7 Fundamentals of IT consulting success

Thinking of becoming an IT consultant? That might not be a bad idea — if you’ve developed the skills and experience needed to help clients deliver successful projects.

Companies are in need of expertise in areas such as cloud computing, cyber security, big data and analytics, data center transformation, artificial intelligence/machine learning, and the internet of things (IoT) — among others. But they’re facing an ongoing shortage of talent with skills in these areas. That’s where outside consultants can help.

Pay for IT contract workers is on the rise. The Dice 2018 Tech Salary report notes that hourly rates for consultants increased 4.7 percent from 2016 to 2017, while pay for IT staffers remained fairly flat.

What does it take to be a successful IT consultant? Some of the obvious requirements include self-discipline, having good organizational skills, the ability to work independently, and so on. But experts say anyone looking to transition from a full-time IT job with an organization to being an independent IT consultant should follow some basic practices. Here are some of the more important ones.

Develop good interview skills

As a consultant you will be interviewed by prospective clients — in some cases multiple times by people at different levels of an organization. That means you need to learn how to be adept at interviewing. Be prepared not only to answer a host of questions about your background and skills, but to eloquently describe how you will help solve specific problems and deliver value to the client.

“Your resume may get you in the door of a prospective client, but your interview is where you make a lasting impression and land the opportunity,” says Todd Weneck, vice president of search at Modis, a provider of IT staffing services.

“You want interviewers to leave the discussion impressed with your technical capabilities as well as your soft skills,” Weneck says. “Practicing interviews with a mentor or recruiter can help you become more polished in your responses and go into an interview with confidence. Find someone who knows your industry and will give you candid feedback as you prepare.”Download CIO's new Roadmap Report on 5G in the enterprise! ]

As part of interviews, consultants need to provide quantifiable examples of how they affected work projects in previous roles. “What you must be able to do is effectively communicate what value you’ll bring to the organization and how you’ll be able to solve the problem the client is facing,” says Jim Johnson, senior vice president at IT staffing firm Robert Half Technology. “You’ll also want to be able to clearly convey how you’ve solved business issues in your prior roles, whether in full-time or contract positions.”

You might want to view the interview process as more of an in-depth business meeting, Johnson says. “Research the company in order to understand the issues the company or industry are facing, and come prepared with your own set of questions about the company and the project,” he says.

Learn how to review client contracts/confidentiality agreements, and find help if needed

Contracts should cover areas such as costs, hours, milestones, deliverables, deadlines, and who pays for outside expenses.

“If you are taking the independent contractor route, this is especially important, as you will be expected to comply with the ‘flow-downs’ of the company you are consulting with or the consulting company with which you are subcontracting,” says Steve Perkins, U.S. and global managing director of the technology industry practice at professional services firm Grant Thornton.

“In addition to SLAs [service-level agreements] and rates, this will include privacy, [intellectual property], insurance, etc.,” says Perkins, who began his career in government IT before transitioning to IT and management consulting. “It’s essential to learn the business model of consulting — how they make money — and the levers that can be pulled to improve performance.”

It’s not a particularly complicated business, Perkins says, with consultants generally charging an hourly rate with some fixed-price, value-based and subscription models. “But it’s a hard business as the competition is fierce, rates pressure is significant, labor costs are rising, and the technology consulting business itself is being disrupted dramatically by technology” such as bots and artificial intelligence, he says.

Navigating through the contract process can be a time-consuming, confusing, or stressful part of the consulting process for many who are unfamiliar with the ins and outs of what goes into the administrative process, Johnson says. Many new consultants will lean on an outside services firm that can take care of the administrative tasks.

Consider focusing on one or a few industries and go deep in these areas

One of the first questions prospective clients are likely to ask is what kind of experience you have in their industry, so focusing on particular sectors and gaining lots of experience might help land assignments.

Don’t understate the value of the insights you gained working in their industry, Perkins says. “They are what will differentiate you in the early days of your consulting career,” he says. “Others will know the methods, tools and craft skills of consulting, but few will have the depth of industry-specific insight you bring to the table. Trade on this.”

As you develop a sense of which industry sectors most interest you, seek out assignments that will extend your expertise, Perkins says.

“Your value increases the deeper you go,” he says. “And conversely, actively manage yourself away from industry specializations that don’t interest you.”

Early in his consulting career, Perkins was assigned to two large agricultural chemical clients in a row, and was beginning to be referred to as the “AgChem” subject-matter expert. “Nothing wrong with AgChem, but I fancied myself a financial services technology strategist and took steps to gain experience in other areas,” he says. “At the same time, though, don’t neglect the emerging technologies and methodologies that will keep you attractive to a broad range of client and assignment types.”

Acquire relevant credentials and affiliations

Prospective clients want assurances that the consultants they hire know a lot about the particular technologies or services they are using. That’s where having credentials and affiliations in relevant areas can help seal the deal.

“These are table stakes in the consulting business,” Perkins says. “They range from the more general, such as certification in project management, to the specific, such as certification in a specific vendor product. These credentials enable clients, recruiters and consulting management to quickly appreciate your capabilities.”

Some are even required as a part of bidding for work in a structured proposal process, and a given in technology consulting for government clients, Perkins says.

IT certifications are beneficial in particular when they meet the needs of clients, Weneck says. “For instance, being an AWS Certified Solutions Architect is a valuable credential, but not if Microsoft Azure is your client’s cloud service,” he says. “The key is to know your audience and build on your existing skill sets.”

On the other hand, if your credentials are not exactly what the client is looking for but you think they will translate to the larger context of the job, it’s important to be upfront about this and articulate how your background makes you an ideal fit for the position, Weneck says.

Develop communication and collaboration skills

Being an IT consultant in many cases means working with others on a team, and being able to communicate clearly with team members and supervisors is vital.

“One of your primary goals as a consultant is to secure long-term and repeat opportunities,” Weneck says. “When management is considering which consultant is the right fit for the job, it often comes down to how well they integrate with the existing team.”

Effective communication and interpersonal skills help position you to seamlessly assimilate with those already on the job, Weneck says. An annual trends survey of decision-makers that Modis conducts identified teamwork and communication as the most difficult soft skills to find among technology professionals. “It solidifies the need to hone these skills to be a successful IT consultant,” he says.

In many cases teams are assembled quickly from a large pool of potential candidates, and projects can be short term. “Your ability to quickly gel with your teammates to form an effective, productive unit is essential,” Perkins says. “And unless you are a solo practitioner, this will be an important performance evaluation measurement.”

Nurture relationships and get good references

When looking to land consulting gigs you will almost certainly be asked to provide references. This can be a challenge when you’re first starting out, so you’ll probably need to list former employers as references.

Once you’ve successfully completed consulting projects for clients, be sure to ask if you can cite the organizations as references for prospective clients.

“Clients do business with people they trust and respect,” Perkins says. “Even if you are a part of a large consulting business, it comes down to your personal reputation, your track record of client service, and referrals from previous clients. In this consulting business, you are only as good as your last project. While a well-recognized logo will open a door to a new client, your reputation will close it. Over time, your network — within industry and within consulting — will be more valuable than your technical skills. Constantly nurture it.”

As part of networking, “consultants should pull from past experiences, research, industry relationships, colleagues, partners, and what they learn within an organization,” says Kevin Rooney, vice president at AIM Consulting, a firm that specializes in IT consulting.

Get endorsements from people you work with on LinkedIn or other vehicles for showcasing your personal brand, Rooney says. “Everyone checks to see how you are connected before they will work with you,” he says. “This is how you will build a pipeline of business.”

Learn to be a salesman and business developer

In many cases the consulting work is not going to come to you; you need to go out and get it. One often-overlooked skill is the ability to both “sell” and “do,” Perkins says.

“The smaller your business — and especially if you are on your own —  the harder this will be,” Perkins says. “And when you are selling, you are not making money, and when you are delivering, no one is bringing in the next project. You will certainly move into consulting with a client or two and a project or two already in hand, but quickly will come the need to replace these.”

Business development skills are almost never acquired in previous industry roles, Perkins says. “You must be the steward [of] your own career, proactively seeking out the client projects to gain the experiences you want and need, and the training to achieve necessary and value-add skills and certification,” he says. “You may have a mentor to help along the way. [But] in the end, you must chart your path.”

Top 5 Project Management Certifications To Become A Great Project Manager

Are you working as a project manager? You may want to improve your prospect. There are many certification courses for project manager you should do. We here bring the great options in project management certification. Here you can know the various options available in certification and how to continue in your post.

You as a project manager can increase your skill and prospects of job sharp with certifications. A project manager who combines certification with their degree get opportunities. In the past few years, the PM jobs have got increased to 425%.

Behind all IT projects success, you can find a highly talented and capable project manager. From software to hardware upgrades to security patches, application development and software itself, a project manager has to keep their teams on task and production.

Almost all IT professional can benefit from adding a certification to their IT credentials. It shows how you plan, schedule the budget, execute it, deliver and report them on IT initiatives. If you want a hike in your salary, a certification can give you this.

If you are looking to gain all the above-mentioned points, you can analyze and choose the best project manager certification for your requirements.

First of all, you should know which the best certification is. The top 5 certifications for project manager available are:

  1. PMP
  2. PRINCE2
  3. CAPM
  4. CSM
  5. PMI-ACP

Let us see, what all these courses have to offer you in details:

Project Management Professional (PMP)

One of the top credentials is the PMP certification (Project Management Professional) for project managers. This is the most widely accepted and popular certification you can find anywhere. The Project Management Institute is the accreditation body for the PMP certification.

About the PMP certification exam structure

The PMP training certification examination can be passed only if you are perfect with all the techniques needed to plan and monitor a project from its start to finish. According to the 8th edition salary survey of Project management, a project manager who has PMP certification should get 17% more monetary benefit than others.

The PMP exam isn’t easy to clear. To be successful, you need to spend about +35 hours to prepare for the exam.

The exam has about 200 MCQs and runs for 4 hours. No extra time is given to you for the exam unless specified otherwise.

No negative marking is awarded, so it’s best you answer everything; even if you aren’t sure of the correct answer.

PMP certification prerequisites

To be able to do the PMP certification, you need to have:

Or

You can pick a PMP training either from a university or from an online training provider. In fact, in many cases, PMP is integrated into certain master’s degree programs.

This project management certification ensures you possess certain skill and qualification that is necessary for successfully managing all phases of the project. This includes planning, initiating, controlling, monitoring and closing the project.

A manager certified in PMP will be highly equipped in managing every aspect of the constraints of cost, time and scope. The employers will depend on the project manager to manage the budget, track costs and expenditure, ensure there is no scope creep and to identify potential risk factors that could impact the project and minimize such risk to protect the investment of a project.

  1. PRINCE2

The PRINCE2 certification course is another important project management credential project managers can take.  was first introduced for the government offices of UK. After the huge success, it came into the corporate world. Now it has become an important certification program in much organization all over the world.

PRINCE2 is accredited by AXELOS and focuses on managing, directing and delivering projects throughout all phases from pre-project to initiation, delivery, and the final delivery.

About the PRINCE2 Certification exam structure

PRINCE2 is divided into two: foundation and practitioner. The entry-level credential is Foundation that tests your basic methodology and terminology of project management while in Practitioner tests the advanced project manager who has passed PRINCE2 Foundation. The key features of this exam are:

The Prince2 exam consists of 50 objective-type questions, each of which weighs about 1 mark. The duration of this exam is two and a half hours, with no extra time given for breaks. 30 marks or 60% is required to clear the exam and get certified.

PRINCE2 certification prerequisites

The Prince2 foundation exam has no prerequisites. The Prince2 practitioner exam, however,  needs proof that you have cleared at least one of the following exams.

  1. CAPM

The CAPM certification or Certified Associate in Project Management is the precursor of the PMP certification and is also accredited by the PMI. If you are a professional without graduation or project management experience or you want to pursue PMP certification next all together, then CAPM is the first step toward this.

About the CAPM certification exam structure

The CAPM certification in project management is a renowned program for the IT professionals who want their career to grow as project manager. The CAPM certification exam has 150 MCQs that needs to be completed in 3 hours. A candidate needs to retake the exam every 5 years to maintain his or her CAPM credentials.

CAPM certification prerequisites

The eligibility for this certification is:

or

If you are interested in shifting your career to the project management, get this certification done. When you get CAPM certification, it shows the commitment of yours learning new skills. This also shows you understand the processes and terminology used in this project management.

  1. CSM

We cannot mention project management without bringing up the CSM Certification. The Agile methodology has become the standard of all IT organizations. Therefore it is not at all surprising that IT professionals must be qualified uniquely to manage any projects. A CSM certification offers a big jump to project managers starting out as Scrum professionals.

Scrum Alliance is the parent organization that accredits the CSM certification. The Scrum Alliance helps organizations follow Scrum and Agile practices, promote user group and also provide resources for development professionally. CSM certified project managers can facilitate teams in using scrum effectively for successful project organization.

About the CSM certification exam structure

The CSM exam consists of 35 MCQs, out of which you need 24 or more correct answers to clear the exam. Candidates are given an hour to complete their tests, with extra time given for breaks. You can pause and take breaks as and when required.

CSM certification prerequisites

This is a great certification for anyone who is a beginner in the field of project management. There is no set prerequisite for candidates to take this course. While a working knowledge of how scrums work would be beneficial, this isn’t mandatory. Having said that, there are prerequisites that need to be fulfilled for you to take the exam.

These are:

  1. PMI ACP

ACP stands for Agile Certified Practitioner. The PMI-ACP certification carries a high level of integrity professionally because it includes agile training by examining the tools and fundamentals of agile projects.

About the PMI-ACP certification exam structure

PMI-ACP helps people address the need of their organizations. It helps professionals apply their skill on different projects in a proper manner.

To get certified, you need to take the ACP test, which consists of 120 MCQs. To successfully clear the paper, you need to answer about 100 of these questions in 3 hours.

PMI-ACP certification prerequisites

If you are a project manager who works in rapidly changing environments, or if you have to deliver products in a short developmental cycle, then you should explore this certification. Its requirements are:

The PMI-ACP certification helps you discover techniques for managing the project scope actively and learn the principles of Agile to improve the performance of the team and collaborate that to ensure better delivery.

Regardless of choosing which certification is better for you, ensure they are well-versed in all concepts of the project methodology, and you are capable of handling all the aspects of all projects successfully. Now that you understood the basic principles of these top 5 certifications; it is going to be easier for you to choose anyone. You should prepare properly for appearing the certification examination.

Timeboxing - An Efficient Time Management Technique for Productivity

Our inability to efficiently manage time often lands us in hot water, with hordes of delayed assignments and fast-approaching deadlines. Keeping up with the daily activities then becomes a Sisyphean task where you do not actually get anything done but are always in the grind with no way out.

While most of us are eager to start and end our daily tasks on time, very few of us are actually able to do that because of poor time management. Even with a set to-do list or proper planning, staying on track is a difficult feat. Fortunately, we have the gift of different time management tools and techniques that aid in improving our time efficiency.

People use different methods and tools to make the most of their time. On average, a person uses around 13 different methods for time management. Among these different methods, one that has proved its efficiency time and again is timeboxing.

Timeboxing is hailed as one of the best methods for time management. The method targets gaps in time management to help you improve your work productivity. Additionally, the technique can help you fight procrastination and narrow your focus for better working.

This article will answer your questions as to what is time boxing and how to use time boxing.

What Is Time Boxing?

As we mentioned earlier, timeboxing is a time management technique. The unique method offers a different approach to time management wherein you allot a specific time to a task.

This method of management can help you focus your attention on the task at hand without any distractions or lapses in the focus. Your goal is to accomplish the task within the specified time limit. There is no flexibility in terms of increasing your time.

Scheduling your tasks into timeboxes significantly improves the time spent on tasks. When you start your timebox, you have to rid yourself of disturbances to make sure you optimize your working during this time and accomplish your goal.

Hard Timeboxes Vs. Soft Timeboxes:

There are two types of timeboxes that you can schedule your work in:

Choosing between the two is completely up to you!

How To Use Time Boxing?

How to timebox your tasks? Managing your time through timeboxes is as easy as it seems. Follow the following steps and you will realize how easy and quick it is to manage your time with timeboxing technique.

1. Create A Timebox for The Items in Your To-Do List

The first step of the technique involves determining the complexity of each task on your to-do list and allocating a timebox to it. You have to determine the approximate time that will be required to complete the task and create a timebox accordingly.

Make sure to leave some time for breaks and unexpected disturbances that may hinder the smooth working. You should have sufficient time to complete the task within the specified timebox.

2. Set A Timer on Mobile or Desktop

Once you have figured out the time you will spend on each task, you can set a timer that will alert you whenever you have to move on from one task to another. The time will help you stay focused so that you can optimize your work performance during that time and accomplish your goal within the specified time.

You can use your phone or desktop for this purpose.

3. Hard Timebox or Soft Timebox

Before starting the timer, you can also decide whether you will go with a hard timebox or a soft one. A hard timebox will work better if you are looking for perfection and are certain that you will be able to complete the task without any delays.

If you are not sure about the time limits or are afraid that it might take more time to complete the task, you can go for soft timeboxes that offer more flexibility. A soft timebox will give you the freedom to adjust your time and keep yourself focused on the task.

4. Start The Timer

Now that you decided everything, the only thing left is to start the timer for the timebox and start working. The end of the time limit does not only indicate the end of the allotted but also notifies you of the impending task that needs your attention. So, make sure to follow the timebox.

5. Evaluate And Revise

Once you have completed your tasks, evaluate your performance and revise your schedule to improve your work efficiency. Take a look at your performance during the day and analyze whether you completed all the tasks on time? Is there any room for improvement? How can you optimize your work?

With each evaluation, you can identify the gaps in the process and develop strategies to enhance your productivity.

All in all, timeboxing is a simple and easy technique. You can easily use the method to make significant improvements in your work.

Benefits Of Timeboxing Your Daily Tasks

Timeboxing has several benefits to offer, some of which include the following:

With all these benefits, timeboxing can help you ace all your tasks within the deadline.

Tips To Make Timeboxing Work for You:

Before we conclude this article, we would like to add a few tips to make sure that the technique works for you:

You can take help from these tips and create efficient timeboxes for your work. These tips will surely come in handy when you are working with timeboxing.

Conclusion:

We hope that this article has answered all your answers related to timeboxing or how does it work. What do you think of this technique? Is there any other technique that you use to manage your time?

How to Start a Consulting Business

If you are an experienced consultant or just starting out, you must have a strong operational backbone to support your business as it grows. From managing projects to billing and invoicing clients, managing independent contractors and team members, logging billable hours, and managing bookings, we at SystemX have a solution to get you started. CLICK HERE to allow us to walk you through our cloud-based Business Management Platform and show you how we can help.

The dictionary defines a consultant as "an expert in a particular field who works as an advisor either to a company or to another individual." Sounds pretty vague, doesn't it? But unless you've been in a coma for the past decade, you probably have a good idea what a consultant is.

Businesses certainly understand what consultants are. In 1997 U.S. businesses spent just over $12 billion on consulting. According to Anna Flowers, spokesperson for the Association of Professional Consultants in Irvine, California, the association has recently noticed an increase in calls for information from people who want to get into the business. "The market is opening up for [the consulting-for-businesses] arena," Flowers says.

Melinda P., an independent consultant in Arlington, Virginia, thinks more people are getting into the consulting field because technology has made it easier to do so. "The same technology that has helped me to be successful as a consultant has made it easier for others to do the same," she says.

A consultant's job is to consult. Nothing more, nothing less. It's that simple. There's no magic formula or secret that makes one consultant more successful than another one.

But what separates a good consultant from a bad consultant is a passion and drive for excellence. And--oh yes--a good consultant should be knowledgeable about the subject he or she is consulting in. That does make a difference.

You see, in this day and age, anyone can be a consultant. All you need to discover is what your particular gift is. For example, are you very comfortable working around computers? Do you keep up with the latest software and hardware information, which seems to be changing almost daily? And are you able to take that knowledge you have gained and turn it into a resource that someone would be willing to pay money for? Then you would have no trouble working as a computer consultant.

Or are you an expert in the fund-raising field? Maybe you have worked for nonprofit agencies in the field of fund-raising, marketing, public relations or sales, and over the years you have discovered how to raise money. As someone who has turned a decade of fund-raising successes into a lucrative consulting business, I can tell you that fund-raising consulting is indeed a growing industry.

Things to Consider Before You Become a Consultant

Why an Organization Wants to Hire You

According to a recent survey, here are the top 10 reasons organizations hire consultants:

1. A consultant may be hired because of his or her expertise. This is where it pays to not only be really good in the field you have chosen to consult in, but to have some type of track record that speaks for itself. For example, when I mentioned earlier that I had become an expert as a fund-raising consultant, I knew that every client who hired me was doing so partly on the basis of my track record alone. After all, if you are a nonprofit organization that needs to raise $1 million, it makes sense to hire someone who has already raised millions for other organizations.

2. A consultant may be hired to identify problems. Sometimes employees are too close to a problem inside an organization to identify it. That's when a consultant rides in on his or her white horse to save the day.

3. A consultant may be hired to supplement the staff. Sometimes a business discovers that it can save thousands of dollars a week by hiring consultants when they are needed, rather than hiring full-time employees. Businesses realize they save additional money by not having to pay benefits for consultants they hire. Even though a consultant's fees are generally higher than an employee's salary, over the long haul, it simply makes good economic sense to hire a consultant.

4. A consultant may be hired to act as a catalyst. Let's face it. No one likes change, especially corporate America. But sometimes change is needed, and a consultant may be brought in to "get the ball rolling." In other words, the consultant can do things without worrying about the corporate culture, employee morale or other issues that get in the way when an organization is trying to institute change.

5. A consultant may be hired to provide much-needed objectivity. Who else is more qualified to identify a problem than a consultant? A good consultant provides an objective, fresh viewpoint--without worrying about what people in the organization might think about the results and how they were achieved.

6. A consultant may be hired to teach. These days if you are a computer consultant who can show employees how to master a new program, then your telephone probably hasn't stopped ringing for a while. A consultant may be asked to teach employees any number of different skills. However, a consultant must be willing to keep up with new discoveries in their field of expertise--and be ready to teach new clients what they need to stay competitive.

7. A consultant may be hired to do the "dirty work." Let's face it: No one wants to be the person who has to make cuts in the staff or to eliminate an entire division.

8. A consultant may be hired to bring new life to an organization. If you are good at coming up with new ideas that work, then you won't have any trouble finding clients. At one time or another, most businesses need someone to administer "first aid" to get things rolling again.

9. A consultant may be hired to create a new business. There are consultants who have become experts in this field. Not everyone, though, has the ability to conceive an idea and develop a game plan.

10. A consultant may be hired to influence other people. Do you like to hang out with the rich and famous in your town? If so, you may be hired to do a consulting job simply based on who you know. Although most consultants in this field are working as lobbyists, there has been an increase in the number of people entering the entertainment consulting business.

Benefits of a Cloud-Based Project management Software [Platform]

The coronavirus pandemic and resulting social distancing at the start of 2020 forced companies that hadn’t already done so to transition to a remote workforce.

While there are numerous remote work benefits like increased job satisfaction and cost savings, the especially suddenness of the transition has its downsides.  

The below project management statistics highlight some of the problems the remote workforce faces. These problems can be solved through the use of workflow management features like task assignment and employee workload overviews.  

Using project management methodologies, PM software, and having a project scrum master unites a remote workforce and increases project success rates. 

According to the Pulse of the Profession study from the Project Management Institute, businesses with a clear project management structure in place have 38% more successful projects that met their original goals than those that did not.   

Having a PMO led by a project management professional means companies adopt a clear, standardized approach to project management. A project management office has the necessary soft skills risk management needs to prevent problems like schedule overrun. 

Additional statistics showing the value of project management are: 

(sources: GallupWellingtonePMP GartnerPMIUM Saint Louis)  

Business Project Management Today

A business project is classified by content or purpose. Business projects are intended to achieve defined business objectives and are aligned with a company’s business strategy.

Business projects can be called many different names, such as internal projects, administrative projects, or functional projects. It’s important to note that all projects, regardless of type, must meet certain criteria to be considered projects. The primary two requirements are that they are both temporary and unique. This means they have a defined end date and are not repeatable, ongoing tasks.

Three types of business projects

There are three main types of business projects a company can implement:

SYSTEMX BUSINESS MANAGEMENT PLATFORM

The SystemX Business Management Platform is an all in one, cloud based platform that serves as the backbone and the brain function of all businesses. All modules combined can give business owners, project and operations managers all the tools to manage projects, time sheets, orders, invoices, and document signing in one easy to manage system and keep all personnel in an organization connected.

Solution Focused Approach

The Solution Focused approach was developed in America in the 1980s by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg. After spending many years studying problem behaviour and trying to change it they switched to studying 'solution behaviour' and how to promote it! Two simple ideas lie at the bottom of solution focus.

Nobody is perfect and this applies to our problems as well as everything else. If no-one can 'do' their problem perfectly there must always be times when they don't do them so well. These times de Shazer and Berg called exceptions. Whatever the person is doing differently at these 'exceptional' times will be the basis of a potential solution. Part of the solution focused practitioner's task is therefore to discover whatever a person is already doing which might contribute to the resolution of the problem with which they have come.

The second simple idea is that knowing where you want to get to makes the getting there much more likely. One of the common consequences of a serious problem is that it clouds our view of the future. We know that we don't want the problem but we have lost sight of what it is we do want. Solution focused practitioners ask lots of questions about what life might be like if the problem was solved. As the answers to these questions gradually unfold both practitioner and client begin to get a picture of where they should be heading. The clearer this becomes the greater the possibility of it beginning to happen.

Macro shot jigsaw puzzle missing solution concept

SystemX Business Management Platform as a Solution

The Business Management Platform is a solutions based platform that is completely modular in nature and fully customizable to solve problems. As it stands, the BMP has different modules each solving a problem for instance a project manager wanting all of the projects in one place, break down projects to milestones, associate files to a project or a team member and so on. If you are having any problem that your current system could improve on or use our system to improve operational inefficiencies, visit https://systemx.net today.