Despite the pandemic, the management consultancy industry grew by 2.5% in 2020, and demand for these services is set to continue with a forecasted growth of 9% through 2022. Such expansion can partly be attributed to the trendy rise of collaboration tools caused by the shift to hybrid work.
But even with stable growth, consultancy firms still face challenges. Among the pain points is the lack of integration with big data and slow automation of processes. Consultancy firms still need to enhance digitization this year, as digital strategy, process automation, and software as a service (SaaS) – such as VoIP internet phone service – tools are in high demand.
If firms want to rise on the tide of this fast-growing industry, it’s vital they increase tech expertise this year. High tech automation is the key to this future success but what does this mean for consultants?
We’ve outlined below seven trends that consulting firms should follow this year.
1. Hybrid Office
Managing a business in a post-pandemic world brings with it a host of high tech challenges. COVID-19 has changed the landscape of the work environment. Offices of the future are adapting to keep up.
New technologies are helping employees collaborate through an array of new communication methods. A hybrid office environment started to gain popularity in 2021, and this will continue for 2022 onwards.
Companies will no longer cram as many people into an office environment as possible. One-way corridors, air filtration systems, and little-to-no contact will become standard. Employees will divide their time between the office and home.
Cloud technologies and SaaS are more in demand than ever before. These services are the linchpin of hybrid office environments. Tech is adapting to meet the needs of this new hybrid model. Solutions such as Daylite CRM are a prime example. Daylite helps small businesses improve team efficiency and makes collaboration easy by keeping everything organized, searchable, and accessible – even offline – in one place. The definition of the workplace will no longer be the traditional physical environment.
Relationship building is at the heart of consulting business, and the value of CRM, video conferencing, and similar solutions will only grow. Consultants will have to be up to date with the latest technologies.
2. 5G Technology
In 2022, we will continue to see the rollout of 5G. Its power will impact areas where time lag has been an issue. It will change point-to-point contact and connections. Video conferencing will be able to take place without delays and without servers. Interactive voice response services will become more popular.
This isn’t the only change 5G will bring this year. The increase in superfast broadband and internet connections will propel offices further into the future.
Employees will be able to transfer hundreds of megabytes of data. Person-to-person data transfer will be instant—no more waiting for slow download speeds. Futuristic applications are now a reality, with 3D hologram calls being developed by the likes of Google.
3. Employee Morale
The global pandemic has had a profound effect on employee wellbeing, and it’s not over yet. Employers still need to rank staff wellbeing as among their top priorities this year.
Office design is changing direction. Companies are pushing towards ergonomic workspaces that support staff needs—comfortable workspaces designed with health and wellbeing in mind.
Some workspaces today already have cafes, comfortable furniture, and recreation zones. Employers want to harvest employee morale for the benefit of the company.
The link between moral and performance management is a concern for most companies, yet a surprising number of teams aren’t doing it well.
This has started to change, employers are moving away from the annual review approach and towards a more collaborative approach.
Effective performance management tools take into account:
- An employee’s personal goals
- The company’s business goals
- Assignments that engage the employee
- Two-way feedback between managers and employees
This aids in employee retention, talent acquisition, morale, and productivity. All of this leads to higher revenues for the company.
4. Cloud Services
Some of the biggest spenders in business consultancy are tech companies determined to take advantage of opportunities that have arisen in the current climate. Clients across all industries want to increase automation by digitizing their business.
In the not too distant past, companies viewed cloud services as optional. This has changed in recent years and moved from an option to upgrade to necessity. There is still some confusion around cloud costs and cloud security, but cloud computing in general is seeing huge growth. Worldwide spending on cloud services is set to reach $482 billion this year.
One practical example of a cloud-based solution that consultants could benefit from is Daylite by Marketcircle. It’s a cloud-based Apple CRM that delivers all the many advantages of good relationship management for Apple users.
5. Long Term Project Management
As industries grow in complexity, so do their consultancy needs. Consultants can’t take a generalized approach to advice anymore; they must be industry-specific.
Consulting firms must move away from short-term quick-win projects, and move towards long term strategy development. Project management tools are essential to long-term planning and there are some great
Partnering with businesses on long term projects is the direction consultancy will take this year. Long term projects need long term planning, tools need to be collaborative, dynamic, and fluid to meet the needs of the business as they change.
Collaborative workspaces and apps that are cloud-based allow for real-time changes and updates. This aids with people management and time tracking.
6. Data
Consultants must offer supplemental skills and services this year. It is no longer enough for them to have good strategies on business models in general. Being able to offer AI services and the skills to interpret the data is vital.
Real automated decision making can only happen when information is aligned. Mining data is a crucial growth factor and data itself is fast becoming a valued commodity. It improves client experience and helps streamline processes by enhancing internal operations.
A robust CRM system like Daylite is a great way to ensure easy access to all that vital data. It puts customer and company data at your fingertips and helps build relationships, execute projects, and scale your business.
Companies can use data to drive real innovation with fact-based strategies. Mining data enables management firms to provide clients with tangible proof that these strategies are yielding returns.
7. Long Term Partnerships
Now more than ever long-term partnerships are essential. Companies are looking for more than a quick fix consultant, preferring to partner up on joint ventures. This is especially true for the AI and SaaS sectors—they now prefer consultants to remain on board.
This is one of the many reasons they need to keep up to date with the latest tech industry shifts. Long term partnerships make it easy for consultants to step back in and help redesign strategies that may have become redundant due to the ever-increasing changes in the global economy.
Consultants must be less concerned with short term wins and new opportunities and more willing to focus on long term relationships that put their client at the heart of everything they do.
2022 is The Year of Automation
2022 is proving to be another year of streamlining services and automating operations. Consultants will have more tools to help them work virtually from anywhere in the world. Cloud-based services and software applications are already solving the logistical problems associated with remote working.
Next year brings with it opportunities for management consultants to take on more long-term projects. Collaborative software and 5G video calling apps will keep things running smoothly, and this, combined with instant download times, means that you’ll be in the office even when you’re out.
There has never been a better time to renew, refresh, and revitalize your consultancy business. It’s the time for technology, time management in terms of remote working, and taking advantage of the tools you already have available to you. So, there’s nothing standing in your way!
About the author: Patty Yan is the EMEA Product Marketing Manager for RingCentral Office, the leader in cloud communications and call tracking solutions. Patty is passionate about creating value and differentiation, ensuring a better experience for customers and partners. She gained a wealth of international product marketing, product management, GTM and market development experience, across a range of high-tech SaaS in a fast-paced, hyper-growth environment that assumes both strategic and tactical execution. She is not new to UC, starting in Tandberg, then Cisco, driving the launch of video collaboration and services, and Enghouse with global responsibilities for hosted CCaaS.
