Time flies when you’re having fun, which is exactly what we’ve been having since Stine joined MSC at the beginning of 2021. With her long consultancy experience, she has quickly contributed to our company growth, upskilling team members as well as gained the trust of several long-term clients. Now she’s certainly found her bearings in the role, so we thought it to be perfect timing to ask her to participate in our A day in the life… series. This is Stine Birk Hanson, senior management consultant at MSC.
Stine, describe your role in the company?
As a senior management consultant, I am one of several people responsible for managing the projects we run with our clients. This entails everything from preparing proposals for potential projects and clients to being the primary contact person for clients during projects. Additionally, I lead the case teams to ensure that the right analysis is performed and that our deliverables live up to our standards in terms of quality and timeliness. Another important responsibility is to ensure that our associates are constantly learning and developing their skillset. We work very collaboratively with our clients and are often seen as an integrated business development or communications function, which also means that the projects are as varied as our clients are different.
Other responsibilities for our team of management consultants include sales activities to ensure we continuously have a healthy pipeline of incoming projects and resource planning to make sure everyone has an appropriate level of workload. We do also work on a range of internal projects that make sure that we develop MSC as a company, just like we encourage and support our clients to grow theirs.
In summary, most days are different from the last, which is a great part of this job!
“I meet with one of my regular clients to discuss our ongoing projects. I present status on the most significant workstreams and a plan for how we will progress with each project during the coming month as well as ask a set of clarifying questions. I find this being a great opportunity to take a step back, refine priorities and ensure our client’s expectations are aligned with ours.”
Can you describe a day in your life?
08:30 I have my morning cup of tea in front of my computer while catching up on this mornings’ client and industry news. Today, I’m at the office, but we have a flexible policy so other days I work from home. I enjoy this moment of calmness before the day really kicks off with meetings and project work.
09:00 My first meeting this day is with management consultant Stephanie and associate Tatiane to discuss a client’s company presentation. The client is actively seeking to partner one of their drug candidate’s and has asked us to prepare a new, sharper version of their presentation to attract and retain the attention of potential partners. The team updates me on the changes made so far and I give them input on how to improve the structure and summarize our key questions for the client.
10:00 I work on a proposal for a potential new client who is looking for support with indication analysis of two rare cardiovascular diseases. When I have finished the first draft of the proposal, I send it to our CEO, Tobias, to get his input.
12:00 Lunch with the team at the restaurant in our building. During lunch we talk about last week’s social event where we went go-carting followed by a nice dinner!
13:00 Time to finish a deliverable for a valuation client! I do a final QA of the valuation report that we have worked on over the last month and send it to the client. We will meet them next week and present the report.
14:10 It’s time for virtual coffee with our newest team member, Ian, who recently joined us as an intern. Ian is pursuing a master’s degree in Bioentrepreneurship at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and is interning with us for a few months. I talk to Ian about how he is settling into his role and try to get to know him a bit better.
14:30 I meet with one of my regular clients to discuss our ongoing projects. I present status on the most significant workstreams and a plan for how we will progress with each project during the coming month as well as ask a set of clarifying questions. I find this being a great opportunity to take a step back, refine priorities and ensure our client’s expectations are aligned with ours.
15:15 I have no more planned meetings for the rest of the day, so I catch up on some admin work. I add a new lead to our pipeline system. A client has asked us to send a proposal for business development support at an upcoming investor conference. After that I talk to Tobias about the proposal I sent him earlier. I update the proposal based on his input, send it to our potential client and suggest a time with the CEO for a follow-up meeting next week.
16:45 It’s time to switch back to “mamma-mode”. I get in my car and drive home to begin dinner preparations. I have a short call in the car with Stephanie and Tatiane to debrief on the meeting they had with our client regarding their company presentation and agree on a plan forward. Soon after I get home, my partner arrives with the kids who enjoy a bit of chill-time in front of the TV before we all eat dinner together and go through our usual evening rituals.
20:15 With the kids sound asleep, I get back in front of the computer to round off the day. I catch up on a last few e-mails and update my plan for the rest of the week. While I finish up, we turn on the TV to watch tonight’s Champions League game – our favorite team Manchester United is playing against Villareal.
23:00 The game is finished, (Manchester United won by 2-0, yay!), and it’s time to get to bed so I can feel somewhat rested and re-energized for another busy and fun day tomorrow.
