A Day in the Life of a Management Consultant

One of the reasons I love being a Management Consultant is that no two days are exactly the same. Some days I may be traveling, others are jammed with meetings, while others I may be in the Toronto office participating in training events. Follow along to learn about what a typical day on the road may include.

4:30 am: Alarm goes off early on a Monday morning. Realize it’s still dark outside and hit snooze for 10 minutes.

4:40 am: Alarm goes off again. Time to prepare for my flight.

5:00 am: My taxi has arrived. I grab my suitcase that was packed frantically the night before and head out the door.

5:40 am: I am stopped at security for any one of the rotating reasons: forgotten water bottle in my carry-on, “mysterious” skipping rope in my bag, or metal detailing on my shoes. I realize these are all delays I am able to control, but somehow flying twice a week has not engrained this in my mind.

5:55 am: Time to board. Fingers are crossed for a weight imbalance that moves me to the front of the plane.

6:05 am: Get settled into my seat and select the movie or documentary that will provide my entertainment for the next hour.

6:20 am: Eyes are starting to shut while the plane is taxiing, but now I’m too invested in the TV screen ahead of me to let fatigue win.

6:40 am: The short-lived battle with fatigue is lost, and I’ve now bobbed myself to sleep.

7:30 am: Touchdown at my destination. Next up is the rental car station and drive to the client site.

9:00 am: Arrive at the client site, and begin making my to-do list for the week.

9:20 am: First meeting of the day – my daily update with the Department Leader. We’ll discuss the progress of KPI’s, action items for the week, and catch up from the weekend.

10:00 am: Back at my computer to schedule any meetings and calls for the week. Begin working on tool development in Excel.

11:00 am: Follow up with individual team members to ensure they are using the latest tool that was implemented. I use this time to gauge team members’ level of engagement to help determine my next steps, as well as resolve any issues and concerns with the latest installation.

12:00 pm: Gearing up in my safety wear to walk across site and participate in a lunch and learn hosted by our client department.

1:30 pm: Continue working on tool development and process change proposals. Contact the client’s IT department to follow-up on our latest data request.

2:30 pm: Data is received and work can continue on tool development.

3:00 pm: Prepare meeting materials for afternoon launch presentation to company department leaders. Double check that the correct room and time are booked, and then remember to mentally prepare for what is sure to be a tough meeting.

4:30 pm: The meeting was a success! Gathering large groups of people from different departments is always difficult since priorities, opinions, and concerns are all so different. Staying on task is so important, otherwise these meetings could last all night.

5:00 pm: The majority of the office has gone home – time to begin follow-up work from today’s meeting.

7:00 pm: Call into the nightly update call with my Engagement Manager. We’ll discuss any scheduling variances for the day, how they may affect the rest of the week, and make an action plan to make sure any issues are resolved.

7:15 pm: Hunger starts to set in, so I start the drive back to the hotel. On my way home, I’ll usually call family members to catch up with their days (or sing along to my favorite Thomas Rhett song on the radio).

8:00 pm: Hit the gym – this is a great place to get my mind settled from the day and let my thoughts wander. This may be a quick visit to the hotel gym or pool, or a yoga class in the neighborhood.

9:00 pm: Dinner reservations at the local hot spot. The best and worst part about travel – all the restaurants! I love trying everything from the underrated hole in the wall to the rooftop restaurant with sweeping city views. It’s all about balance.

11:00 pm: It’s been a long day. Time to head back to my room to get some rest until I do it all over again tomorrow.