Deliver consulting engagements clients can act on, from scoping to close
A complete working kit for independent consultants, small firms and coaches who advise: find the real question, test hypotheses, weigh the evidence, write the answer first, help owners start and close cleanly.
- An e-book that walks through the whole engagement in seven phases, with one composite case from scoping to decision meeting
- A 17-sheet Consulting Engagement Workbook: plan, stakeholders, hypotheses, findings, options, recommendations, risks, time against fee and two dashboards
- 4 fillable PDF forms, 4 Word templates including an engagement letter discussion sheet and report templates, and 38 messages and scripts
- An AI prompt pack with 31 prompts and confidentiality rules, an 8-week calendar and a task board import
The Consulting Engagement Kit · Bodhih Pro Kits · 216 by Bodhih Training, trainers to 2,000+ companies since 2008.
How do you run a consulting engagement step by step?
Find the real question and agree it in an engagement letter, then test hypotheses with interviews, data and observation. Rate the evidence, choose between options against agreed criteria, write the report answer first, pre-wire key people, help owners start and close with a handover. The Consulting Engagement Kit from Bodhih Training gives you a file for every step.
Want the full free guide first? Read How to Run a Consulting Engagement, Step by Step: Scoping to Close.
You already feel the problem. Here is what it is costing you.
The client arrives with a solution
"We need new software" or "we need a restructure" sounds like a brief, but it is an answer to a question nobody has asked yet. Deliver it well and you may still fail the client.
Scope keeps growing, the fee does not
A fixed fee is a promise about days. Without an out-of-scope list, a change rule and a weekly view of days used, every polite "while you're here" comes out of your own rate.
Weeks of data, no answer
Collecting everything and waiting for a pattern is slow and expensive. Without hypotheses, analysis turns into forty charts and no decision.
The decision meeting goes sideways
An influential sceptic hears a finding for the first time in front of colleagues, defends their area and the meeting ends with "let's take this offline".
You leave and nothing happens
Recommendations without owners, measures or check-ins fade within weeks, and the value of the work is argued about rather than seen.
Picture the next few weeks with the kit open beside you.
Imagine opening a client's email that asks you to help choose a software system. Instead of replying with a price, you send one short message asking for an hour with the decision owner. You open the scoping sheet in that meeting, and by the end of it you have a one-sentence key question, a named decision, a success measure and a readiness check. Software is now one possible answer instead of the assumed one.
When you fill in the engagement letter discussion sheet that evening, the out-of-scope list is already written, the access you need has dates and the fee comes from a days estimate rather than a guess. Two weeks later, when the client asks for "a quick look" at something else, the conversation takes two minutes, because the letter already answers it.
Picture Friday afternoon in week five. You open the workbook and see, on one dashboard, how many days are left, which tasks are slipping, which data you still need to chase, which hypotheses are supported and which stakeholder you still need to see one to one. Your Friday note to the sponsor takes ten minutes, and nothing in it will surprise them.
Then the decision meeting. The person you expected to fight the lead recommendation introduces it, because you walked them through it privately two days earlier and built their idea into it. Whether you start with the scoping sheet tonight or the workbook tomorrow morning, each file is ready for the next step of your next engagement.
19 files that do the work for you
The e-book shows you how. The tools make it happen. Here is exactly what you download.
The Consulting Engagement Kit (e-book, PDF)
The guide: methods, worked examples, scripts and exercises
Start here: the consulting engagement map
The whole engagement on one page: seven phases, the file to open at each step, your first hour and a 30/60/90-day use plan.
Consulting Engagement Workbook
17-sheet workbook: settings, engagement plan with slip flags, stakeholder map, interview and data tracker, hypothesis register, analysis log, weighted options matrix, recommendations with owners and measures, risks, time log against the fee, deliverables, close-out and two dashboards with charts.
Engagement Budget and Days Calculator
Seven-sheet calculator: estimate days activity by activity, turn them into a fixed fee or day-rate budget, see associate cost and your effective day rate, set a milestone payment schedule and test what overruns do to your rate.
Engagement scoping sheet
Two-page fillable sheet for the scoping meeting: the request, the real question behind it, success, constraints, scope in and out, deliverables, access, timeline, fee approach and a go or no-go readiness check.
Interview guide and data request form
Three-page fillable form: a structured interview guide with opening script and hypothesis-linked questions, an interview notes page with evidence for and against each hypothesis, and a data request form.
Hypothesis and options worksheet
Three-page fillable worksheet: key question and issue tree, a hypothesis test plan, and an options evaluation sheet with weighted criteria, trade-offs and risks.
Steering meeting and close-out review forms
Four-page fillable form for the meetings with your sponsor: a fixed steering agenda with pack checklist, status, decisions, change requests and actions; then the close-out review with objectives, value measures, feedback scales, handover, records, case study permission and next steps.
Engagement letter discussion sheet
A plain-words engagement letter structure with every clause explained and filled in for a sample engagement, ready to adapt and take to your lawyer.
Engagement message and script library
38 ready-to-edit messages and spoken scripts in 5 groups: scoping, kick-off, interview requests, data requests, steering updates, scope changes, pre-wiring, pushback responses, draft report notes, handover, close-out and case study permission.
Consulting report and presentation templates
Three templates in one file: the consulting report with the answer first, a decision meeting presentation outline with speaker script, and a one-page recommendations summary.
Implementation and close-out templates
Three templates in one file: an implementation plan with owners, measures and a change checklist, a lessons-learned review, and a case study with a written permission request.
Worked example pack: an operations diagnostic
The main forms and documents shown completed for one composite engagement, an eight-week operations diagnostic for a 60-person manufacturer, from scoping to the decision meeting.
AI prompt pack for consulting engagements
31 tool-agnostic prompts grouped by the stages of an engagement, each with what to paste in and what to check before you use the output, plus confidentiality rules.
Hypothesis decision card and report structure card
Two quick-reference cards: if X, do Y for scoping, hypotheses, evidence, scope and stakeholders; and the answer-first report structure with a test for each part.
Consulting mistakes to avoid
Twenty common mistakes across scoping, diagnosis, recommendations, the report and close, with what each costs and what to do instead.
Confidentiality and data handling notes (October 2026)
Dated notes: principles that travel, the main data protection laws to check by country and region, AI tool rules and ownership of your work.
8-week engagement calendar
38 calendar events for an eight-week engagement, from scoping to close, each naming the file to open. Import into a new calendar and move to your dates.
Engagement task board import
30 engagement tasks as a CSV ready to import into Trello, Asana, Notion, Planner or Jira, with phase, week, owner, file to open and due date.
Chapter by chapter
Each chapter opens with a real situation, gives you a method and ends with something to do today, using the tools in your kit.
- Format
- PDF e-book + XLSX + fillable PDF + DOCX + printable PDF + ICS + CSV
- Files
- 19 files plus a one-click ZIP
- E-book
- 60 pages
- Workbooks
- 17-sheet engagement workbook and 7-sheet calculator, with sample data, formulas and charts
- Works with
- Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice, Word, Google Docs, Acrobat Reader, GoodNotes, Google Calendar, Outlook, Apple Calendar, Trello, Asana, Notion, Planner, Jira
- Best for
- Independent consultants, small firms and coaches who advise, running diagnostics and improvement engagements in any country and currency
Entry and Contracting: The Question Behind the Request
Find the decision and the real question behind a client's request, and run a scoping conversation with a readiness check before you price anything.
Scoping and the Engagement Letter in Plain Words
Turn scoping decisions into a short, plain engagement letter with scope in and out, deliverables, access, fees, changes, confidentiality and ownership of work.
The Key Question, Issue Trees and Hypotheses
Break the key question into an issue tree and testable hypotheses, so you collect only the evidence that matters.
Diagnosis: Interviews, Data, Observation and Benchmarks
Interview for events rather than opinions, request data with a reason for every item, observe the work and use the client's own best performance as a benchmark.
Running the Engagement: Plan, Days, Scope and Steering
Estimate days before pricing, track plan and time weekly, steer with a fixed rhythm and handle scope requests in writing.
Analysis and Synthesis: From Findings to So What
Rate the strength of every finding, write the so-what for the decision and group findings into three or four key messages.
Recommendations: Options, Criteria and Trade-offs
Choose between real options against weighted criteria the client agrees, with trade-offs, risks, owners and measures.
The Report and the Decision Meeting
Write the report answer first, pre-wire influential sceptics one to one and run a meeting that ends in recorded decisions.
Implementation Support, Close-Out and Value
Help owners start, close with a review, handover and clean records, measure value against baselines and ask before any case study.
Ethics, Confidentiality and AI in the Engagement
Keep independence, declare conflicts, be honest about limits, handle client data carefully and use AI with a human review rule.
Not just reading. Tools you will actually open again.
E-book
- The Consulting Engagement Kit: an introduction, 10 chapters, a conclusion, 2 appendices and 6 hand-drawn figures (PDF)
Start here
- 00-Start-Here-Consulting-Engagement-Map: the engagement as seven phases with the file to open at each, your first hour and a 30/60/90 day use plan
Spreadsheets
- Consulting Engagement Workbook (17 sheets): Settings, engagement plan with slip flags, stakeholder map, interview and data tracker, hypothesis register, analysis log, options matrix, recommendations with measures, risks, time log, phase summary, deliverables, close-out checklist and two dashboards with charts
- Engagement Budget and Days Calculator (7 sheets): days estimator, fee builder, payment schedule, overrun check and summary chart
Fillable PDF forms
- Engagement Scoping Sheet (2 pages)
- Interview Guide and Data Request Form (3 pages)
- Hypothesis and Options Worksheet (3 pages)
- Steering Meeting and Close-Out Review Forms (4 pages)
Word templates
- Engagement Letter Discussion Sheet: 14 plain-words sections with notes on why each matters, to agree with your client and take to your lawyer
- Engagement Message and Script Library: 38 messages and spoken scripts from scoping to case study permission
- Consulting Report and Presentation Templates: answer-first report, ten-slide decision meeting outline with script, and a one-page recommendations summary
- Implementation and Close-Out Templates: implementation plan with change checklist, lessons-learned review and case study with permission request
Examples, cheat sheets and AI
- Worked Example Pack: an eight-week operations diagnostic for a 60-person manufacturer, from scoping to decision meeting (composite case)
- Hypothesis and Report Decision Cards: if X, do Y, and the answer-first report structure
- Consulting Mistakes to Avoid: 21 mistakes with their cost and what to do instead
- Confidentiality and Data Handling Notes (correct at October 2026): principles and the laws to check by country and region
- AI Prompt Pack for Consulting Engagements: 31 prompts with what to paste in and what to check
Calendar and task board
- 8-Week Engagement Calendar: 38 events, each naming the file to open (ICS for Google, Outlook and Apple)
- Engagement Task Board Import: 30 tasks as CSV for Trello, Asana, Notion, Planner or Jira
When you have worked through it, you will be able to…
Every outcome is practised with a worked example and a tool, not just described.
- Find the decision and the real question behind a client's request, and agree it in one sentence
- Draft a plain-words engagement letter with scope, access, fee, change and confidentiality terms for your lawyer to formalise
- Build an issue tree and testable hypotheses, and plan the cheapest analysis for each
- Run interviews that produce evidence, and request only the data you need
- Track days, slips, scope and stakeholders weekly against a fixed fee
- Rate evidence honestly and turn findings into so-whats and three key messages
- Write an answer-first report and run a decision meeting that ends in recorded decisions
- Close an engagement with a handover, clean records, value measures and a permission-based case study
Know your starting point. Prove your progress.
People who measure before and after improve faster and can show it. AssessAll, our sister assessment platform, has AI-graded assessments that pair with this kit. Take one now, work through the kit, then re-take it.
Presales & Solution Consulting - Situational Judgement
Take the assessment →AssessAll assessmentStructured Business Writing Work Sample for Consultants, Managers and Technical Leads
Take the assessment →AssessAll assessmentStrategic Thinking & Business Judgment
Take the assessment →JobularyTurn what you learn into a measured development plan (Jobulary)
Make it a growth plan →A taste of Chapter 3
The habit that separates efficient consulting from busy consulting is working from hypotheses. Instead of collecting everything and waiting for a pattern to appear, you write down what you think might be causing the problem, in a form that evidence could disprove, and then you go and look for that evidence. This approach is closely associated with McKinsey and the large strategy firms, and it works just as well for a solo consultant with eight weeks and one associate. The difference is that a small engagement cannot afford to be wrong for long. Two tools make it work. The first is the issue tree: you take the key question and break it into branches that do not overlap and together cover the whole question. Consultants often use the shorthand MECE for this, meaning mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive, a term popularised at McKinsey. The second is the hypothesis: under each branch, a specific statement that could be wrong.
The honest comparison
| Free templates and typical advice | This kit | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting the work | Price the client's request as stated | A scoping conversation, a one-sentence key question, a named decision and a readiness check |
| The contract | A downloaded legal template nobody reads | A plain-words discussion sheet with out-of-scope lists and a change rule, for your lawyer to formalise |
| Diagnosis | Collect all the data and look for patterns | Issue tree, testable hypotheses and an analysis plan, with evidence counted for and against |
| Evidence | Quotes from the loudest interviews | Findings rated for confidence, with two independent sources before the report body |
| Recommendations | The consultant's preference | Options scored against weighted criteria the client agreed, with owners and measures |
| The report | Background first, answer on page 30 | Answer first, message headings, evidence beneath, detail in appendices |
| Ending | Leave after the presentation | Implementation support, handover, records closed, value checks at 30, 60 and 90 days |
Made for you if…
- Independent consultants who run diagnostics, reviews and improvement projects on their own or with an associate
- Small consulting firms that want one consistent way to run engagements
- Executive and business coaches who are asked to diagnose and advise as well as coach
- Trainers and facilitators whose clients want a needs analysis and recommendations before a programme
- Internal consultants and improvement leads who run projects for other departments
- Therapists and counsellors who also consult to organisations, for the business and engagement side only
Probably not for you if…
- People looking for help winning work and writing proposals: The Proposal and Statement of Work Kit covers that
- Anyone wanting clinical, legal or tax guidance: this kit covers the engagement process, not regulated advice
- Large firms with their own delivery methods and compliance teams
Built by trainers, tested in real rooms.
Bodhih Training has designed and delivered corporate programmes since 2008. Bodhih Pro Kits package what works in those workshops into a guide plus the exact tools we use, so you can apply it the same day without a facilitator in the room.
From here to using it in three steps
- STEP 1
Tap Get the kit
Name, email and country. UPI, card or netbanking in India; international cards everywhere else. No account to create.
- STEP 2
Download instantly
Your download page opens at once, with every file and a one-click ZIP. A permanent link lands in your inbox too.
- STEP 3
Open the first tool
Start with the quick-start chapter, then the main spreadsheet or planner. Most buyers use something from the kit the same day.
Your next engagement starts with one sentence
Open the start-here map, fill in the scoping sheet and type the key question into Settings. Whether you begin with the scoping sheet tonight or the workbook tomorrow morning, every step after that has a file waiting for it.
Personal licence for the buyer's own use, including use with your own clients where the kit says so. Please don't share or resell the files. Team and company licences: solutions@bodhih.com.
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Individual development plans that start from evidence and stay yours.
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Run this topic as a live workshop for your team, in person or online.
Pewple
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The Consulting Engagement Kit: FAQs
Read the free guideAlready bought? Resend my linkWhat are the main phases of a consulting engagement?
Entry and contracting, discovery, analysis, recommendations, the report and decision meeting, implementation support and close. The kit gives each phase its chapter and files, and the workbook tracks the whole engagement on one dashboard.
What should a consulting engagement letter include?
The question you will answer, scope in and out, deliverables with sign-off, what you need from the client, timeline, fees and payment, how changes work, confidentiality and data, ownership of work, independence and how either side can end it. The discussion sheet covers each in plain words. It is a starting point for your lawyer, not a legal document.
What is hypothesis-driven problem solving?
Instead of collecting everything and waiting for a pattern, you write specific statements that could be wrong, plan the cheapest test for each and gather only that evidence. It is closely associated with the large strategy firms and suits small engagements even better, because there is less time to be wrong.
How do I write a consulting report clients actually read?
Put the answer first: the question, a one or two-sentence answer, three key messages with their strongest evidence, recommendations with owners and the decisions needed. Make every heading a full-sentence message and move method and detail to appendices. The report template and structure card are built this way.
How do I handle scope creep on a fixed fee?
Write an out-of-scope list and a change rule into the letter, track days weekly and answer every new request with options: later, a paid change, or a swap. The calculator's overrun check shows what absorbing extra days does to your effective rate.
Can I use AI on client work?
Yes, for drafting, summarising pseudonymised notes, suggesting analyses and structuring reports, if your engagement letter and the client's policies allow it. Use approved tools, remove names and check every fact yourself. The prompt pack has 31 prompts, each with what to paste in and what to check.
I am a coach or therapist. Is this kit for me?
If clients ask you to diagnose and advise an organisation, yes, for the engagement and business side. It contains no clinical guidance and does not replace your professional body's rules on confidentiality, records and ethics.
Is this legal, tax or financial advice?
No. The kit is educational. Engagement letters, confidentiality, data protection, tax on fees and ownership of work differ by country, so check your lawyer, accountant and local rules. Country notes are kept in one sheet dated October 2026.
How can I measure my starting point as a consultant?
AssessAll offers assessments matched to this kit, sold separately: Presales & Solution Consulting - Situational Judgement; Structured Business Writing Work Sample for Consultants, Managers and Technical Leads; Strategic Thinking & Business Judgment. They help you see which parts of the method to practise first.
How do I turn what I learn into a development plan?
Use Jobulary to turn what you learn into a measured individual development plan, with goals for the skills this kit covers such as scoping, synthesis and report writing.
Which software do I need?
The workbooks open in Excel, Google Sheets or LibreOffice with no macros. The forms fill in Acrobat Reader and most PDF apps, the templates open in Word or Google Docs, the calendar imports into Google Calendar, Outlook or Apple Calendar and the CSV imports into Trello, Asana, Notion, Planner or Jira.
What is the refund policy?
Digital kits are non-refundable once downloaded. The exceptions are corrupted files that are not fixed within 3 working days, duplicate charges or failed delivery.
How much does The Consulting Engagement Kit cost?
₹999 including 18% GST for buyers in India, or $29 for buyers outside India. One-time payment, no subscription, with an automatic invoice.
How do I get the files after paying?
Instantly. Your download page opens the moment payment succeeds, and a permanent download link is emailed to you. Download each file separately or everything in one ZIP.
What software do I need?
Any of the usual tools: Excel or Google Sheets for spreadsheets, Word or Google Docs for templates, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Preview, Xodo or GoodNotes for the fillable PDFs, and Google, Outlook or Apple Calendar for the calendar plan.
Can I get a refund?
Because it is a digital download, kits are not refundable once downloaded. We always refund a duplicate charge or a failed delivery, and if a file is corrupted and we cannot fix it within 3 working days. Full terms: bodhih.org/refunds.
Can my company buy this for a team?
Yes. Team and company licences, and workshops on this topic run by Bodhih Training, are available. Write to solutions@bodhih.com or call +91 99000 11601.
