what is the typical size of your team on one of these engagements?I will add another dimension: average seniority of the team. That said, it varies wildly, from a team of onw manager and one analyst to 15+ people in the same room. However, it is quite simple to estimate what the team will be based on the client-consultancy signed contract. Just remember: what varies is the scope and the timing. The scope changes in order to accomodate the budget of the client. Budget drives staffing in turn. I have seen project changing from 6-member to 2-member teams after negotiating. That is because the basic unit of measure is the average daily billing rate of the team ($xxxx/person/day).
General guidelines:
1) The more the project is high-level strategy vs. operational improvement, the more senior the team;
2) The more the project is high-level strategy vs. operational improvement, the littler the team;
2) The more the project is high-level strategy vs. operational improvement, the shorter the engagement;
Consider that a management consultancy has no relevant costs/productive inputs but personnel. So utilization rate is the key. That said, it is clear that multi-month, large operational improvement teams are where the company makes its money (I won't tell you the margin %, but think along the lines of Google/Microsoft, except the product does not scale). However, to sell those you have to develop a bullet-proof strategic rationale first. You have to have the management's absolute faith. Strategy engagements are often sold in fact as loss leaders (ok, let's say "under the par of expected marginality"
) in order to make tons of gold afterwards.
Let's say that if you find yourself, as an analyst or associate, working in very vertical teams with no peers, it's a very good sign. If you repeatedly find yourself buried in 6-months project with 2-3 peers, not so much (but everyone will be staffed on both for the sake of a good evaluation of his potential).
As I've said before, most of the people are in this line of work for the money and the exit options, not for the love of it. Partners know and tend to staff them as cash cows on long projects. Meanwhile, the others work in vertical teams trying to generate/consolidate new clients. As in the first strategic phase (often called A&D, "analysis and design") you are working with the CEO and her reports, which dows not happen in subsequent operational projects, it is then the vertical team people who are more likely to develop the network to make partner. So it all figures for he who wants to see it.
Working in vertical teams is tough as you are the analyst who will serve multiple managers/partners (often with conflicting schedules/opinions), but it's where you want to be. You are working with less stupid people, so:
1) you will learn more
2) you will work fewer hours (he who makes you do an all-nighter is never a director and almost always a moron).