New to the game of consultancy? How we prepare our newcomers

The project

The presales project started with a general kick-off meeting, presenting the customer and his requirements. In specific, the customer expected evidence that their most important end-to-end flows, being forecast-to-stock and order-to-cash, would work in SAP.

 

DAY 1: Business blueprint

To achieve this goal, all starters were divided into 2 project teams containing all functional expertise required to build these scenarios in SAP. Understanding the business flows was achieved during an entire day of intensive blueprint sessions with the key users. The challenge of understanding the customers’ jargon and translating this into a fit-gap document containing the system design and visualized process flows was not only stressful, it was also the proof of understanding both business and IT flows.

DAY 2: System set-up

After validating these blueprints, it was time to roll up the sleeves and dig into the system. During the setup process, which lasted one and a half day, the starters were coached by not only 2 senior colleagues, they also made use of our extensive knowledge libraries. However, the main thing they learned was that how difficult the issue seemed, they could always fall back on the aid of all their colleagues.

DAY 3: Integration testing

A high stress level was reached when the 2 key users entered the room to test the 2 flows. In this phase, not only the system set-up was tested. The key users seemed to have more worries than memorizing all transaction codes. Misunderstandings, frustrations, lack of knowledge and lack of time were simulated, which obligated the teams to balance between empathy vs. focus on testing the system, hearing the frustration vs. coaching the user in the change and blueprint vs. concessions. The afternoon turned out to be the most challenging in the project. We noticed that setting up a system is one thing, letting a key user understand the change caused by it and guiding him through that change is another. During this afternoon, both teams were coached by our experts, introducing some concepts of change management and sensitive consulting.

DAY 4: The demo

On the final day, the presentations and demos were prepared under the supervision of a specialist in presentations and change management. After a refreshing lunch, it was time to eat the pudding. The 2 teams did not only prove their acquired technical knowledge, they also explained how they managed the project and how they coped with all the challenges.