IBC Consultant Resources

This page contains a wealth of knowledge exclusive to IBC — take advantage of it! We continually improve these resources, so please email us with suggestions and add questions/advice as comments directly on the docs.

Trainings

  • New Consultant Onboarding introduces how IBC will develop you, how you can develop yourself, promotions, your team structure, and the tools we use.
  • New Consultant Training 1 covers what we learned about scoping and how to think about your project. If you missed it, the video is above. The deck by itself can be found here.
  • New Consultant Training 2 covers how to conduct primary and secondary research, as well as how to synthesize that information once you have retrieved it.

Templates

  • IBC document template should be used for all client-facing documents and white papers. Export to PDF before sending if possible. See the "sample deliverables" section for more information.
  • IBC slide template should be used for all client-facing slide decks. The client logo can be added to the top right corner through the Master View setting. It is updated for fall 2018.
  • FACKTO is a guide for making slides professionally and according to the IBC template.

Issue Trees

  • Issue Trees (example 1, 2) help teams break down the overarching client problem into different questions and sub-questions. Typically each question in an issue tree is answered at some point throughout the project. Issue trees should be MECE: mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive.

Primary Research

  • This primary research training includes all the methods of primary research available to consultants, etiquette standards, and sample template communications for reaching out to contacts.
  • Qualtrics is incredibly helpful for consultants conducting primary research. Click here for details on how to obtain a license. You can also use a small tutorial deck on how to use it. This is an in-depth manual of how to use Qualtrics. These are best practices for capturing customer data. Handbook of marketing surveys. Official Qualtrics training site
  • Surveys are a good way to collect a large number of resources. The Survey Research Lab on campus employs University's best survey makers, and they will review your survey for free.
  • Focus Groups are a type of primary research. They are guided discussions used to brainstorm, explore, or test ideas and feelings.
  • Interviews with experts are a great way to ask topic-related questions or seek recommendations related to a specific portion of your project. Maven and DeepBench are tools that IBC uses to connect with subject-matter experts. Talk to your SM or COM about using these. (Intro guide to Maven)

Secondary Research

  • IBC's favorite resources mainly come from the University Library. (Hint: check this for your new consultant training 2 assignment!)

Presentations

Design

  • IBC's Slide Pack shows examples of innovative slides from past IBC projects to give you inspiration for your slide design!

Tech Resources

  • Tableau is a great resource to use for data visualization purposes. All University of Illinois students get free access. It is free for students here.
  • Excel can be used to gather, sort, and manipulate data.
  • Zoom is used to hold online meetings. The university has purchased professional licenses for all U of I Gies students. This allows you to hold meetings with unlimited length!

Evaluations

  • 360 Evaluations are used to help consultants and managers understand the specific strengths and areas of improvement for each consultant over time. They are offered twice per semester.

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