An RFP lands on Friday afternoon. An associate spends the weekend hunting through SharePoint for the last proposal that looked anything like it, finds three half-matching decks, and rebuilds the methodology section a partner has now written eleven times. Meanwhile the kickoff for the engagement you already won needs a briefing pack, so someone junior is copy-pasting from annual reports, filings, and LinkedIn until midnight.
Then month-end arrives and your operations lead sends the same email to the same twelve consultants: please submit your time so we can invoice. The firm sells judgment by the hour, and a startling share of those hours goes to retrieval, formatting, and reminders.