Laura Wanerka
Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group
February 10 th , 2016
1.
What is your assessment of Maria Chen’s performance? Please explain your reasoning.
Initially, it seemed as though Maria Chen’s performance was going to be very organized and efficient. Immediately following her initial meeting with the Consulting Group, she laid out her
3 main goals of the project. After establishing her 3 main goals, she then made calls to other
Consulting Group colleagues who had worked on similar projects in the past, displaying her eagerness to learn and absorb as much knowledge as possible before the project began. Her preparation, setting goals and seeking out additional resources displayed a strong start.
However, Maria’s performance began to suffer during her initial meeting with the client. Before the first meeting with the client, Maria should have clearly communicated and confirmed the start-date and project information with all 3 key client personnel. Fletcher, the plant manager, was unaware of her arrival and was not prepared for the team to visit the facility. Prior to flying in to visit the client, Maria should have ensured that communication between all client personnel and the Consulting group was clearly understood by all parties.
The next performance misstep by Maria was regarding the spreadsheet model she began building independently. It was unprofessional of Maria to begin building a time consuming model for SKS without first receiving buy-in from the client and the rest of the Consulting
Group. She began tackling the problem from her own perspective without first fully understanding the processes and hence what truly needed change. This was very unproductive of Maria because she first needed to fully understand how the client operates before she sacrifices significant time on a project that she has not told the client and Consulting Group that she has been working on. It is important for Maria to fully explain what she is working on to her teammates and client so they are not surprised with her work when she presents it to them. It’s not fair to the Consulting Group or client to spend significant time on a project, sacrificing other

items on the to-do list, when others are unaware and have not had the chance to review it.
Although she spent several weeks being engrossed in her own project without the input of others and neglecting other priorities, once she was instructed to move to the shop floor, her performance began to improve as she was able to better understand where the underlying issues lie.
2.
What should Maria and the consulting team do (and why) at the upcoming Steering
Committee?
At the Steering Committee meeting, it’s important that Maria and the Consulting Group accept responsibility for their qualitative and quantitative shortcomings. First, Maria and the
Consulting Group must accept responsibility for the slow progress of the project thus far. In the eyes of the client, they have underperformed regarding the relationship with the client as well as performance metrics such as reducing work-in-process inventory. They should make sure to explain to the client that after spending time on the shop floor and uncovering the underlying issues, they have been able to create an action plan for moving forward. It’s best to approach this meeting in an honest, authentic manner. It’s proven effective for Maria to communicate with the client in a conversational manner, showing empathy, understanding and positivity. It’s important that the client knows they the Consulting Group is working with them, not for them.
Next, Maria should demonstrate the several successes that the Consulting Group has had so far.
Although the numbers haven’t changed significantly in the few weeks working on the project, it’s important to explain to the client the progress that they have made thus far, celebrate the small successes and demonstrate their plan for continued improvement and success for the future. This will help the client recognize the importance of what’s been done thus far and display the importance of what will be done in the upcoming weeks.
In terms of successes and what will be completed in the upcoming weeks, Maria and the
Consulting Group should demonstrate all they have learned from immersing themselves in the client processes. After immersing themselves, they’ve been able to better understand the

production system, thus providing them with much more useful and important information than they had originally been working from. They’ve been able to uncover the inefficiencies in the documented formal process, the ineffective computerized system, inventory accuracy, rekeying orders, change the floor layout, find the bottlenecks and speed up job processes. Going forward, this information will drive the quantitative portion that the client is seeking.
3. What are the lessons about consulting that can be drawn from the case?
There are many lessons about consulting that can be drawn from the case. First, I’ve learned the importance of clear communication with the client. It’s important from the beginning to ensure that the client clearly understands what the project entails. This means that all members of the client team should be fully aware of the consulting team roles and responsibility, the scope of the project and important dates and deadlines. It’s important not to assume that every part of the project is going to go perfect and smoothly. Therefore, additional time should be built into the timeline in case of any issues that may be encountered.
Another important lesson from the case is the importance of gaining consensus from the company. Company’s are often resistant to significant change and want to feel as though they are included on big decisions and changes within the company. Therefore, it’s important as a consultant to make sure you are receiving buy-in from company employees and including them in all steps of the decision making process.
Another lesson I learned was the importance of keeping both the client and other teammates filled in on what you are working on. It’s very unfair to others if you do not inform them of what you are working on because if significant time passes, you have not told others what you have been working on, and it turns out to be something your teammates and client do not agree is necessary, it will put the project behind.

I also learned the importance of truly immersing yourself in the company you are doing consulting work for. You can learn a significant amount of information about the client if you are willing to get in the trenches with employees and learn how their true processes work.