The Monday after the steering committee. The engagement manager tells the partner that the new plan is still not realistic and that the team is stretched. He has to say no to his boss, bring options instead of complaints, and hear honest feedback about the warning he gave too late.
You asked for thirty minutes and a closed door. In my experience, that usually means a problem.
It's not a crisis. But I have three things, and I'd rather say them now than at the final steering committee. One is about the plan, one is about the team, and one is about me.
Good. That's a clear agenda. Start with the plan.
Owen tells Judith in one sentence how many topics he has and what they are. In a difficult conversation with a manager, this lowers tension: she knows there is an end, and nothing will be a surprise.
On Friday we got two more weeks, but they only pay for the delay. Since then, two things have grown. The Bristol plan is now a real plan, with dates and names. And on Friday you also offered to go to Philip's board with him.
I did. It was the right offer.
It was. But with two people, we can't do all of it well in the time we have. I've looked at it three times. Something has to move.
Show me the numbers, not the feeling.
We have seven weeks until the final steering committee. The Bristol plan is now thirty days: the HR data by role, interviews in all three centres, and a timeline with names. Finishing the analysis is fifteen. The final steering committee pack is ten, the implementation roadmap is ten, and a board pack is another ten. That's seventy-five days of work, and Meera and I have seventy.
Seventy-five days of work and seventy days of people. All right, that's not a feeling. But you're telling me the plan you asked Philip to approve on Friday doesn't work.
I'm telling you the plan works without the board session. With it, something else becomes a page instead of a plan. I'd rather tell you today than in six weeks.
Owen doesn't say "you made a mistake". He says what can be done and what can't, with the reason, and he connects it to his own promise to Javier. A no is easier to hear when it protects something the other person also cares about.
All right. What do you suggest?
I have three options. First, we keep everything and make the Bristol plan smaller. I don't like that one, because I promised Javier dates and names. Second, we add an analyst for two weeks, at our cost, not the client's. Third, the board session happens after the final steering committee, when we have a real number to show them.
And which one do you recommend?
The third. It's free, and it's better for Philip. If we go to his board before the final meeting, we take a number we're still testing. If we go after the final meeting, we take the recommendation.
Owen comes with a problem and three possible solutions, each with its cost, and he says which one he prefers and why. This is the difference between complaining to your manager and managing up. The decision stays with her, but the thinking is done.
Why not the analyst? That solves it, and I can find someone.
Because a new person needs a week to understand the work, and the Bristol interviews need someone Javier's team already knows. An analyst for two weeks would cost the firm ten days and give us maybe five.
Fair. And it's cheaper for the firm, which I won't pretend I don't care about. But I offered the board session on Friday. If I move it, Philip may think I'm going back on my word.
That's why I thought you should be the one to tell him. And you can tell him the reason: you want his board to see the final answer, not a draft of it.
That's a good line. I may steal it. Fine. Option three. I'll call Philip this afternoon.
What will you say to him?
Something like this. Philip, I offered to come to your board, and I still will. But I'd like to bring them the final answer, not a draft. So let's do it the week after the final steering committee.
That's better than my version.
Good. Your second point?
Second thing, the team. Meera hasn't had a free weekend in three weeks. She sat in Glasgow with Joanna's team for most of the sample, and then she rebuilt the analysis twice.
I didn't know that. She hasn't said anything. When I was an engagement manager, my partner never asked about weekends. I promised myself I'd always ask. Clearly I forgot.
She won't. That's why I'm saying it. If the next seven weeks look like the last three, she'll finish the work, and then she'll look for another job.
Does she want to be here next year?
She told me she loves the work. She doesn't love Sunday nights.
Then let's fix Sunday nights. What do you want from me?
Two things. No weekend work until the end of the engagement, and I'd like you to say it to her, not me. If it comes from the partner, she'll believe it.
Owen doesn't say "the team is tired". He gives a fact, three weekends, and asks for two specific things, including who should say it. A vague concern gets sympathy. A specific request gets action.
Done. I'll tell her today. And she did the work that changed the answer on this engagement. That should be in her review, in writing. Remind me.
I'll put it in my notes for her review.
Good. And Owen, what about your weekends?
Mine are fine. Mostly.
"Mostly" is a word managers use when the answer is no. The same rule applies to you.
Understood. Both of us, then.
Before your third point, I have one of my own. On Friday you told Philip you knew about the delay two weeks ago. You didn't tell me either.
No. I didn't.
Why not? I'm not asking to blame you. I want to understand.
Honestly? I thought I could fix it before it mattered. I thought if Meera worked faster, we'd catch up, and nobody would need to know.
"I thought I could fix it before it mattered." That's the most expensive sentence in consulting. I've said it myself. In my first year as a partner, I hid a budget problem for a month. The client found it before I told them. I lost that client, and I deserved to.
Judith asks "why?" and says clearly that she isn't looking for blame. Then she names the mistake and admits she has made it too. Honest feedback lands better when the person giving it is honest about their own failures.
And it's connected to the second point. Meera's weekends were me trying to fix it quietly.
Yes. That's exactly the connection I wanted you to see. A problem you hide doesn't disappear. Somebody pays for it. This time it was Meera.
Understood. The day I know, you know. And Philip the same day.
And put it in writing, even if it's one line. "This might be late, and here's why." A one-line email two weeks ago would have saved Meera three weekends, and you one difficult moment with Philip. That's all I wanted to say about it.
Thank you. I'd rather hear it from you than learn it the hard way again.
Good. Now your third point. The one about you.
I'd like to present the recommendation at the final steering committee. Not just the analysis. The recommendation, and the answer to Javier's questions about Bristol.
Usually the partner does that.
I know. But Javier trusts me now, more than he trusts the firm. If the recommendation comes from someone he's only met once, he'll hear it as a decision made in London.
Owen asks for something for himself, but he explains it in terms of the client: who Javier will trust. A request for responsibility is stronger when it is connected to the result, not to your career.
That's a fair argument. Here's my condition. Before the final meeting, you talk to Javier on your own and show him the recommendation. If he leaves that conversation still angry, I present. If he leaves it ready to argue about details, you present.
That's fair. I'd planned to call him anyway.
And what will you say to him first?
That he was right about the people. And that the plan for Bristol starts with them, not with the building.
Then it's a recommendation he can disagree with, but not one he can ignore. And I'll still speak about the money and the relationship. That doesn't change. And if he leaves angry, that's not a failure. It's information. Call him early in the week, not the day before. If something needs to change, you'll want time to change it.
I will. Thank you for listening to all three.
Thank you for bringing them with options. Most people bring me the problem and wait for me to solve it. In the war room, you wanted to cut the day rate to win this. Today you told a partner no, with three options and a recommendation. That's the job. Now go home at a normal hour. That's not advice.
Both people thank each other for something specific: Owen for being heard, Judith for the options. Specific thanks shows what you want to see again. Judith's last line repeats the weekend rule, this time for Owen himself.