How the ‘Big Four’ Consulting Firms are Using Collaboration

The Big Four use online collaboration tools both internally and externally to the organisation. While external usage aims to foster closer and more efficient working relationships with clients, internally the use of these tools is a way to nurture improved knowledge management practices, collaborative decision-making and employee retention.

The client-consultant relationship: what is the problem?

A typical practical challenge facing Big Four consulting teams is how to assimilate and analyse large volumes of data in a short amount of time, and from there generate the value-adding insights that the client is paying for. Even if the consultant’s initial data request is well conceived, the absence of a dedicated collaboration platform can leave both consultants and clients reliant on a host of manual formats to transfer information (i.e. memory stick, CD, or hard copy printouts). 

Similarly, despite their growing personal usage, public cloud-based document-sharing solutions such as DropBox are generally not considered appropriate for use in professional circles. Particularly during an intense engagement, the potential for data loss is high across all of these formats. In some cases, the efforts and risks involved in information sharing due to the absence of a collaboration platform can lead to a less productive client-consultant relationship, and sub-optimal project outcomes.

How collaboration helps

Problems of efficiency and security can be overcome through the use of an online collaboration platform, such as those supported by Windows and IBM. User access is controlled by a nominated project administrator, who can grant different levels of permission across engagement teams. Information siloes are overcome because both the client and consultant teams have access to the same single platform, and have complete visibility of the information that has been provided. Consultants are more able to work across multiple locations because they have real-time, secure access to the required information.

More advanced collaborative platforms in use across the Big Four move beyond a pure information management function and, through live discussion forums for example, can be used to enable real-time feedback-sharing between the consultant and client. This can be especially valuable when working in large, possibly geographically dispersed teams, where opportunities for face-to-face contact time are more limited and there is a pressing need to offset the impact that busy schedules and travel time can have on productivity. In addition, consulting firms are increasingly using collaboration as a means to support their traditional networking efforts. For example, a consulting firm might establishing an online discussion forums to stimulate interest in a recent thought leadership article published by the firm, in advance of a physical client networking event.

Additional internal value

In addition to their client-facing role, collaborative platforms are used within the Big Four consulting firms to improve knowledge management, transition to a more collaborative decision-making style and improve employee retention. On the knowledge management front, a single platform can assist with the secure and organised storage of project information, once an engagement has been concluded. Considering the traditional predominance of informal, point-to-point knowledge sharing between individual consultants, this can be important, both in term of providing continuity between projects, and transferring knowledge and sharing lessons learned between different consulting teams and divisions. This benefits the organisation by building the internal capability it needs to succeed in the market, and deliver successful consulting projects in the future.

Collaborative platforms have also impacted the way Big Four consulting firms manage themselves. Senior leadership is making increasing use of online forums within the firm’s intranet to pre-position and gain employee feedback on organisational decisions (e.g. changes to organisational structure, roles and policies). The increased transparency and involvement that collaboration is enabling may also help the Big Four consulting firms with employee retention. Considering that the ability of the Big Four to deliver value to their clients is closely linked to the quality of its people, and hence the ability to retain them, this last benefit of collaboration should not be underestimated.