How Does the Fall 2020 Look Like in the Eyes of a Consulting Director?

Are you interested in becoming a consultant at 180 Degree Consulting, the largest university-based consultancy? Do you want to develop innovative and practical solutions for organisations with social impact at heart? Here are some words from one of our Consulting Directors.

My name is Nicole Skoglund and I am one of the newly appointed Consulting Directors at 180 Degree Consulting’s Lund branch. I am studying my MSc in Innovation & Global Sustainable Development, after finishing my BSc in Development Studies at Lund University. Since I have an interdisciplinary academic background, I am interested in many aspects of social impact whether it be environmental, social, economic or so forth. 

As a Consulting Director, I will be forming client projects while also having the responsibility of supervising a team of consultants, keeping track of their progress and making sure group dynamics are intact. I will get  a good overview of what we are doing since I will be  keeping close contact with the respective clients as well as the consultants. 

We want to give our consultants the possibility to practice their strategic problem solving skills while also assisting social enterprises to the best of our abilities. At the moment we are in our client acquisition phase, so in the past few weeks I have been reaching out to different startups and companies in the hope of delivering one or two fascinating projects. 

Why 180 Degrees Consulting?
180 Degrees Consulting is the world's largest university-based consultancy providing socially conscious organisations around the world with very high quality and extremely affordable consulting services. By developing innovative, practical and sustainable solutions, our student consultants are contributing to their own careers and the world around them. Their involvement in 180DC will not only allow them to develop consulting skills but to put their time and energy into organisations which have social impact at heart. 

For example, they may get the opportunity to help a leading non-governmental organisation create a comprehensive digital media strategy or have the chance to help a socially conscious tech-startup expand into new markets to maximise their impact. 

Helping socially conscious organisations to tackle problems is rewarding, and our consultants get to develop highly beneficial career skills. Our consultants receive exceptional training as well as frequent mentoring from colleagues and experts within the field. Additionally, they receive guidance and support from the other team members and the opportunity to build a professional  network.

What do you look for in a team as a Consulting Director? 
As a Consulting Director, I am interested in finding co-workers that are engaged, highly motivated and curious about consulting. Most importantly, we look for individuals who want to contribute to the world and have a high interest in social impact. On top of this, we are a tight-knit community that looks for diversity in our teams. We are thrilled to work with students of many academic backgrounds as this allows the team members  to learn from each other.

It is vital for us to create an environment that allows students to grow and reach their full potential. 

How do you think COVID-19 has impacted the startup scene?
COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on startups. Things do not always unfold as expected. While some industries have thrived and others have faced decline, all startups have had to consider some kind of structural transformation. Not only are startups facing investment shortfalls, but they are also faced with the question of how to continue leading their teams.

According to Forbes, the industries thriving right now are ones within e-commerce, media, gaming, video conferencing, public cloud, SaaS, collaboration software, cybersecurity, and health tech. Industries that are seeing shortcomings are within events, the travel industry, restaurants, physical retail, and many more. Technology is pushing traditional mindsets in every form to adapt and transform, otherwise risking irrelevance. 

Perhaps your next concert will be in virtual reality? 

The shock of the global pandemic has led many startups to reconsider their futures. Developing an innovative and digital experience will play an even more instrumental role in contemporary business success. As a matter of fact, research shows that a global crisis may spark new ideas and innovations. A McKinsey report shows that organisations that maintained their innovation focus through the 2009 financial crisis emerged stronger, outperforming the market average by more than 30 percent and continued to deliver accelerated growth over the subsequent three to five years. 

I think it is important to remain calm, be resilient and channel one's energy into creating new ways to respond to the crisis. New ideas will flourish under these special and unprecedented circumstances.


Nicole Skoglund

A master student in Innovation & Global Sustainable Development at Lund University. The writer has a Bachelor Degree in Development Studies at Lund University. Nicole is one of the two Consulting Directors at 180 Degree Consulting’s Lund.