It’s a common perception of management consultants. From “bucket” to “scope”, from “sniff test” to “bandwidth,” to excel in the industry is to master a new and often entirely consulting-specific vocabulary and set of consulting terms.
We received a lot of feedback when we published our first post on consulting lingo.
Now we’re happy to announce the most comprehensive dictionary of consultant terms on the web. We want to give a quick shout to bnjammin’s Blog, which covered many of these consulting terms in previous posts.
We’re hoping this database of consulting terms will grow with time. If you have additional terms to include, email us with the consulting term + definition and we’ll add it. Thanks!
So here it is!
Consulting Terms Glossary:
Jump Menu:
Consulting Terms A-H:
5,000 mile view:
A phrase used to describe a high-level, summary view of the situation. 5,000 can be replaced by any large number to indicate the same thing
80/20 rule:
Belief that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes; in consulting, this term is used to imply that 80% of an assignment can be finished in 20% of the time
Action Plan:
A plan specifying how certain actions should occur, by what date, and by whom
Adding Value:
Quite simply, that value is being added. See also “value-add”
Answer-First
To state a hypothesis and/or take a stab at an answer without having all the supporting facts first; based on the Pyramid Principle
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AOB:
Any other business – Term generally used in developing a meeting agenda. Denotes time scheduled to discuss miscellaneous topics in a meeting.
At-Cause
Managing the lows that come with any consulting role and many (most) careers; about purposefully choosing how to respond and where to focus when the going gets tough
At the end of the day:
A phrase used to attempt summarization, introduce an air of finality and perhaps close off certain avenues of discussion; since most consultants’ days do not end with the setting of the sun, at the end of the day most of them are still working
B2B:
Business to business, referring to a company’s primary audience for sales and marketing
B2C:
Business to consumer, referring to a company’s primary audience for sales and marketing
Bandwidth:
Capacity, free time, ability to do (additional) work; generally used to indicate that speaker cannot or would not prefer to do additional work, as in: “I don’t think I’ll have any bandwidth this Friday”
Beach:
The consulting equivalent of sports’ being on the bench, it is viewed with worrisome anxiety by junior consultants and relieved gratitude by senior consultants
Benchmarks:
Metrics or standards competitors in the client market attain. Usually for operational efficiency
Best Practices:
Actions similar companies take to best reach benchmarks.
Big 3:
McKinsey, Bain, BCG aka “MBB”
Big 4:
Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Bird’s Eye View:
High level view
Bird-Dog:
To chase down something, like a dog would chase a bird.
Boil the Ocean:
As the name states, clearly an impossible task. Generally, a project manager or partner will say “Let’s not boil the ocean” as a pretext for suggesting a ton of analyses that in effect, often ends up boiling a very large lake, if not exactly the ocean
Bottoms-Up:
Expression meaning to look at the smallest units possible to initiate analysis (eg, bottoms-up analysis of a company would start with its lowest-level employees and then work its way to upper management)
Buckets:
Categories; this is the extent of this word’s definition, so it remains a mystery why people choose to employ the former term; also used as a transitive verb to mean ‘categorize’
Buttoned-Down:
See buttoned-up
Buttoned-Up:
To indicate that a particular piece of work or analysis is comprehensive, accurate and capable of withstanding close scrutiny; this is an example of opposite terms with identical meanings
Buy-In:
Agreement, support; it is unclear why ‘buy-in’ has come to supplant these terms, as no actual purchasing occurs
CAGR:
Compound annual growth rate. If you don’t know it, you won’t get very far
Campus Hire:
A consultant hired directly from undergraduate or business schools, as opposed to “experienced hire”
Capacity:
Your available time and energy for additional tasks
Charge Code:
A unique code provided with each project/assignment to which you can charge work-related expenses
Circle Back:
To follow up with indicated individuals at a later point in time, usually to review progress on the current topic of discussion; this phrase is somewhat redundant, as it is impossible to trace a circle that does not connect back with itself
Consultancy:
The British English term for a consulting firm.
Core Client:
A client with a long-standing firm relationship, and one in which there is continual dialogue between senior executives even if there are no ongoing projects
Core Competencies:
The notion that companies have a limited number of things they are innately good at. Identify and retain core competencies during restructuring. Spin-off or sell non-core competencies
Crisp:
An adjective indicating that the referenced work or analysis is thorough and complete, perhaps by gastronomical allusion to food that is fully prepared; it is duly noted that crisp objects, while ostensibly finished, are also far more brittle and prone to shattering
C-Suite:
Refers to any executive that has a title starting with a capitol “C”, like “CEO”, “COO”, “CFO”, etc.
Deck:
Your Powerpoint slides, sometimes referring to the master “deck” for the team
Deep Dive:
Similar to “double click”, this means a thorough in-depth exploration of a particular topic
Deliverable:
Anything that is owed by you to your manager/team, or owed by team to client
Double Click:
Similar to “deep dive”, this means a thorough in-depth exploration of a particular topic
Due Diligence:
Comprehensive study/survey of a business model with an aim to set clear expectations, risks, dependencies, etc as part of a business proposal
EBITDA:
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization
Elevator Test:
A test of one’s ability to explain concepts in a short-period of time (typically 60 seconds or less). The elevator test represents a hypothetical situation where you are sharing the elevator with a VIP and need to give them a quick summary/presentation during the ride
EOD:
“End of Day”. Typically referring to the current time zone. “Please get that report to me by EOD.”
Engagement:
Also known as a project or a case
Experienced Hire:
A consultant hired from another company, typically with a higher starting position and salary than 1st year consultants. See also “parallel hire”
Fact Pack:
Typically a “pack” of information that provides the essential “facts” on a project/industry/company
Gantt Chart:
Type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule with start and finish dates, deliverables, etc
GMC:
Global Management Consultancy, sometimes referring to just the Big 3, sometimes referring to the Big 3 plus the Big 4 accounting firms
Granular:
A detailed level of abstraction; often used in the context of increasing the fineness of the analysis, as in: “We need to get more granular here”.
Greenfield:
A new opportunity for a company.
Hands:
Often prefaced with ‘client,’ indicates the interpersonal skills of an individual in relation to a particular group of people, as in, “That manager sure has great client hands”
Hard Stop:
Used to indicate that after the time indicated, the listeners are on their own, because the person stating that they have a hard stop sure isn’t going to be around to help after then
High-Level:
Similar to 5,000 mile view, but high-level can also mean a very rudimentary analysis (often lacking in detail)
Hope you’re doing well:
A generally well-intended but insincere interpolation used at the beginning of most voicemails to replace the standard pleasantries that would be present in verbal communications; use of this phrase does not indicate actual interest in the well-being of the recipient; also found with alarming frequency in electronic mail
Consulting Terms I-O:
I need someone who can hit the ground running:
Really means, “I am screwed.” Because no one can hit the ground running. You need to at least assess what race you’re in and who else is running.
I’m calling to touch base:
“I want something from you but I can’t say it up front.” Or “I am worried that you are lost and I’m sniffing around for signs to confirm my hunch.” Or “I’m calling because you micromanage me.”
Keep this on your radar:
“This will come back to bite you. or me.”
Key:
Critical, essential, required, important, central; the key analysis is generally the linchpin; often used as a noun, and with such frequency that its significance has been diluted, since everything is now ‘key’
KPI:
Key Performance Indicator
Let me play this back:
Said when the listener wants to refract and color the conversation through his or her own perspective, under the pretense of reviewing the transcript of what’s been said; in this manner the listener can pretend he or she is a tape recorder
Let’s close the loop:
“Let me make sure I’m not going to get into trouble for this one.”
Let’s hit a home run:
“I’m desperate to look good. Even though the odds of a home run are slim, I’m banking on one because it’s the only thing that’ll save me.” Something for all your sports fans to remember: If you have a bunch of solid hitters you don’t need a bunch of home runs.
Let’s run the numbers and see how they look:
“I know they look bad on first blush. But the true use of Excel is to keep changing the formulas until you find a format that makes the numbers look good.”
Let’s think out of the box:
Really means, “Can you creatively anemic people please come up with something?” The person who says, “Let’s think out of the box” is usually desperate for a new idea and surrounded by people who are not known for generating ideas. So the phrase is actually an announcement that says, “I’m in trouble.”
Let’s touch base next week:
“I don’t want to talk to you now,” or “You are on a short leash and you need to report back to me.”
Leverage:
A fancy way of saying “use” as in “Let’s leverage this set of data”
Low-Hanging Fruit:
The initial opportunities, areas of exploration, etc. that are easiest to cover; intended to evoke visual imagery of fruit-laden trees, suggesting that much remains beyond the lowest boughs; syn. quick win
MBB:
McKinsey, Bain, BCG aka the “Big 3”
McKBain Group:
A term Jenny Rae made up that is easier for newbies than MBB
MECE:
Mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive. A term originating at McKinsey and common across management consulting firms, it’s a grouping principle that in the words of Wikipedia, “data in a group should be divided into subgroups that comprehensively represent that group (no gaps) without overlapping”
My Plate Is Full:
“Help I’m drowning,” or “I would kill myself before I’d work on your project.”
On Board:
The status of being assigned to a case, engagement, or project
Opportunity Cost:
Basic economic principle that describes the “cost” of the next best alternative foregone when making a decision.
Optics:
How something will appear to others, as in, “Well, you could do that, but I’d be concerned about the optics.”
Consulting Terms P-Z:
Paradigm:
Consulting-ese for “pattern” or “model” or “framework”
Parallel Hire:
A consultant hired from another company, typically with a more senior position position and higher starting salary than 1st year consultants. See also “experienced hire”
Ping:
Synonym for “contact”; originated as an onomatopoeia for the sound that is emitted when someone receives an instant message, but nowadays can refer to any form of contact including email or even tapping someone on the shoulder
PIOUTA:
Pulled it out of thin air, also see “WAG” or “SWAG”
Pipeline:
Typically used to reference the current and upcoming list of client engagements
POA:
Plan of action
POOMA:
Pulled Out Of My Ass
Production:
In noun form, a department (either internal or outsourced) of the consulting firm that assists in producing the materials needed for presentations, meetings, etc
Progress Review:
A periodic meeting (either internal or with the client) to review the progress made in the preceding period
Provide Color:
A directive that translates roughly to “This is perhaps the most boring thing I have ever read, with the possible exception of certain lengthier legal disclaimers, and even then it’s pretty close”; this bit of jargon is nevertheless somewhat of an advance, since, back in the early days of consulting, people were encouraged to provide black and white
Push Back (verb form) or Pushback (noun):
Formerly the sole domain of airplanes leaving their gates, this term is now used to indicate resistance and/or disagreement, without actually using those terms; this phrase attempts to avoid any negative connotations of controversy
QC:
Quality control, typically referring to need to check for typos, grammar mistakes, calculation errors, etc
Quick Question:
The answer will be anything but; bizarre since the adjective ‘quick’ is intended, by implication, to be transferred to the answer to said question and does not necessarily have any bearing on the length of the question
Right Sized:
Euphemism for downsized
Rock Star:
An individual whose performance in a given area or success at specific endeavors is highly impressive, unique and/or admirable; this appellation is generally used sparingly; although the term is sometimes used frivolously to express purportedly extreme gratitude, as in: “Thanks for picking up my mail for me, you’re a rock star”
Sandwich Method:
A structure for providing feedback that resembles a sandwich – one positive comment, then a developmental critique, ending with a positive comment
Scope:
The agreed-upon list of deliverables and boundaries that underpin any client engagement
Sea Change:
In between lake change and ocean change
SME:
Stands for “Subject Matter Expert”. Typically used in enterprise companies who have very niche roles.
Sniff Test:
As in evaluating food for rancidity, this term is used when gauging the viability or reasonableness of a particular analysis; var. smell test
Space:
A market, arena, field of endeavor, or general area, not to be confused with the area beyond Earth’s atmosphere; use of this term usually adds nothing in the way of descriptive value, as in “I don’t think there will be many opportunities in the technology space”
Stand Up Call:
A ‘quick’ round table team call to update status from each team member/lead. Usually no longer than 15-20 mins.
Straw Man:
A construct presented purely for the sake of argument, with the implication that it is not designed to withstand repeated attacks
Summer:
Abridged noun form of summer intern
SWAG:
Some wild-ass guess. See “WAG”
SWOT Analysis:
Acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats. Breaking an assessment into these categories can help a business to get a quick overview of their business.
Take The Lead On:
A clever phrase often used by more experienced consultants when they wish to delegate a menial task, as in: “Why don’t you take the lead on putting together this document,” which may translate to, “I’m lazy and probably not smart or energetic enough to work on this, so go do it”; often appears in utterly irrelevant settings, as in, “Why don’t you take the lead on making dinner reservations for the team,” a manifestly silly request, since one is asked to “take the lead on” something which doesn’t require leadership of anyone and on which they will certainly be working solo
Takeaway:
In other settings a British term referring to carry-out food, here this word has been transmogrified to indicate the salient point that should be retained upon the conclusion of the discussion, often prefaced with key
Target:
The company being analyzed for purchase/merger in a Merger and Acquisition case
To Be Transparent:
In indication that what follows will be particularly revelatory, although it often is not especially so; the troubling implication of this usage is that the speaker has heretofore been opaque
Up Or Out:
Employee promotion policy where if you’re not promoted “up”, you’re counseled “out” of the company. Many consulting firms use up or out but not all
Upward Feedback:
The process of providing feedback “upward” to more senior employees, from managers to partners
Utilization Rate:
Client service hours vs. time on beach. If below 50%, prepared to be “right sized”
Value-Add:
Quite simply, that value is added, mashed into a hyphenated noun form. See “adding value”
WAG:
Wild-ass-guess. See “SWAG”
Wordsmith:
To make trivial or generally unnecessary edits to text that may only subtly change the meaning, if at all; incorrectly implies that one is a craftsman on the order of a blacksmith or goldsmith; sadly, “wordsmithing” rarely involves the deletion of jargon
Workstream:
A group of tasks that make up a project. Usage – “The team was developing various workstreams to complete the client deliverables”
You and I are not on the same page:
“Get on my page. Your page is misguided.” No one ever says, “We’re not on the same page, so let me work really hard to understand your point of view. If you want to understand someone else, you say, “Can you tell me more about how you’re thinking.”
Zero-Defect or “ZD”
A mindset of double and triple-checking work before submitting; no defects!
That wraps up our list of management consulting terms!