Becoming a bridge consultant in a multinational project

Becoming a bridge consultant in a multinational project

N-san and T-san are our consultants who are now engaged in a multi-national project. They have been involved in this project for almost one year, and now they share their experience with us. Let�fs follow our interview with them.

Could you tell us about your current project? What do you do in the current project?

We work for a big Japanese company projects, we are assigned for the functional consultants. This project was started in December last year. We implement a board committee system that is used for decision making, including KPI information. Basically, we are doing system implementation and collecting data from overseas branches (India, Thailand, US, UK, Italy, China, etc.).

We are assigned as a functional consultant, but we are also expected to be a bridge consultant because we have experience in this project before. A bridge consultant is more like Project Management, it is needed when there are many stakeholders in a project.

In total, there are about 10 members in this project, including 3 members from EBSS. We also have our client�fs planning division, IT division, another digital solution company, and another consulting company. We have experience with this company before, and based on our projects, they have a good impression on us.

How did you get the assignment in this project?

N: I asked my manager to assign me to this project because I know that this is a global project. My previous project was a global project too and I gained good experience from it. The feature of my previous project is �gmulti companies, multi countries, and multi-vendors�h and I was at the center position to control them.

That�fs why I asked my manager to let me join this project, I think this is a good chance for me. With this experience, I want to further improve my skill as a bridge consultant.

T: This is my first project since I joined this company last year. I used to be a system developer, but I wanted to change career and get many global projects, so I entered this company. At first, I didn�ft have accounting knowledge but this project requires some accounting knowledge.

So I studied accounting and finance for the job. At the beginning of my career in EBSS, I also studied English in the Philippines for 3 weeks, with the company program to prepare for a global project. I am happy that I am assigned to this project.

When doing this project, what�fs your daily schedule like?

We usually start working at 9-10 am. Because our stakeholders are located all over the world, we usually work from the EBSS head office. We only need to go to the client headquarter in Japan once a week.

We also have a weekly conference call meeting with a system development company in India. Sometimes we have a meeting with our client�fs overseas branches. We use verbal communication like a conference call, but sometimes it�fs difficult.

When we have an important topic, we have to do a business trip. Due to time differences, sometimes we have to start a job early and go back home late. But usually, we can leave the office around 7 pm. There is a case that the meeting time with the foreign country became late due to the time difference among the countries from the standard of Japan (9 am ? 5 pm). It is a feature of the global project that it becomes important to adjust/manage working hours according to the working situation.

Based on my experience, since I have a meeting with other countries late at night due to time difference, I focus on housework in the morning and send my children to nursery school before going to work. Although there are merits that you can flexibly adjust your working hours, time management is one of the essences for working at the global project.

What�fs the most challenging thing you find when working on this project and how did you cope with it?

N: The most difficult thing is to have a common understanding among stakeholders. Because there are many stakeholders with many different backgrounds (culture, etc.). In the most recent case, we communicated with the India system developer via teleconference and got a promise on what should be delivered. However, there were a lot of challenges if we only rely on a teleconference.

So we visited their company, and discuss it with them in person, using pictures and presentations. This is just one example of the challenges due to different backgrounds. Even with the Japanese company, there is also a possibility of miscommunication. But this is why we are here, as a bridge consultant.

T: One of the challenges I found was that sometimes there were no conclusions at the meetings with stakeholders, like Japanese stakeholders. To solve that, we always use Minutes of Meeting to guide us to the conclusion.

How is this project different from other projects you managed?

N: We have so many stakeholders and even other consulting companies in the same project. Sometimes we have to compete with them. In the initial phase, it is common to have some arguments. Because at first it is very important to gain trust from clients, and we want to show the clients that they can rely on us. However, since we have done this many times, we know how to do this.

T: Since this is my first project in EBSS, I can�ft compare it to other projects. But compared to my previous company, in EBSS I can work with many stakeholders. In my previous company I work in a system-development company, so usually I did not work with many other companies in one project. I think this is a big difference.

What do you like the most about your current project?

N: As I explained, this project is very challenging but I like to communicate with many different people from around the world. In this project, we also have chance to do business trip to other countries.

T: I also like to communicate with people from around the world. I still want to go to other countries, so I want to grasp this chance through this project.

What�fs the biggest lesson you learned during your whole career?

N: I learn about individual differences. Especially in the Global Project, race, culture, values, and way of thinking are very different among us, we need to consider and understand this point as a prerequisite in Project Planning.

T: There are various approaches to improve quality, but the process of requesting a review of deliverables and getting approval is very effective.

Do you have a message for people who just enter the consulting industry?

N: As a consultant, we have to study hard and improve ourselves a lot every day. Things are changing dramatically and we also need to get the latest market condition as well as IT knowledge. And of course, English is a must.

T: Consulting is a job where you need a lot of knowledge from other experts such as users and engineers. It is not easy to keep building knowledge, but I think that eventually, you can feel that you are growing.

Currently, the number of foreign employees, as well as foreign job-seekers in Japan, is increasing. Do you have a message for them?

N: To enter a Japanese company, the most important thing is to understand Japanese culture and to understand the Japanese way of thinking.

T: I think the Japanese culture is a little difficult to understand. Japanese are very detail-oriented, one of the examples is Japanese usually prepare detail documents before system development, but it�fs not always the case with other countries. So, do your best at work and in understanding Japanese culture!

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