Global Consulting Team

7 Step Framework Training

Step 7: Develop recommendation
Why does it matter?
In order to convert all your hard work into valuable advice for your client, your
recommendations should be concise, structured and comprehensive.
In this training section, we will explore how to best develop recommendations. As an introduction, read
the case study below and reflect on why well-formulated recommendations are important. In the next
slides, we will go through techniques to write recommendations at best.

Case study

A team of 5 is working on a project, exploring options for a charity to raise funds. Team members work hard, are
passionate about the cause, and collaborate with the client throughout the project. The latter is very pleased to
see the project unfold and is impressed by the quality of the students’ reasoning. However, when he receives
their final report and reads through the recommendations’ section, he is somewhat disappointed. The points that
the consultants are trying to make are not clear to the client. He finds the recommendations too long, confusing
and poorly structured. He goes back to them and asks for greater clarity.

Pause and reflect: how could the students have written clear recommendations from the start?
Key points

Your recommendations need to be:

• Concise: deliver your message clearly, using the least amount of

words possible.
• Structured: arrange your recommendations in a logical way, to
help the reader understand your reasoning.
• Comprehensive: make sure you provide recommendations for all
aspects of the problem you are solving.

The next slides present techniques for you to develop such

recommendations.
Concise recommendations
Say more with less
Just like in the example below, try to use fewer words to deliver the same message. The reader will understand
your point better and your recommendations will have a greater impact.
Structured recommendations
Sequence your arguments in a logical way

When turning your recommendations into the final report, make sure they follow a certain structure, such as the
one illustrated in the diagram below.

Overarching
recommendation

What? Why? or
Action or Action or Action or
How? reason reason reason

How do you know that? Fact/ Fact/ Fact/ Fact/ Fact/ Fact/
analysis analysis analysis analysis analysis analysis
Structured recommendations
Sequence your arguments in a logical way
Below is an example illustrating the structure presented in the previous slide.

The NGO should

invest in a social
media engagement
strategy

The NGO should target The NGO should focus its

The NGO should focus on
‘conversation drives’ around efforts on platforms that are
driving and taking part in
key organisation events heavily used by the target
online discussions
audience

There are not Social media Target audience

Target audience Events provide Target audience The NGO has
many conversations will mainly engages
has control over suitable topics for are interested in limited resources
conversations help promote on a few
the message conversations these events to leverage
occurring events platforms
 Structured recommendations
Sequence your arguments in a logical way
Below is an example illustrating the structure presented in the previous slide.

The NGO should

invest in a social
media engagement
strategy

The NGO should target The NGO should focus its

The NGO should focus on
‘conversation drives’ around efforts on platforms that are
driving and taking part in
key organisation events heavily used by the target
online discussions
audience

There are not Social media Target audience

Target audience Events provide Target audience The NGO has
many conversations will mainly engages
has control over suitable topics for are interested in limited resources
conversations help promote on a few
the message conversations these events to leverage
occurring events platforms
Structured recommendations
Sequence your arguments in a logical way
The storyboard is an additional planning tool that can be used to verify that your recommendations flow on from a
structured reasoning. When scrolling through your final report or presentation, the action headlines should form a
story guiding the client through your analysis, findings, and all the way to your recommendations.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY WITH THE CLIENT ISSUE AS WE THE CURRENT MAKEUP OF

HIGH- LEVEL THOUGHTS UNDERSTAND IT IS (THAT THE NATIONAL GROCERY
THEY ARE LOSING SHARE OF MARKET IS THIS
MARKET)

THOSE WITH A LARGER THE CLIENT CURRENTLY HAS THE CLIENT RANK WITHIN
SHARE OF MARKET HAVE THESE QUALITIES IN THE NATIONAL GROCERY
THESE QUALITIES IN COMMON MARKET IN THESE WAYS
COMMON

THE DYNAMICS WITH THE THIS IS HOW THE CLIENT IS THIS IS HOW THE HIGHEST
NATIONAL GROCERY DISTINCTIVE RANKING GROCER IS
MARKET ARE DISTINCTIVE
Comprehensive recommendations
Cover all aspects of the problem

Check that you haven’t missed any aspect of the problem you are trying to solve when making
recommendations: perspective/context, stakeholders/procesesses, criteria for success, scope of solution space,
barriers to impact. That way, your analysis will be comprehensive and truly valuable.

Check that:
Aspects of the problem you considered:

1 Perspective/ ▪ Your recommendations correspond to

context? 2 Stakeholders and the question you are trying to solve.
processes? ▪ Your recommendations are within
Scope of solution scope.
3 Criteria for success? 4 space? ▪ Any barrier to implementing your
recommendations have been
considered.

5 Barriers to impact?
Structured recommendations
Sequence your arguments in a logical way

Your report’s introduction should also be structured clearly. This increases your chances to ‘hook’ the reader into
reading more of the report.
Introduction

The introduction should tell a story, which includes

Situation

the following elements: Complication

▪ Situation: gives the context and key facts in an
Question
objective manner
▪ Complication: what happened (next) to trigger
Recommendations
the question
▪ Question: what the consulting report will attempt
to address
▪ Recommendations: what you recommend the
client should do
Final tips

When writing recommendations, make sure you:

1. Keep it short
• Aim to be as succinct as possible
• Don’t include background information or general research unless it
is absolutely essential

2. Make it specific
• Resist tendency to be vague and offer numerous different options
• Recommendations should outline HOW to change not just WHAT to
change

3. Make it easy to read

• Use numerous subtitles, bullet points, tables, graphs
• Limit use of technical jargon or academic references