#1
Value-add
Quite simply, that value is added.
Take the lead on
A clever phrase often used by more experienced consultants when they wish to delegate a menial task, as in: “Why don’t you take the lead on putting together this document,” which may translate to, “I’m lazy and probably not smart or energetic enough to work on this, so go do it”; often appears in utterly irrelevant settings, as in, “Why don’t you take the lead on making dinner reservations for the team,” a manifestly silly request, since one is asked to “take the lead on” something which doesn’t require leadership of anyone and on which they will certainly be working solo
Benchmarks
Metrics or standards competitors in the client market attain. Usually for operational efficiency
Best Practices
Actions similar companies take to best reach benchmarks
Deck
Your Powerpoint slides, sometimes referring to the master “deck” for the team
Buy-in
Agreement, support; it is unclear why ‘buy-in’ has come to supplant these terms, as no actual purchasing occurs
Bandwidth
Capacity, free time, ability to do (additional) work; generally used to indicate that speaker cannot or would not prefer to do additional work, as in: “I don’t think I’ll have any bandwidth this Friday”
Buckets
Categories; this is the extent of this word’s definition, so it remains a mystery why people choose to employ the former term; also used as a transitive verb to mean ‘categorize’
Circle back
To follow up with indicated individuals at a later point in time, usually to review progress on the current topic of discussion; this phrase is somewhat redundant, as it is impossible to trace a circle that does not connect back with itself
Deliverable
Anything that is owed by you to your manager/team, or owed by team to client
Push back
Used to indicate resistance and/or disagreement, without actually using those terms; this phrase attempts to avoid any negative connotations of controversy
Workstream
A group of tasks that make up a project. Usage – “The team was developing various workstreams to complete the client deliverables”
Drill down
Examine or analyze something in further depth/
Drill down analysis basically means moving from summary/aggregate information to detailed data via a particular focus
MECE
Mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive. A term originating at McKinsey and common across management consulting firms, it’s a grouping principle that in the words of Wikipedia, “data in a group should be divided into subgroups that comprehensively represent that group (no gaps) without overlapping”
Opportunity cost
Basic economic principle that describes the “cost” of the next best alternative foregone when making a decision.
QC
Quality control, typically referring to need to check for typos, grammar mistakes, calculation errors, etc
Low-hanging fruit
The initial opportunities, areas of exploration, etc. that are easiest to cover; intended to evoke visual imagery of fruit-laden trees, suggesting that much remains beyond the lowest boughs; syn. quick win
Scope
The agreed-upon list of deliverables and boundaries that underpin any client engagement
KPI
Key Performance Indicator (KPI) - a measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives.
Core competencies
The notion that companies have a limited number of things they are innately good at. Identify and retain core competencies during restructuring. Spin-off or sell non-core competencies
20,000 foot view
No, this isn’t what consultants see out of airplane window after airplane window: It’s a summary of a situation in which most details are omitted and only key points are discussed. But don’t be confused if someone throws out another number (i.e., 5,000- or 10,000-foot view)—it means exactly the same thing.
Engagement
Also known as a project or a case
Boil the ocean
As the name states, clearly an impossible task. Generally, a project manager or partner will say “Let’s not boil the ocean” as a pretext for suggesting a ton of analyses that in effect, often ends up boiling a very large lake, if not exactly the ocean
SME
“subject matter expert” - refers to the person you call first when you don't know much about a specific topic and want to save countless hours on Google. (i.e., Your client asks you to analyze the migratory patterns of birds in the Arctic as it affects their operations. There is likely a SME for that!)
On the beach
While it would be great to spend time working on the beach, this actually refers to a consultant who’s not currently staffed on an engagement. Unfortunately, this time is rarely spent sipping margaritas poolside—you’ll likely be helping with other work around the office or trying to find a project.