A Tried And Tested Weekly Review Process For Consultants

Performing a weekly review is incredibly powerful, and might be the number one heuristic I use to identify high-performing consultants from the rest.

It's a keystone habit that leads to a continuous cycle of learning and growth. Unfortunately, very few consultants do it - and most of those who do lack a coherent system.

That's why I decided to share the weekly review process I use and teach consulting partners. It is as close as I could get to something that is:

• Simple: Easy to understand, easy to perform.
• Quick: Doesn't require much time, 15-25 minutes a week.
• Effective: Focus on the important, not the urgent.

Each one of us has different thinking styles - a way to think, perceive and remember information. You might be more analytical and drawn to numbers, or sensible and drawn to people. You can be practical and process-driven, or prefer to run experiments, ask "why?", and look at the big picture.

While we can't fit everyone in one category, the fact that you tend to think in one way (and not the other) causes blind spots. We use the same mental models. We overemphasize what we naturally see since there's so much perspective missing.

This weekly review process is designed for you to close these gaps. It allows you to learn from the past, but also look at what you want to achieve in the future. It forces you to both reflect on your work and consider how you actually execute it.

Here's an illustration of the review process, with its three components: Time and task auditing, journaling, and planning and prioritizing.

During the next week I'll share more information on each one of those activities, so you can adopt them in your own consulting practice.