How to deal with projects with no learning?

Question

Recently joined MBB as a post MBA hire in US, and currently staffed on a data / implementation project for 1 month.

The challenge is that I feel there is limited learning - in the past few days I have spent time on ad hoc research and even translation. Some of these works could literally be done by college interns. My role was also quite unclear, as there are several data scientist on my team and most of the work are knowledge based and requires certain level of expertise. I have less value add as I don’t have any relevant backgrounds, and I started wondering whether I’m staffed on this project just because I am a new hire and not billable (eg, free resource).

What should I do to maximize my learning on the project? Is this a norm in implementation projects, where you would focus on many nitty gritty tasks which might not be strategy related at all? Thanks for your advice.

Answer 1

Hi there,

Your first few cases can be challenging -- I know where you're coming from. Here are a few tactical suggestions to help you deal with the ambiguity and position yourself to add value to the team and show your potential.

Clarify your role and gain a deeper understanding of the scope, client objectives, and context of the engagement: Work with your manager and/or peers to sharpen your sense of what is the highest priority for the client, the modules/workstreams for the case (yours and beyond), and what success looks like at the end. This will help you work backward from the ultimate deliverables and break down your tasks into more manageable steps (e.g., research, analysis, slide writing, client or expert calls, etc.). It would help if you got the bigger picture to know where to spend your time and see how the little pieces fit in.
Craft the "storyline" (initial hypotheses) for your piece of the problem: With you Day 1 / Week 1 understanding, you should be able to write a mini-exec summary that will serve as a roadmap to what research and analysis you need to carry out to do the work. In implementation, this will look a bit different -- hard to say without knowing the specifics.
Develop weekly and daily lists of priorities: Once you get the bigger picture, dive into a work plan that gets you from point A to point B. I tend to structure my work plans with the following elements: 1) deliverables (slides, excel models, memos, etc.); 2) key internal and external meetings (who I need to engage to solve the problem, present findings, socialize answers, etc.); 3) activities (how do I get it all done). Prioritize ruthlessly and outsource where possible (e.g., translation, slide clean up, research).
Get coaching / external support if you're still stuck: Your firm undoubtedly has various support options on learning and development (e.g., 1-1 spot coaching, coaching engagements, peer mentors, tutors, etc.). Talk to your team/peers/office contacts to find out what these are and seek out help proactively -- don't wait until you get a bad review.

Lastly, make sure you speak up and ask thoughtful questions. As a manager, I would much rather hear from you that you're stuck than to find out you've been unproductive for weeks while I was swamped with all these other issues on the case that took my attention away from helping you!

I hope this helps! I've lived this myself and coached others through it. If you're not getting the support you need or need more detailed coaching, feel free to grab time with me to chat through specifics and get more tactical advice.

Cheers,

Vini