Three Key Skills Consultants Need In 2021

Videoconferencing is now and will continue to be the new norm

Successful consultants bring strong academics, technical expertise, and business savvy to their roles. And, generally speaking, experienced consultants have the personality, energy, and natural communication skills that the industry and clients require. But in 2021, with consultants and their clients continuing to work from home, these traditional capabilities may not be sufficient. Videoconferencing is now and will continue to be the new norm.  

As a result, even tenured consultants and partners are discovering that connecting with clients virtually requires a new set of soft skills. To add to this, in times of instability and volatility, it is especially important that consultants make strong connections with clients to retain business, create new opportunities and provide the best possible advice.  The trouble is that time for learning and development is at more of a premium than before and budgets are tighter than ever. 

Is there a learning and development solution that can address this gap in a time-efficient, cost-effective way? Let’s start by looking at the three skills that are critical:
 

That brings us to an important consideration. If consultants haven’t previously mastered these crucial skills, the truth is they are probably building them the hard way: through trial and error with clients. Fortunately, there is a simple way for consultants to learn and practice these skills before they meet with clients: Deliberate Practice. 

The theory of deliberate practice says that building skill requires adding a self-reflective feedback loop into the learning and development process (i.e. practice), rather than simply repeating the task until mastery. Time for self-reflection, immediate feedback, coaching and trying again are vital to accelerating the learning process. Mastery is thus achieved through repeated cycles of practice and professional, in-the-moment feedback, with each cycle emphasizing multiple aspects of the skill. See the pioneering research of psychologist K. Anders Ericsson for more information.

In actual application, though, it is a part simulation, part roleplay, part practice and part coaching. It is delivered virtually, 1-to-1, in a safe environment by actors who are accredited, professional coaches. In deliberate practice for consultants, the actor plays the client and roleplays a challenging conversation with the consultant, who simply plays themself. There is no complex script to learn and no need for the learner to act. At the conclusion of the roleplay, the actor provides feedback and coaching: not only on what the consultant said but also on how it made them feel as the client. 

After three to four, increasingly difficult, 30-minute roleplay scenarios, most consultants find that they have significantly improved their level of skill and comfort with these new skills. And, because the scenarios are realistic and challenging, at three, six and nine-month check-ins, they also report retaining the new skills at a deep level and using them regularly. 

For time-pressed consultants, whose business has already been squeezed by the challenges of 2020, virtual consulting skills will continue to be critical for success in 2021. Deliberate practice is a learning and development technique that can help them respond to new skill gaps and quickly, effectively close them before they impact their client relationships.