Personally, I used to travel to my clients sites every week from Monday to Thursday to be on the ground in their logistics operations and that stopped immediately because travelling was not an option anymore. Not everyone travels at Deloitte, so those who used to work from the office had to suddenly work from home. In all cases, we had to find alternatives rapidly and adapt to those new ways of working.

From an ergonomic standpoint the offices at Deloitte are quite high-tech. They guided us on how to better organize our space, sent office supplies and facilitated the creation of a real home office space. Moreover, yoga and cycling sessions, running challenges, “walks in the park” were organized.From a psychological point of view, it’s more of a challenge to take actions as it can vary from employee to employee.

Our clients at Deloitte are very diverse and they therefore reacted differently. At the beginning of the crisis one of the biggest fears among our clients was uncertainty; how long will the crisis last, what is going to happen for their sales and cash flows, what should they do with their planned investments,… One of my clients who operates in the construction industry actually took advantage of the crisis to boost his sales.

I am optimistic by nature and I would like to say yes. So we should take lessons from this crisis and apply those lessons in the future. From past events we see that people tend to forget about crises and go back to their comfort zone as soon as they can, but let’s avoid that and let’s try to keep only the positive things from this pandemic.

Deloitte is a multi-disciplinary professional services firm. There are multiple types of consultancy and different sectors. Since I joined Deloitte a few years ago, the company has been growing constantly, hiring students from a large variety of backgrounds. There is enough room for everyone to find themselves and grow in their own direction.

I started my journey at the SCC as a Sales Manager. My main goal was to find new potential clients and interesting missions for the Club and I succeeded in signing up MaisonRouge for a market research mission. Because I already knew the client and I liked the company values I decided to apply for this mission as a Project Manager.

In my opinion the biggest change is the impact of the pandemic on our work. This crisis obliged us to do all of the work online. Working with a team via online calls is really far from working face to face and it creates some complications concerning the motivation towards the mission, when you don’t see your team and your client in person it makes the whole project less real.

Yes definitely! I have the objective to start my career in consultancy. The opportunity to discover several sectors and working on very different projects in addition to meeting a lot of people in various organizations has always seduced me with this job.

In general, decisions are made by the project manager (myself). Especially decisions regarding the workload distribution and the organisation of the mission. However, my consultants are always able to give their opinion about the way we are working. Their suggestions and comments are very important to me. They are the ones mastering the subject of the mission and ignoring their recommendations would be a huge mistake for a project manager in my opinion.

The one I personally enjoyed the most was the Excel workshop organised by Deloitte. Indeed, having knowledge about Excel is very important in the real world of consulting and we have never had any lesson about this subject at university. Moreover, they made it enjoyable by doing some exercises together and by using menti which made the learning more playful. We were also able to ask questions about Deloitte in breakout rooms.

According to me, the strongest asset of the SCC is the partners. Indeed, they are very helpful when it comes to recommendations concerning the mission itself or the presentations. Moreover, their workshops are very interesting and bring a lot of values to the SCC. In addition, the networking effect of that is incredible; you are able to meet people working in the consulting field, ask your questions, have tips and tricks and bond with them in some way.

So far, being a project manager has been challenging but very rewarding. I truly enjoy working with a team of six other students, all different from each other. It has been really exciting to see this team come together, support each other and become a cohesive team over the past few weeks. This makes it particularly enriching for me to lead this team in order to provide valuable insights to the client together.

I have always been curious about the banking industry. Being the project manager of a mission where we interview financial institutions active in Belgium seemed to be the perfect opportunity to discover more about this sector. I really liked the idea of collecting the data directly at the source. I was also curious about the topic of the survey – the client onboarding process.

I think the biggest challenge ahead will be to understand and make sense of all the data collected. Nevertheless, I am confident that the team will handle it very well and deliver great results to the client at the end of the mission.

In what ways this year’s mission differs from the other one you have previously done?

Of course, like everyone else, it is a remote communication environment. Fortunately, we had the opportunity to see the whole team before the new wave of sanitation measures and here you can feel the difference of online/offline interaction. But on the other hand, it is also a skill that never hurts and even helps.

Our team proved to be very cohesive and competent for this challenging mission. The main surprises came during the mission from the scope side and we had to adapt several times to new criteria and directions, but this is not such a bad thing, because it teaches you to adjust immediately in the right direction and work more efficiently. I have also learned to adapt plans for unexpected events !

Since it was my first experience ever a PM, I did not know what to expect really. To me a PM was just in charge of the good execution of the mission. But i realized it is so much more than that. A lot of organization is required, in order to meet the deadlines and to prepare the work so the mission goes smoothly. But it is also about leading and motivating a team, encouraging and help others improve in their job, by giving tips.

My main priority is to complete this mission in the best way we can so we can provide interesting and detailed recommendations to the client, thank the hard work of the team. But I also want my consultant to have the best experience possible, to enable them to learn and gain experience while having fun.

I really like the “family spirit”. We can feel it immediately, everyone is always there for you, no matter what, to help you solve any issue you might have. Thanks to all the workshop and activities, it is almost as we saw each other a lot, despite the pandemic. On the other hand, I like that everyone is always friendly but professional, which lead to the success of the missions.

A change that I noticed is that I became more confident in giving my opinion to the client. During my first mission, I was always overthinking if my ideas were actually good and if I should really say something but this has changed now. I realised that you can only come up with adequate solutions if you are thinking about every single aspect of the problem and you will realise very quickly if you are going in the right or wrong direction.

As already mentioned, I became more confident in sharing my own ideas and giving my opinion during discussions. The missions at the SCC also foster group work which I consider to be very beneficial for my future professional life. I learned how to communicate efficiently and clearly within my group. I am also gaining practical experience that will be helpful for me when starting my first job.

I joined the SCC as I wanted to have a challenging experience this semester. I was looking for an opportunity where I would cope with real-life problems, do something more practical, have a real impact. I am also curious to learn new things, thus I wanted to learn something also while working. Joining the SCC was the best possible choice as it allowed me to do both.

One of the perks of the SCC is that each semester, the missions and the teams are different. You always end up learning more about a new topic or industry by working with a new client and tricks or skills by working with new teammates.

I read a lot of interviews and watched videos of consultants saying that every day was a different day, you never do the same thing twice, and from my experience, I feel like it’s completely true and I love this. It’s also challenging as we expect high-quality work from you, and sometimes you will have just a very short period of time to work on it. Seeing the client happy with your work is a great motivation to push you to do the best possible job.

Last year I participated in a business game with an academy team. We had an innovative solution and a good-looking slidedeck. The team decided that I was the one pitching our idea to the jury. We practised the speech till we found the right balance between giving info and while being entertaining at the same time. This experience has taught me to overcome the stress and leave my fears behind.

Before joining the Academy, I had the feeling that a good idea is enough to win a business game. After 2 months within the Academy, I can tell you that it requires more than that. A good idea is essential but time management, teamwork, good communication, and presentation skills to cite a few, as well. Thanks to the weekly workshops, we already improved those skills a lot and I can’t wait to put everything into practice next semester!

The business games of course. On these occasions, we can put our knowledge into practice and work side by side with our academy team members. It is also the ‘proof of concept’ moment where we get feedback from experts in the field and examine our progress from different perspectives. Also we would be able to arrange more team-building activities (hopefully) and get to know each other a bit more.

During the several workshops, time management is often a big challenge. Normally, for example at university, there is plenty of time to practice for a presentation before actually presenting it. At the academy, we get challenged a lot by coming up with an idea and presenting it on the spot. This was something I was not so at ease with, but thanks to the several workshops I was able to gain experience and get more comfortable doing this.

Working remotely has been difficult mainly for technical reasons. Despite that, we are still on it, working hard, participating in workshops, and most importantly learning and practicing more and more with every virtual meeting. I believe working remotely will also help us appreciate it even more when we can actually do everything face-to-face, which will hopefully happen soon.

Every time I had to present or speak up in front of others, I caught myself getting a bit nervous and uncomfortable, mainly because I always felt that I lacked a certain confidence for presenting. And so, I told myself, step out of your comfort zone and do something about it. This is the main reason why I joined the Academy. I wanted to challenge myself to develop more confidence when speaking in front of others.

The most important skill I am developing in the Academy is definitely the teamwork aspect. In each workshop, it becomes clearer that our team consists of very different people, in educational as well as cultural background. It gives the opportunity to see problems from different angles and can lead to very creative and innovative solutions.

Looking back at the past weeks, our biggest challenge has not only been to put ourselves into the place of our client but also to gather insights into UCB Pharma in order to have a clear view of the way it operates. As a matter of fact, those were the two central steps towards the development of an adapted and efficient Portfolio Resource Management Tool.

Breaking up the large problem you’ve been tasked to solve into multiple smaller problems that you can find the solution for is what’s the most rewarding when working on a project. You clearly see yourself together with your teammates progress every week while learning things about how business works from a unique perspective.

The most important thing I expect from the final presentation is our client’s contentment. Indeed, the results we will present is the final accomplishment of two hard working months. Thus, I hope we will meet our client’s needs and that our solution will have a positive impact on the firm’s resource allocation process.

Working remotely throughout the whole project has obviously been a real challenge! As you could imagine, developing a tool together in a team of 6 exclusively online is no easy task. Like every other SCC team, our team had to adapt and find new solutions to make sure that the mission could still be successful and lead to quality work! Fortunately, adapting to your working environment and finding new solutions is also part of a consultant’s job!

What particularly amazed me was our ability to immediately react to new changes: an unexpected deadline for the day after, a last minute fix on our mid-term presentation, an additional item to implement on our tool… I truly believe that being overwhelmed comes with benefits and forces us to rethink the situation in another, smarter way. A strong commitment to adequate organization and communication through our team was key to achieve our goals.

Yes, the work process has met my expectations in different ways. Firstly, I expected to work as a team with my colleagues, which is the case. Secondly, Matteo, the project manager, is a good link between the client and us, his team, he communicates daily the needs and thoughts of the client. Despite working from home, I got to know people in the faculty that I had never talked to before.

One of the important lessons I learned during the mission for UCB is that it is important to start the mission with the expected outcome in mind. In other words, it is essential to understand what the client expects from the consultancy mission. This allows us to orient each action and decision to meet the final goals and not waste resources on things the client doesn’t want.

Well, I think the big challenge is to establish recommendations for the client. During the mission, we gather a lot of information to help our client. It is the most interesting part of the mission, but also the biggest challenge. It is interesting to have an impact on client’s business, one of the reasons that I joined the Solvay Student Consulting Club!

Being a consultant means taking responsibility to clients to help them achieve their goals in the best possible way. That requires mastering several disciplines, being rigorous and working as a team.

Yes, the process met my expectations, thanks to the Strategy set up by the PM and the client’s booster, we were able to meet my expectations. We were able to ask the right questions to the client and our Roland Berger coach. This allowed us to make hypotheses and direct the work in a direction that would later prove fruitful.

The digital working has worked out pretty well so far. Sometimes the one or the other person has some connection problem but overall we can communicate as if we would sit in one big conference room. Everyone is very disciplined when it comes to having an online conference. The only person that has their microphone on is the person talking which allows to reduce background noises making the interaction easier between the consultants.

One important thing I learnt during this semester is how to structure a presentation and to deliver our research in an efficient way. We got valuable feedback from our partner that helped me to correctly present the results to the client, other than the “academic way”.

The structure is most important. Structure in themes. Also the powerpoint has to be less opac. The feedback is very helpful.

The biggest challenge will be to project ourselves into the future of the banking industry in a creative way with all the information we gathered during the first half of the mission. We will now focus on different scenarios and apply all the advice given during the midterm presentations. I am absolutely convinced that at the end, we will handle it very well with my team and bring valuable recommendations to the client.

The most rewarding part of being a consultant is having to master a new subject from scratch. In the beginning, you are no more a specialist than anyone else, but through hard work, perseverance and team discussions you develop your knowledge and create valuable expertise. Being able to challenge and advise professionals on subjects you didn’t know much about a few weeks earlier, that is truly rewarding.

We learned a lot about the ins and outs of giving a compelling presentation. Not only did we receive specific feedback from the Solvay Consulting Club board, but also useful insights from our own coaches at Deloitte. This enabled us to really impress our client at the midterm presentation. For me, it really feels like we’re actually conducting a consulting mission!

Performing such a mission remotely has its pros and cons. It can sometimes be time-saving, with fewer journeys to be made in some cases. However, being able to meet face-to-face rather than digitally – sometimes in friendlier locations than offices, for example – can foster team commitment and develop stronger relationships. Despite this additional factor, I think we are doing well and managing the mission adequately.

The topic of the mission being quite challenging, I was a bit intimidated and anxious at the beginning. However, I am amazed by the amount of help we are receiving from the outside. Whether it is from the clients, the consultants, the people we interview or anyone involved in the workshops, everybody seems on board to help us succeed in creating value during the mission!

Absolutely ! The way of dividing the work within the team is efficient, and the relationship between the consultants and the project manager works very well. It is personally one of the best teamwork experiences of my years at university.

In my opinion, the most important thing that we learn as student consultants is how working well as a team is the key to success. Most of us did not know each other before starting our mission but we were able to quickly bond and strive all together. Learning to get along with other people while pursuing the same objective is, I think, something very valuable that we gain from being a part of the SCC.

In my opinion, the biggest challenge we have for the next couple of weeks is to put all collected theoretical information into practice and extract some points to grow for our client from the competitive analysis. We will need now to focus more on marketing tools and practical questions, answers on which we expect to receive from further interviews. Nevertheless, I have no doubt our team will succeed and come with original and helpful recommendations for RePro

My hope is that our team will be able to deliver concrete solutions and impactful recommendations for our client. But that won’t happen by itself. Therefore, I’m looking forward to keeping on the good teamwork and all the learning that has been taking place in the past weeks.

The mission has allowed me to turn theory into practice. Seeing as I am currently completing my master in management, I was eager and curious to discover the world of consulting. Therefore, the opportunity to work with a diverse team, an interesting start-up and with our partners will definitely be a very rewarding addition to my final year of study. I have acquired various important skills thanks to the missions I worked on !

Working as a student consultant in a club that promotes self-growth, a high-energy teamwork and it’s totally consensus driven, has undoubtedly been a pleasant surprise for me. I never thought that our work and recommendations would be so valuable for a project’s success, and such things motivate us to keep up with the good work. Being only halfway, I am confident that each new experience at SCC will only contribute to my personal and professional growth!

The biggest challenge in the coming weeks will be to gather as much information as possible. Indeed, we have the midterm presentation in fortnight and the purpose is to present a value proposition canvas based on interviews and surveys, which require a lot of time and structure. But I am totally convinced that my team will manage it very well!

I am looking forward to having more meetings with the clients as well as with the partners to see how the project evolves. I am very excited to see what our final proposition is going to be and see all of our efforts translate into the final project. I find it very enriching to work for clients who have specific requirements.

I think the communication and work with students from different countries and different professional backgrounds will help me to improve my personality and also my ability to work in a group.

So far, the biggest surprise for me was the flexibility that is required to address the client’s needs. We had a couple of meetings with the client and even though we had many different ideas, we had to choose what the client really needed and stay within the range of the mission. Being a student consultant, I have come to realise it is really about having a flexible mindset when brainstorming about possibilities and being open to all kinds of feedback as it is

Bringing your hard work and creativity to a project and delivering work that both satisfies the client and where you can see that you have created a meaningful impact. You can only be proud of what has been achieved. Currently, we are working with STIB and we have the opportunity to influence the way people will move in Brussels in the future. It’s very fulfilling. I can’t wait to see the final result.

I learned that consulting is really about understanding client’s needs and satisfying those. Actually, it could seem basic but it is really hard to understand what the client really wants because he could not express that clearly during the first contacts. I think that the job of the consultant is to ask good questions in order to finally reach the client’s expectations. It is not easy but what an interesting job to be a consultant.

As this mission is a first experience for me, I did not really know what to expect in terms of work and how the work process was organized. The work is structured, there are precise steps all the way and I think it is very stimulating to have each week a plan of the work that needs to be done. Having meetings frequently, with the partner is very great and it allows us to progress efficiently in our work. It was an enriching experience that required creativity.