A day in the life at Idealist Consulting
“What do Idealist Consulting consultants really do?”
It’s a question I get a lot, and it’s understandable being in a somewhat ambiguous role. You should hear my parents describe my job (Hi mom!).
At Idealist Consulting, we put the human first.
Even though we are Salesforce consultants, our journey starts with understanding the goals of people using this technology. I see this evidenced in our daily tasks- whether that’s client meetings or check-ins with my colleagues.
So let’s remove some obscurity and give everyone a better sense of what consultants at Idealist Consulting do. Here’s what a typical day looks like for me, Melissa Foley, Lead Project Manager at Idealist Consulting.
8:00 AM
A quick check of my work email to get a sense of what popped up overnight. Coffee is in hand!
9:00 AM
Get to the office (it’s actually a historic craftsman house in Portland, OR). Chat with my colleagues (and pet the dogs) in the office. Work through my inbox again (yes, I’m a zero inbox fiend) and get prepared for my 9:30 AM client meeting.
9:30 AM
Meet with a client and another consultant to discuss their Salesforce implementation project. We’re in the thick of configuring their Salesforce instance and working through Sprints - currently, we’re doing some work with reflecting online donations in Nonprofit Success Pack. We discuss work completed last week, work in progress this week, roadblocks preventing the consultant or client from accomplishing work this week and any additional questions.
10:30 AM
Straight to another client meeting to discuss their Salesforce implementation project. We are in the thick of configuration for this project as well and working through User Acceptance Testing of a recent Sprint. This stage always brings up lots of personality and change management questions in addition to technical questions. We aren’t able to make it through all of the agenda items for the call so we set-up an additional call for the next day to discuss questions and feedback.
11:30AM
After two calls in a row, I get organized by creating summaries for each of the last two meetings, share recaps, action items, and assign tasks for each in our project management tool, Asana. I check-in with email and work my inbox down to zero again.
12:00 PM
I walk with a few fellow Idealists and furry friends to the food cart pod by our office for lunch. I decide on a pastrami sandwich (I know you were wondering!) and a La Croix.
12:30 PM
I answer a Google Hangout chat from a fellow Idealist Consulting Consultant who has a question about functionality in Asana. I hop on a quick call to screen share and walk them through the functionality. I recheck my inbox and prep for my next meeting.
1:00 PM
I run a cross-department meeting between our Business Development and Services team. We use this time to get aligned on cross-department topics and ensure that we are selling projects that are both feasible and exciting for our consultant team to execute. We also address wins, roadblocks, and KPIs. After the meeting, I share a meeting summary with a recap, action items, and assign tasks in Asana.
2:00 PM
Check my email, check-in on a few other projects I’m managing to make sure they are on track for deliverables due this week.
2:15 PM
A teammate has some questions about our Salesforce setup so we do a quick screen share. I do a little research on the issue and make some configuration tweaks so they can get back to work.
2:45 PM
I hear back from a consultant on a project I’m supporting that her workload is heavy and she could use some extra consultant help over the next few weeks on our project. I reach out to our Services Director to get an additional consultant added to this client’s project.
3:00 PM
I conduct a project retrospective call with a client whose project was recently completed. We talk about what worked well, opportunities for improvement, suggestions, and questions. This is one of my favorite client interactions because it leads to learning opportunities and provides a great opportunity to collaborate one more time with a client. Best of all, I get to see the impact to our client’s organization - often times a nonprofit can increase donations, reduce repetitive manual tasks, or simply feel more confident about their work because of our help.
3:50 PM
Check my email (project zero is on target!) and prepare for my last call of the day.
4:00 PM
I help conduct a phone interview with an Idealist Consulting candidate. We discuss their knowledge, experience, and answer any questions about Idealist Consulting.
4:45 PM
Wrap-up for the day, catch up on email, review tomorrow’s calendar and prep for any morning meetings. At Idealist Consulting, we believe that your work is just one part of your life, so I feel supported when I close my laptop strictly at 5 pm. Time to head to the gym!
We focus on the human behind the computer.
I bet your day is pretty similar- meetings, discussions with colleagues, and being owned by your inbox. At Idealist Consulting we care about the human-to-human interactions. My daily workload isn’t about counting hours towards a project but making sure our clients and my colleagues are successful through Salesforce.
Want to work with Idealist Consulting?
If you’re thinking of hiring a Salesforce consultant, we suggest reading this blog post on how to find a Salesforce consultant that matches your values.
Want to work for Idealist Consulting?
We’re hiring! Check out our careers page.
