Management Consulting, Strategy Consulting, IT Consulting... the list of consulting types goes on and on. What do they all mean? What do consultants really do? In this landmark meet-up celebrating our two-year anniversary, we'll went back to basics to define and discuss consulting as a general business activity. We introduced our special brand of consulting -- a new, exciting and highly in-demand variation called "Process Consulting". We discussed what it is, how it differs from other forms of consulting, and how you can use it to improve any business in any industry.

1. Introduction to Process Consulting
Highlights and Q&A - NYBPP Meetup 3/1/18

2. Samuel Chin
Samuel is the founder of Cavi Consulting, a process advisory firm that offers
consulting, training, tools and education based on a universally applicable process
improvement framework.
Experience
Samuel has consulted for mid-to-enterprise level companies across a wide range of
sectors and verticals, including financial services, resources, legal services, media,
digital service, in both the for profit and nonprofit domains. He is the creator of the
proprietary Cavi Method of process improvement.
Education and Certifications
Samuel holds an MBA from the University of Richmond, and a B.A. from the
University of Virginia.
Samuel is a certified process expert in Lean and Six Sigma and also holds his PMP
and CSM in project management.

3. Agenda
● Introduction to Process Consulting
■ Defining Consulting
■ Defining Process
■ Defining Process Improvement
■ Defining Process Consulting
■ Summary
● Q&A
■ In certain organizations, such as government departments, employees value some of the obstacles to
process flow (e.g. ‘kinks’ in the pipeline). Can some obstacles be ‘valuable’ in a process?
■ Process Consulting is a relatively new field - How do you advertise it to people/organizations who need
it?
■ How do you ‘price’ knowledge?
■ In certain situations, people believe that they know the answers to process problems, given their
experience in the organization. Why, and how does a process consultant work around it?

4. Defining Consulting
Consultants help businesses solve problems
by selling knowledge.
This knowledge typically comes in the form
of:
● Research/Assessment
● Execution capabilities
○ Ops staff augmentation
○ Technology
○ Project staff support
● Knowledge/experience-based products
(training/tools/templates)

5. Consultancies Aggregate Knowledge at Scale
Businesses hire consultants, despite their high price, because acquiring concentrated bodies of knowledge or
insight internally would be even more expensive (there is value created in the exchange). In some cases, this
specialized knowledge is only needed for a particular project, so it’s also a way to control staff costs over
time.
Some bodies of knowledge that consultancies specialize in:
● Management Consulting - understanding how to better manage an ongoing operation generally
● Strategy Consulting - understanding how to inform high level, executive decision making - typically
around large projects or changes to the business
● Digital/Technology Consulting - understanding how to digitize work and implement technical
solutions
● SME Consulting - understanding a deep knowledge in a particular area of expertise such as IT, HR,
Marketing, Legal, Finance, etc.
● Process Consulting - understanding how to improve processes...

6. Defining Process

7. Process
A process describes the physical steps needed to transform inputs (ideas, raw
materials, information, etc.) into outputs (goods or services):
What if nobody wants the outputs, will the process continue to exist?
there’s more to the story...

8. Process (take 2)
A process describes the physical steps needed to transform energy into value
What are some examples of processes?

9. Common Processes
• Preparing breakfast
• Placing an order
• Developing a budget
• Triaging a patient
• Cleaning a room
• Putting gas in the car

10. Everything is Process!
• If something is moving, that means that there
was an energy or event that started its
motion. That energy will eventually transform
or dissipate into something else (ending the
movement).
• Enabled processes can be large and take many
hours or days, or simple and take fractions of
seconds.
• EVERYTHING in motion is defined by
process!

11. Defining Process Improvement

12. Process Improvement

13. Process Must Produce (Positive) Value
In life and business, we always strive to produce net positive value. Anything else is unsustainable.
Any process that creates negative value cannot exist for long:
Any process that creates positive value can continue indefinitely:
Value = Benefits – Cost
Value = Benefits – Cost
If benefits do not outweigh the costs, negative value is produced
If benefits outweigh the costs, positive value is produced

14. Improving Flow
If a process wants to create more value, it has
to have more energy “flow” through it.
Reducing the energy flowing into a process
and yielding more value out of it is a matter of
removing obstacles to this energy flow.
Process Improvement is the act of increasing
value creation from a process by identifying
and removing obstacles to energy flow.

15. Defining Process Consulting

16. Process Consultants are Process Scientists!
● For a process consultancy, the subject matter expertise and knowledge we sell is process science: the
understanding of how energy flows through the universe.
● Like other consultancies, we help businesses solve specific problems by packaging and selling our
knowledge in the form of engagements, research, or products such as training and software - typically
focused on process improvement.
○ All of these options are based on the understanding of energy flow, and how we can improve processes of all kinds
by increasing energy flow through the business processes
○ Often, improving flow by removing obstacles translates to cost reduction in core operations, which overlaps a lot
with management consulting
● Because of this, process consultants are not limited to one industry or field, and can help solve
problems that span many other consulting disciplines, including management and strategic
consulting.
● It’s an exciting new field!

17. Summary
● Everything in motion is a process
● Process is the mechanism that transforms energy into value
● Improving processes involves understanding obstacles to energy flow and removing them
from the process
● Process consulting is the business of packaging and selling companies the knowledge of
process science to solve their problems and improve their processes

18. Q&A
Answering questions from the meetup

19. Question 1:
In certain organizations, such as government
departments, employees value some of the
obstacles to process flow (e.g. ‘kinks’ in the
pipeline). Can some obstacles be ‘valuable’ in a
process?
The first step is defining a ‘kink’, i.e., knowing what a kink
is. A kink is any step in a process that:
(i) Requires a higher input of energy than actual value
creation.
(ii) Results in a waste of energy to reach desired output.
For example, in the case of a water pipe with several bends,
there is a loss of kinetic energy as water flows through the
bends. However, if the bends, or ‘kinks’ are removed, there
is no loss of energy, and the output is faster, resulting in
efficiency and value generation. The process of a water
pipe itself is valuable, however, the ‘kinks’ (bends) prove to
be detrimental once mapped out.
Therefore, one must translate physical mechanisms into
business constructs to determine the energy flow and
assess the impact of such ‘kinks’ on ‘value’ creation.

20. Question 2:
Process Consulting is a relatively new field -
How do you advertise it to
people/organizations who need it?
A process consultant sells outcomes by mapping processes
and deriving strategies to reduce costs and improve
margins, allowing for the automation and scaling of a
business. The consultant assesses the energy currently
flowing into the business, and derives a mechanism to:
(i) Lower energy (input), and increase value (output).
(ii) Maximize the value procured from the current energy
input.
An alternate view is encompassing value as a
‘nice-to-have’ to a ‘must-have’, i.e., selling the outcome in
a manner such that the client not only favors the process,
but realizes the business need for it. Pick the audience,
and provide practical outcomes to improve the overall
vision.

21. Question 3:
How do you ‘price’ knowledge?
The value of process science knowledge can be defined as
the percentage of costs saved through identifying a ‘waste’
of energy and translating it into a higher ‘value’ output, via
process improvement. Costs in each business are relative,
therefore, the price of knowledge is relative as well. In
order to price knowledge dynamically, yet consistently, a
process consultant can charge:
(i) A percentage of the costs saved in a process, once
restructured.
(ii) A standard rate/hour that varies across projects
depending upon the number of hours required to map and
implement a process.

22. Question 4:
In certain situations, people believe that
they know the answers to process
problems, given their experience in the
organization. Why, and how does a process
consultant work around it?
Such situations can be defined as ‘habit’, acquired when
people repeat the same tasks over and over. In this case, a
process becomes hard to automate. The key is to observe
the tasks, note down all the steps, and map it. Once
mapped out, business professionals are able to observe any
‘kinks’ (waste) and systemize and automate accordingly.

23. Thanks for coming!
● NYBPP Meetup:
○ Please leave us a positive review!
● You can view all of our past slides over
on Slideshare.net:
○ Slide Decks from Past Meetups
● Also, join our Facebook Group!
○ https://NYBPP Meetup Facebook
Group
● Finally, check out more process insights
at:
○ www.caviconsulting.com