Managing The Professional Service Firm

A must-read book for those (at any level) who work at a professional services firm. For newer folks, this is an excellent primer on how businesses work, from finances to sales to customer service and delivery. For more-seasoned folks, it is a great refresh and you will likely find several great nuggets. Highly recommended read.

Right out of the gate I will admit that I am not an expert in this field. This book was recommended to me by an individual with over ten years experience working for large consulting organizations. My interest in the topic arose out of a career change I was considering that involved an association with a small consulting firm that was in its early formative stages. I found this book to be easy to read and very informative. My understanding is that Maister is pretty much considered the guru of the form and function of these types of firms. This book was published in 1993 and it is essentially a collection of earlier articles written by him for professional publications so some of the material goes back to the 1980's. As one would expect, some of the examples found in these chapters are obviously dated but the over-all concepts seem to have held up well. This book provides a great insight into the types of practices or engagements various professional service firms may have: brains, grey hair and procedural and how they relate to organizational structures and life cycles. This book would be a great value to anyone entering a field populated by professional service firms (law, accounting, management consulting, etc) - especially young people - as it provides an excellent prospective on the issues these organizations must face. It could also be of some value to management folks who must hire these firms from time to time.

This is an excelent book for anyone effectively running or working or even considering hiring a professional services firm. The book is extremely structured. It begins with the basics, the fundamentals of the business model, defining concepts like leverage, classifying the engagements by types, etc. After the basics are established, it goes through the most important elements for defining success: client, people etc. It is an excelent book, and after reading it, you don't need much more than that to understand this kind of industry. It is a deep work, very clearly written and useful to read. The only things that could be explored are some "real-life cases". All the concepts are developed in a pretty general way. Anyone experienced in the industry knows that all the topics are solidly rooted in practice, but discussing some cases could add some "spice" to the text and make the reading more pleasant.

I run a professional services firm in the government contracting space for over a decade. I first read this when I founded the firm, but didnt take much of this to heart because the focus was more on startup. Now, as a mature professional firm owner and manager, I re-read it and found it invaluable. In fact, I have made this essential reading for all managers and up at the firm. Even if no one reads it, I know I have internalized it. The book has forever shaped my view of leading and managing a professional services firm. It would rank among the top 3 of all business books I have read, period.

I purchased this book out of sheer luck, by reading a review to law firm start up book that recommended professional services firm management books. I am a East European Lawyer and feel empowered and enlighted when reading this book. Its style is user-friendly. In particular, I liked and appreciated the chapter on what clients expect from professional servicepersons. I have not yet read all its chapters, but those I did, I read several times and each time new helpfull skills come to my attention. As a lawyer, new tothis type of source of information, I was not expecting I could find such a book, of such a high quality.

I love this book and have given it to many of my first-time managers of creative teams. The authors cover many aspects of running a creative service firm that other business books fail to answer. Topics such as keeping the the pipeline of creative projects full or how to task your creative team to help them grow and mature creatively. Pricing of work and hourly rates. I know, sounds boring, but it is so important to a creative firm to keep it alive and thriving.

I have read over 70% of this book and I am so very happy I bought it. The author brings perspective on timeless questions that need to be addressed (e.g. managing client expectations) in a general enough language that works for almost every industry. Even if you are not working on a professional firm, the lessons provided apply to almost any environment where you work in groups that contain people with different skill level and age. Recommending it wholeheartedly.

Although it can be agreed that some of the concepts in this book afe common knowledge, it is a must read for anyone in the industry. For those who are only recently transitioning to the manangement level, it will provide a glimpse into the world that has governed your early career years. Hopefully with this knowledge the reader is able to gain a better understanding of thier own firm and identify areas of improvement.

Timeless wisdom!

Seminal piece - I have 2 hard copies and this soft copy for ready reference.

Pietra miliare!

If you are providing any kind of service and if you want to know how to scale it: read this. Never has anyone laid down the structural pieces of professional services as these guys have.

A must for anyone working in, managing, or considering a role in a professional services firm. Not nearly as dry as I anticipated, it's a really great read.