As I shut the door on almost three years in Management Consulting, I figured it was only right to reflect on everything I’ve learned along the way. I joined the consulting world as an Analyst straight out of university (with a short detour for travel). While I had a solid amount of professional experience prior to starting, it was with smaller organisations. So stepping into the fast-paced, large-scale world of Accenture (for context, the firm has over 700,000 people worldwide!) was a shock to the system in the best way.
I’m incredibly grateful for my time at the firm for so many reasons, but the learning and growth opportunities were easily one of the biggest highlights. It’s hard to boil it all down to just three lessons, but hey, consultants love to prioritise, so here goes.
Lesson 1: Communication is Everything
There’s no escaping this one. Whether it was from my own project experience or watching other colleagues navigate theirs, I was constantly reminded just how critical communication is. I’m convinced at least half of all project issues could be solved – or avoided altogether – with better or more frequent communication. That includes communication within your team, with stakeholders and with clients.
With tight deadlines and big teams, it’s easy to focus just on your own deliverables. As a type A person who loves getting things done, I totally get the temptation to keep your head down and power through your endless task list. But here’s the catch: that solo tunnel vision often leads to siloed work, misalignment and rework. I’ve learned (the hard way) that it’s always better to stay connected with what other teams are doing, even if it slows down your own work a little. And sometimes waiting until scheduled weekly meetings isn’t enough. Because nothing slows down a project more than a late-stage “Wait, what are they doing?”.
Lesson 2: Agility Beats Rigidity
Accenture’s slogan is “Let there be change”, and wow, do they mean it.
Requirements change. Scope changes. Tech changes. Clients change their minds… daily, if you’re lucky. If I had a dollar for every time I worked on something that was later reworked, scrapped or made irrelevant due to a pivot, I’d have a very healthy bonus by now.
Yes, it’s frustrating. But learning to not only accept change, but embrace it, has been a huge mindset shift for me. I’ve found that the best outputs come from leaning into change early, not resisting it. This is why Accenture is such an advocate for agile methodologies. Being adaptable is one of the most valuable skills you can bring to the table not just in consulting, but in any role today and even in a personal context.
(And if you’re worried about scope creep, don’t worry there should always be a change request for that.)
Lesson 3: Your Network Is Your Net Worth
This one is huge. In consulting, where pretty much everything is project-based, your next opportunity often depends on who knows you and what they know about you. When you’re new to the firm, trying to pivot into a different type of work or seeking career progression, you quickly realise how much your experience is shaped by your relationships.
It goes beyond just finding your next project and wanting a promotion. Building strong relationships on your projects and within your division or practice is essential. It comes from being reliable, doing good work and being a team player. If people trust you and enjoy working with you, they’ll want to bring you along for the ride and want to make sure you’re rewarded. In my experience, all the best consultants not only did outstanding work, but they’d invested a great deal of time into creating and maintaining professional relationships too. Like it or not, being likeable matters more than people admit.
And let’s be honest, having good relationships makes the tough days (and the long ones) way more bearable. I’m incredibly grateful to have built some amazing connections (some of whom will be lifelong friends and mentors) which made my experience really positive. On reflection however, I found myself sometimes getting too focused on delivery and not spending enough building/maintaining relationships. Whilst consulting is particularly dependant on your network, I’d expect this to hold true to pretty much all professions. So this is something I’ll certainly be mindful of in my future roles.
In Summary…
My time in consulting has taught me a lot, but if I had to sum it up: over-communicate, stay flexible and never underestimate the power of your network. Consulting isn’t for the faint of heart, but if you lean into the chaos and surround yourself with good people, it can be one of the most rewarding learning grounds you’ll ever find.
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