Having recently joined a large consultancy from industry I am shocked by the volume of powerpoint slides that seem to be required for every project.Most industry managers do not work in this way so why do consultancies? Do clients really perceive bigger is better? And is this common to all consultancies or is mine unusual?

This is a known and wide-spread problem. I have a very thorough and comprehensive ppt presentation which goes through this exact problem in detail.

Let's face it, a lot of consultants from large firms don't produce anything of any real value. The partner in charge just assembles a team that does a few weeks worth of hard but semi-relevant (but mostly pointless) work, and then at the end of it all they cart out some silver haired fox who has a good relationship with the client and says what he would have said anyway.The huge powerpoint reports and long hours are often done in order to convince the client that the silver haired fox's opinion is a good one that is based on lots of complex and accurate evidence, and that they are getting good value because after all the team had to work such long hours and what a big report they produced.

SVP - I love your comment! It's the best summary of consultancy I've ever seen. Perfect!

Definition of Management Consultant: A person who borrows your watch to tell you the time and charges you for it.

Definition of Client: Someone who owns a watch, but can't tell the time.

Of course what is needed here is a 25 page pack of slides explaining the background to time, how the watch works, a range of scenarios for different times, and six ways of stating the time using slightly different graphics and colours.Or couldn't we meet the client's needs by just telling him the time?

A good consultant would teach the client how to tell time. It might take a few slides, one to introduce the big hand, the other to introduce the small hand. A good consultant might even point out the value in being able to tell the time, in order to encourage his client to be involved in the learning process.

A good consultant would use the concept of timezones to make sure they told the client exactly what time they wanted to hear.A good consultant would also have a team of analysts build a series of astronomical, atomic, geological, water clocks, sundials and moondials as models in Excel.A good consultant would use the deep understanding they have gained of the client's business and the relationships they have built to sell the client a "time solution" (a Casio watch) and "implementation services" (project managed wrist-attachment).Finally, a good consultant would bill the client based on the cumulative time across all timepieces used in the project.

Powerpoint is rubbish.Look on Amazon and buy a book by Edward Tufte on Powerpoint and why its rubbish. You will see the light!

Let's be realistic, most people, consultants and executives, create very little value. We've all seen the worthless suit in the executive suite and in consulting firms. A few consultants and executives create extraordinary value, sometimes with Powerpoint charts.The Powerpoint phenomenon is the result of consultants having to prove their point conclusively--and address many or all possible objections in one meeting. After all, they won't be in the office the next day to address questions. It also takes alot more time to make the presentation shorter.