In today’s dynamic professional environment, on-the-job learning with peers and leaders serves as a cornerstone, especially within management consulting where teams of consultants are staffed to work jointly with a client. With the increase of hybrid and remote work models, the traditional system of hands-on guidance and support is grappling with new challenges. Herein lies the relevance of performance support, exemplified by “Digital Coaches”: online repositories of actionable insights and step-by-step processes crucial for task execution, acting as game changers—especially for colleagues new to roles or tasks and those encountering fresh challenges in their workflow.
The Evolution of Work and Its Impacts:
Historically, management consulting thrived on the foundation of working together in person and instantaneous peer guidance from partners, team leaders, or fellow consultants. By being jointly in a team room all day, the synergistic discussions, debates, and problem-solving sessions enabled consultants to craft comprehensive solutions while upskilling each other with a simple sharing of a screen or conversation. With the transition to hybrid and virtual work, disruptions became evident. Although guidance and support from team leaders and members is and will continue to be at the core of how consultants learn, the amount of in-person time has in some cases been reduced. The inherent fabric of spontaneous mentorship and peer guidance isn’t as readily available.
Consultants are often expected to come to meetings with an initial hypothesis to inform collective problem-solving. However, this “first step” of bringing an idea to the table can be challenging and requires guidance and support, particularly for newer consultants. It was in this context that McKinsey created Digital Coaches. These online platforms, with their plethora of guides, emerged as pivotal resources for consultants to refine their consulting readiness and reduce their time to excellence. The overwhelmingly positive reception underscored the Digital Coaches’ relevance in today’s landscape.
Performance Support:
As we augment peer learning while technology continually shapes our work processes, some human interactions and on-the-ground experience remain irreplaceable. Designed with this principle in mind, Digital Coaches aim not to overshadow but to amplify peer learning. They serve as an initial touchpoint, enabling consultants to embark on tasks with increased confidence. These platforms have been instrumental in enabling consultants to independently navigate the development of their consultant toolkit, including problem-solving, data gathering and analysis, and presentation ability amongst other skills.
Additionally, consultants find their discussions with team leaders and peers are more advanced—more informed, nuanced, and solution oriented—because these Digital Coaches have helped them develop foundational skills and knowledge. Instead of using 1:1 time to learn how to use a particular tool or structure an analysis, consultants come prepared with an initial hypothesis they can iterate upon with the rest of the team and discuss insights, rather than process. Thus, Digital Coaches have subtly yet significantly reshaped peer interactions, ensuring they’re value-driven and insightful.
One of the main reasons to use a Digital Coach as a companion to on-the-ground peer and leader support is that an individual can immediately see the impact of its guidance in their results. Feedback from consultants and their team leaders has been clear: they are more confident and capable of effectively navigating tasks and challenges as a result of using Digital Coaches.
A Seamless Experience: A Key Ingredient for Effective Digital Coaches
In the fast-paced world of management consulting, ensuring the highest caliber of work that has a direct impact on clients, while meeting pressing deadlines, is paramount. Recognizing this need for immediate information, we encountered some challenges when initially introducing Digital Coaches. If consultants couldn’t access the necessary insights swiftly and effortlessly, the risk of them migrating to other available and less efficient resources was real. Our pilot programs yielded two pivotal lessons that form the cornerstone of an effective Digital Coach:
- Clarity and Precision: Information must reside at the pinnacle of the performance support pyramid. This ensures that users, whether they are coming in for a quick insight or a detailed walkthrough, promptly find what they need. It’s about furnishing them with straightforward steps leading to tangible outcomes.
- Language Accessibility: While the tool aims to cater to both novice and veteran consultants, it’s essential to be mindful of language. Overly technical terms or industry jargon can overwhelm newcomers. Simplicity in language, much like the direct instructions one would receive in person from a team leader, is vital.
Keeping a seamless experience in mind, Digital Coaches need to be woven into the overall workflow. The goal is for users to leverage the Digital Coach to complete their current task and get the support they need. If a user feels like they need to stop doing their work to step out and learn how to do something, we are mirroring the classroom environment rather than peer support. In the case of management consulting, where consultants use multiple tools, we need to make sure they have the right “handshakes” between work tools and Digital Coaches to create a seamless experience. A Digital Coach as a standalone tool will be perceived as “something else” to do rather than part of how work is done.
Take Away and Call to Action:
By bridging potential knowledge gaps, Digital Coaches enhance consultants’ interactions with their mentors and coaches, ensuring they are more value-driven and strategically focused. As we forge ahead, learning and development practitioners must consider such innovative solutions, acknowledging that the future of learning and skill development hinges on a balance between technological aid and human mentorship simultaneously occurring at the moment of need.