-earners are recognising that they need to be more involved in MBD activity – they have less expectation that we will be doing it all for them
Increased responsibility for delivering the desired results
Some members of fee-earning teams, particularly mid-level (e.g. associates) are harder to influence than senior or junior members of the team
Some MBD professionals have found it challenging to gain real insight into what the fee-earners do and what they are trying to achieve. It can be difficult to “speak their language” and have a good understanding of market issues given the breadth of sectors and service lines we are supporting.
Fee-earners can see us as people who nag them often to get tasks done. We would like them to recognise more that we are all on the same team, striving to achieve best results for the firm
We have to helping people to help themselves and give people the tools they need to solve their own problems. But this can lead to either focus on particular team members who are more engaged and less focus on those who don’t engage
Confusion on who does what within Marketing and BD. Requests come into the wrong sub team within the marketing team – a reflection of the growing specialisation with marketing and business development
Younger partners much more accepting of BD involvement to help them achieve objectives whereas “older” partners can be more resistant. Hoping that as the younger generation of fee-earners progress up the ladder that there will continue to be a shift in perception of marketing and BD and we will be seen as an integral part of their team
There has definitely been a transition from just doing the doing to the expectation of being a marketing “expert” and providing that expert point of view We have to provide a more proactive service now

Coaching fee-earners in professional services marketing insights

In response to a fee-earner coaching scenario, delegates contributed the following ideas (full lists were provided during the session):

Prepare for the coaching meeting
- Access data, plans and targets to see the aims and context
- Consider what questions you might ask
- Compare the firm, team and individual’s likely goals

Questions to ask during the coaching session

Goals
- What are you hoping to achieve? And by when?
- What does success look like?
- How do your goals align with practice group/department?
- How would you like your reputation/profile to change in the future?
- What does bringing in new business mean to you?
- What’s being asked of you by the firm?
- What are your expectations around aligning personal and professional and commercial aims?
Reality
- Where are you now?
- Where you are comfortable and uncomfortable?
- What are your strengths/weaknesses?
- How do you rate your profile?
- What assumptions are you making?
Options
- Who are you targeting in the market?
- Where else have you seen this done well?
- How similar colleagues are tackling the challenges?
- What kinds of client or business do you want to develop?
- What is the planned BD activity over the next quarter?
- Will you attend events or be more online?
- What touchpoints are available or can be created?
- What channels would you see yourself focusing on to develop profile?
Will to act
- What questions will you ask clients and referrers?
- Who inspires or motivates you?
- What are your planned next steps?
- What do you perceive as the biggest challenges?
- Who can you ask for help?
- What is manageable to tackle bearing in mind other commitments?

Key delegate takeaways on coaching and consulting skills

Suggestions for questions around setting goals, reality and options really helpful Soft skills: Introduction to coaching – Three frameworks
Emphasis on “spirit of enquiry” Consulting skills 3 – Book review: Humble Consulting by Edgar h Schein
Ideas to challenge resistance Dealing with resistance to change
Don’t automatically jump to “fixing” – make sure to question Why are questions so important? (Questioning skills)
Active listening is essential You’re not listening – What you’re missing
Ask more questions and engage active listening
Don’t make assumptions – get to the true core of the problem Don’t jump to conclusions – Coaching and Consulting skills
Face to face time 34% more likely chance of co-operation
Emphasis on asking questions and listening attentively to responses
Ask key questions to open up issues for better diagnostics
Saying ‘you’ not ‘I’
Try to get more face time
Empathy An introduction to emotional intelligence (EQ) and empathy (Video)

Delegate poll results

Selected delegate poll results

Which sector?

69% Legal
31% Accountancy

How would you rate your relationships with fee-earners?

31% Average
46% Good
8% Excellent
15% Varies

The area I most need to develop to start coaching/consulting?

14% How I am perceived
29% Relationships with fee-earners
14% Technical marketing/sales skills
7% Attributes
29% Knowledge (firm, markets, clients, services)
7% Soft skills/behaviour

At what stage in the relationship can you start to coach/consult?

7% Acceptance
50% Respect
43% Trust

What is the biggest challenge when developing relationships and helping fee-earners?

15% Arrogance Dealing with “difficult” people – Nine strategies for dealing with arrogance
23% Fixed views/closed to new ideas/alternatives fixed views and closed to new ideas (dealing with stubbornness)
54% Their lack of time
8% Something else

Which area of the coaching process presents the BIGGEST challenge for M&BD?

23% Manage expectations
23% Identify challenges, vision and goals
8% Explore the situation
8% Raise self-awareness
15% Develop and consider different strategies and options
23% Ensure that there is motivation and ability to undertake the chosen activities

Which do you think is the most important coaching skill?

0% Problem solving and idea/option generation
69% Questions and listening
8% Providing feedback
8% Guiding and teaching
15% Goal setting and motivation

How would you assess psychological safety at your firm?

7% Excellent
53% Good
27% OK
13% Poor

Which consulting skill do you most need to develop?

7% EQ/Emotional Intelligence
13% Analysis and diagnosis
7% Commerciality
7% Collaboration/teamwork
53% Communication, influence and persuasion
0% Problem solving
7% Creativity and generating solutions
7% Project planning/management

Which part of the consulting process do you think will be most challenging

8% Entry
0% Contracting
15% Diagnosis
31% Intervention
38% Implementation
8% Evaluation

When presenting ideas and solutions, which is the biggest challenge?

27% Achieving consensus/buy in
20% Managing disagreement between partners/teams
33% Dealing with fixed views fixed views and closed to new ideas (dealing with stubbornness)
7% Being confident of the outcome/results
7% Justifying the investment
7% Cultural and structural issues

Current coaching and consulting challenges in professional services marketing

The power of workshops in professional services marketing