Consulting Lingo 101
Key terms and frameworks every aspiring consultant should know.
HOW DO CONSULTANTS SOLVE PROBLEMS?
Have you attended a consulting event, case competition or networking session and heard terms like “MECE,” “workstream” or “deliverable” used as though everyone already understands them?
Consulting language can feel intimidating, but most terms simply describe how teams move from a broad client problem to a clear recommendation.
Consultants typically need to:
Structure the problem
Decide what to investigate
Divide the work across a team
Analyse the evidence
Communicate a recommendation
So, how might a consultant approach a problem from the beginning?
STARTING WITH MECE
The first step is often to organise the problem clearly.
MECE means mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive.
In simple terms, divide a problem into categories that:
Do not overlap
Cover every important possibility
Practical example:
Imagine a café’s profit has fallen. A MECE structure could separate the possible causes into:
Revenue
Price
Number of sales
Costs
Fixed costs
Variable costs
This prevents the team from double-counting causes or overlooking an important area.
Once the problem has been divided into clear categories, consultants can map them using an issue tree.
BUILDING AN ISSUE TREE
An issue tree breaks one large question into smaller questions that can be investigated separately.
When approaching a case problem, a consultant might:
Clarify the client’s objective
Identify the main drivers of the problem
Break each driver into smaller branches
Prioritise the most important branches
Analyse the evidence
Use the findings to form a recommendation
Example: How can the café increase profit?
Increase revenue
Raise prices
Attract more customers
Increase average order value
Reduce costs
Negotiate ingredient prices
Improve staff scheduling
Reduce waste and overheads
The issue tree shows everything the team could investigate. However, consultants rarely have unlimited time, so how do they decide where to start?
HYPOTHESIS-DRIVEN THINKING
Consultants often use hypothesis-driven thinking to prioritise their analysis.
This means beginning with a possible explanation or answer, then testing whether the evidence supports it.
Example:
“Our initial hypothesis is that the café’s profit declined because fewer customers are visiting during weekdays.”
The team could test this by examining:
Customer numbers by day and time
Sales trends over recent months
Competitor activity nearby
Customer reviews and feedback
Changes in local foot traffic
The evidence may confirm, refine or reject the hypothesis.
For example, the team may discover that customer numbers remained stable, but average spending fell. The hypothesis would then need to change.
Once the priority questions are identified, the work is divided across the project team.
HOW PROJECTS ARE ORGANISED
Consulting teams use project language to clarify who is doing what, what the project covers and what must be delivered.
Using the café example:
WorkstreamOne section of a larger project.
Examples: customer research, competitor analysis and financial modelling.
DeliverableThe final output produced for the client.
Example: a recommendation deck assessing whether the café should open another location.
StakeholderAnyone who affects, is affected by or can influence the project.
Examples: the café owner, employees, customers, investors and suppliers.
ScopeWhat the project will and will not investigate.
Example: assessing three potential Sydney locations over the next 12 months.
Scope creepWhen additional tasks are added beyond the original agreement.
Example: the client also asks the team to redesign the café’s branding, despite this not being included in the original project.
After each workstream completes its analysis, the team must bring all the findings together.
SYNTHESIS AND CLIENT-READY WORK
Having lots of data is not enough. Consultants must explain what the evidence means and what the client should do next.
Synthesis means combining several findings into one clear message.
Rather than only saying:
“Customer visits fell by 15%, a competitor opened nearby and satisfaction scores declined.”
A consultant might synthesise:
“Profit declined primarily because a new competitor reduced customer traffic, while lower satisfaction weakened customer retention.”
The team could then recommend:
“The café should prioritise improving customer experience and introducing a weekday loyalty offer before considering expansion.”
The final output must also be client-ready, meaning it has:
Clear logic
Accurate numbers
Consistent formatting
Concise wording
A practical recommendation
But consultants do not always structure every problem from scratch. They may also use established frameworks to guide their thinking.
FRAMEWORKS FOR COMPETITION AND ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE
Frameworks help consultants identify the right questions to ask. They are starting points, not checklists that should be applied mechanically.
Porter’s Five Forces
Used to understand the competitive pressures within an industry:
Rivalry among existing competitors
Threat of new entrants
Threat of substitute products
Supplier power
Buyer power
Example:
Before entering the food-delivery market, a company might examine:
Strong competition from existing platforms
Customers’ ability to switch apps easily
Restaurants’ bargaining power
Alternatives such as takeaway or cooking at home
This helps the company judge whether the market is attractive and how it could compete.
McKinsey 7S
Used to examine whether different parts of an organisation are aligned:
Strategy, Structure, Systems, Skills, Staff, Style and Shared Values.
Example:
A retailer introducing digital checkouts may have the right technology, but implementation could fail if employees are not trained, responsibilities are unclear or leaders do not support the change.
FRAMEWORKS FOR PRODUCTS AND GROWTH
Other frameworks help consultants answer questions such as:
Which products should receive investment?
How could the company grow?
Which strategy involves the most risk?
BCG Matrix
The BCG Matrix helps businesses compare products or business units using market growth and relative market share.
It classifies them as:
Stars: high share in a high-growth market
Cash Cows: high share in a slower-growth market
Question Marks: low share in a high-growth market
Dogs: low share in a slower-growth market
Example:
A beverage company might use the matrix to decide whether to invest further in a rapidly growing energy-drink brand or redirect resources away from a declining product.
Ansoff Matrix
The Ansoff Matrix identifies four possible growth strategies:
Market penetration: existing products, existing markets
Market development: existing products, new markets
Product development: new products, existing markets
Diversification: new products, new markets
Example:
A skincare company launching a new serum for its existing customers is using product development. Selling its current products in a new country would be market development.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Have you ever thought about how all these terms might appear within the same consulting project?
Imagine a café wants to improve profitability:
MECE separates the problem into revenue and costs.
An issue tree breaks these areas into smaller questions.
A hypothesis identifies the most likely cause to test first.
Different workstreams investigate customers, competitors and finances.
The team uses relevant frameworks to guide its analysis.
Findings are synthesised into one clear message.
A client-ready deliverable presents the recommendation and next steps.
These are not simply buzzwords, they describe how consultants move from an unclear problem to an evidence-based solution.
YOUR NEXT STEPS AND PREP RESOURCES
Start small
You do not need to memorise every term or framework. Focus on understanding when and why each one is useful.
Practise applying them
Use an issue tree to structure your next assignment, society project or case competition.
Practise aloud
Explaining your reasoning clearly is just as important as reaching the correct answer.
Explore these resources:
Firm Learning on YouTube: Videos about consulting applications, careers and case interviews. https://www.youtube.com/@FirmLearning
Management Consulted: A Consulting 101 video series, case examples and free introductory preparation materials. https://managementconsulted.com/
Official McKinsey, BCG and Bain career pages: Firm-specific interview guidance and practice materials.
RocketBlocks: Case libraries, analytical drills and full practice cases. https://www.rocketblocks.me/
Save this post for your next consulting application, networking event or case competition!
