Remote Executive Consulting

…or a Digitale Nomade (I saw that title being used in the US – and why not) started

I started my life inside the Financial Services in 1982 and have been an independent consultant since 1989, that is 30+ years only with a couple of interrupts headhunted to specific positiones.

30+ years with in an average 250+ days with my luggage and always between 2 and 8 flights per week. This is what it took to get where I am as an Executive Consultant inside the larger Nordic Financial Corporations.  No wonder I have several years as Pandion member of Eurobonus with SAS and now lifetime Gold membership with millions of points both in the SAS program and the Scandic program…

It would have continued like this into eternity (or my retirement)…, but Covid-19 hit us all and suddenly we were asked to find solutions to work from the home office. Not only external consultants but also the employees of the principal. We proved new thinking, re-engineering of proven and accepted processes in Project Management. We had to find a way to make it work – the alternative would be devastating for the companies around. And we found it.

You lose some – You gain some

Covid-19 is “history” but the experiences from the period should be used to the best possible way hence my 250+ days away and 2 – 8 flights per week can be history and my principals can see the benefit from it going forward.

As Executive Consultant, are we equally effective and worth the money if we work remotely during parts of the assignment?  As employee with the company, will they experience the same contribution if we are working partly remote? Is there sufficient trust between principal and consultant to make it work?

The questions are many but I think it all boiles down to two major questions;
1. Can the principal trust sufficient attribution from such an arrangement?
If yes,
2. Do the consultant have sufficient experience to be able to handle it remotely?

Honestly, during my 10-15 first years of my career as consultant and management consultant, I simply don’t think my experience was sufficient to be able to manage projects and/or coach others (or a combination thereof) remotely.  I also benefitted a lot by the close relationship with the employees and co-workers around me in the principals offices.  I think it was a typical mutual benefit situation.

Now on the other hand, with 15 more years in my luggage – I have far more experience and most of the time far more experience than any of the people I meet around in the offices. There aren’t many processes I haven’t touched upon on my way to become an Executive Consultant. 

My experience and the track record shows the same – the ability to transfer competence and manage remotely has proven to be the same during Covid-19 as before.

So, why not capitalize on the experience and implement the way of working as “the normal way” going forward and not stop just because the Pandemic situation has changed.  It is a win-win situation and I don’t think it will be one or the other – a mix will always be preferable going forward. 

Still as Executive Consultant but now also Remote I can use the experience to remotely manage small and large projects, mentor and coach companies in change, manage/coach projects in startup, manage/coach projects in trouble and coach entrepreneurs in developing the world using StreamYard (my preferred solution instead of to Zoom, Skype, Teams, Google Meet and others), Remote Desktop, E-mail, Dropbox and Smart phones.  All possible solutions are there waiting for us to use them.  You will find a few words about StreamYard below and in a separate post later this year (according to the plan).

And, in addition to all these pros of working remotely, I have experienced that you can work from almost anywhere.  Personally, I have meetings and webinars etc. from my physical office in my own company, from home, from our cottage in the mountains and finally also from my Home mobile.  Of course, it is more professional equipment in my physical office in my own company but the webcams and not least the microphones are no so good it is of no problem as long as you add some extra lights to it.

When looking at the image to the left, I guess you can understand why I think the “nomade” way of working is very nice and fits well with our company name (nicelife.no).

Working on the Mac, having meeting, recording videos or conducting webinars.  It can all be handled from this car.  And, what can be taken care of from the car can also be taken care of from home office or our cottage in the mountains. 

It is simply a fantastic way of living the professional life, just a “nice life”.

And to a significantly lower hourly consultancy fee due to the fact that the time is far more efficient than before.  Time spent for travelling, checking in and out of the premises and all the small-talk is history.

It is a double win-win-win-win-win(!) situation (for you, for me, for the family, for the company and for the environment). Not bad.

And still, we can share and solve the different needs out there through sharing knowledge, experience and encouragement

And, when needed I will of course pick up my luggage, book my plane ticket and fly out to meet you but honestly – I think you will find the Remote Executive Consultancy equally beneficial to yourself as to your business.

A few words about the “why use an Executive Consultant”…

What is the Value proposition by using an Executive Consultant…
– Creating clarity and alignment on strategic direction and priorities founded in business realities
– Solving specific problems now and putting the solution into action
– Translating strategies into real change in operating model, organisation and individual behaviour with clear accountability and follow through
– Accelerating commercial development through clear and actionable segmentation, stronger value proposition, more intelligent pricing and/or rigorous sales management
– Understanding the nature and discipline of change execution – driving actual long term change and making it stick

All nice wordings but in my opinion there are 3 words triumphing them all;
Experience, Experience and Experience! Extensive Experience!
In these words of course also “Been in the war” several times hence an “experienced warrior” (I know, in these times not the best words but you know what I mean so I go for it)

• The extensive experience from Management level and many Lines-of-Business within the Industry – vertically as well as horizontally
• The ability to cross thinking business solutions, impact, and attribution
• The ability to understand the AS-IS image target the TO-BE goal and give guidance during implementation of the needed delta to reach the agreed goal
• The ability to quickly understand a problem, relate it to the business and bring own proven methodologies and tools to give advices on targeted areas
• The ability to guide Executives on necessary actions to be taken to achieve defined future sustainable solutions
• The extensive experience in executive mentoring, strategic alignment, and execution
• The self confidence in the dialogue with Boards of Directors, Senior Executives and Management Teams
• Finally, but not least – having an extensive network that can be used in finding the right solutions and discussion partners when needed

Executive consultants in general have the tools needed that can help the transformation and I “have been there and I have done that” hence able to provide your company’s leaders with a roadmap to the solution!

If you would like to know more, please do not hesitate to contact me here

A few words about my preferred solution “StreamYard”

Zoom, Teams, Skype for business and Google Meet are all good solutions for online meetings and very well integrated with Outlook and other mail/calendar solutions.

But, I needed something more.  I was looking the online meeting solution but I also wanted the possibility to record the meetings as webinars or conduct and invite to online streaming (see and listen realtime or offline).  If possible I wanted the possibility to split the voices per participant in separate files. And – if possible, some branding.

All of these requirements in one solution? Not possible, I thought but the result of the research proved otherwise.

I found StreamYard.  Originally created for online streaming but the features are extended over time to meet other needs and can now compete with Zoom and Teams on meeting features.

What I really like with StreamYard is the flexibility and the easiness of use and finally the overlays that can be used and gives a good informative effect on the monitor.

This is an example of a banner/overlay that I initiate approximately 15 minutes before the meeting or presentation starts.

It gives the participants a welcome – “you are on the right place”

From time to time it is practical to temporarily stop the online session and to avoid any misunderstandings, broadcast a banner

These are only examples of banners and overlays I am using myself.  There are hundreds of descriptive videos on youtube describing how to use StreamYard and how to solve specific challenges.  If you are interested, this is a link you can use that will give you a discount if you decide to use the Pro version which is payable:

https://streamyard.com/pal/5959185168334848

But, there is a free version as well and a lot of users are only using the free license.