Not-So-Trivial Pursuit
The beach. Oh, the irony. How could something sounding so wonderful be so dreaded, so loathed by consultants? Sure, being on the beach sounds great—sun, sand, pina coladas—but in the world of consulting it means you are “unassigned.” As in not on a project. As in billing no hours to a client. As in pulling in no revenue. Not exactly as much fun as Cancun. Consultants look forward to spending time on the beach about as much as they look forward to going to the dentist.
So what does one do when one is “unassigned?” It sounds so mysterious. When I entered this business I imagined the beach as this black hole, some abyss where consultants would disappear for periods of time and then resurface if they were lucky. So when I found out I was rolling off my project and was scheduled to sit on the beach, I was more than a tad concerned. Did this mean I had to start looking for new projects? How was I to do that? Did I need to look for another job? In short, the answers were yes, network and talk to your Resource Manager, and no—the beach is not a pink slip.
The key to being on the beach (and getting off the beach) is keeping busy, staying involved, and being visible. A great way to do this is through pursuit work. Pursuit work is all of the work that goes into selling the deals that turn into the projects and staffing opportunities. Pursuits provide a great insight into our business and how much work goes into a project before it even officially starts. I was fortunate enough to work with a great team on a pursuit for a potentially huge deal a little while ago.
Soon after I started working on this pursuit, I began to feel like I was in college again. When the team was writing and drafting their responses, hours would crawl by at a snail’s pace and then sure enough, five o’clock would roll around and I had hours of work to complete before midnight. It was like finals period—quick bursts of intense focus and energy and then a few hours of rest before it starts over again. Luckily for me, being a recent college graduate made me a pro at this type of energy management. And, like exams, crunch time during pursuit work is short and fast, but tends to creep up on you if you don’t give yourself ample prep time. When the work was over and Cap’s response had been submitted to the client, some team members were running on little or no sleep, just adrenaline and caffeine. We signed off on our final call and I felt like I was backstage at the final performance of a major production. I had a newfound respect for what it takes to keep our business growing and for those who work tirelessly to ensure that growth.
So, my friends, I guess the moral of this story is: while the consulting beach isn’t nearly as nice Cancun, if you happen to find yourself here, make the best of your time. Join a pursuit. They’re not so trivial after all.
Bench Time or Beach Time? :)
To be "on the bench" or to be "on the beach"? :)
Term Definition
“Bench time” is non-billable time, in consulting world.
Term Definition
“Beach time” is kind of not exist, in consulting world.
When I hear "I am on the beach" from some consultant, this means to me that this consultant is kind of new in consulting, and this consultant misheard the term "I am on the bench"...
So, let's check the term definition:
http://glossary.tenrox.com/Bench-Time.htm
Term Definition
“Bench time” is non-billable time.
Analysts and consultants use this term to refer to the time period when they are not working on a client-specific project or assignment, and as such not producing revenue. Technology consultants might offer their customers a subscription maintenance plan to optimize “bench time.” In this way, they are able to stabilize their cash flow and ride out the inevitable highs and lows of consulting.
Consultants might also use bench time to learn a new skill or programming language in order to broaden their scope of work and reduce future bench time. In project management, bench time occurs as a result of low margin projects, ineffective allocation and management of resources or unexpected delays. However, this can be more difficult to manage in large IT consulting firms. These firms may mange domestic and overseas clients and have a number of concurrent projects. If clients reduce their IT budget, then consultants may go on the bench once they have completed an assignment. In this case, bench time is not due to an ineffective allocation of resources but a change in financial allocation by the client. In response to this, some companies utilize a modified Activities Based Costing model. In this business model, activities rather than projects are managed. Rather than having consultants move from one project to another the organization will slice their pipeline of projects into activities. For example, common project activities such as user interface development and communication networking are managed rather than the individual project. In this way people would be assigned to the activity, not the project, which helps to control costs and revenues.
In businesses where revenues are not dependent on product sales, such as legal, consulting, and engineering, organizations strive for minimal bench time. In these organizations time and expenses are carefully tracked and billed to clients. In order to be sustainable, resources must be maximally utilized on billable time and activities.
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