How to Find Out What the Project is Really About

By MB Deans, Douglas Partners

You've met the client and done the research, but you're still not exactly sure what's expected of you. This article presents six techniques you can use to ensure you and your client are both satisfied at the end of a project.

The Challenge

You want to help your client and deliver the best work you can. You've done research, you've had several meetings with various team members, but you're still not sure what you're expected to deliver or by when.

Input from multiple stakeholders puts you at risk for getting mired in detail and sidetracked by daily emergencies. Unexpected discoveries can mean additional work, eating up time and budget, and leading to frustration for you and your client.

The Answer

Here are some techniques for understanding what's expected of you before you begin:

• Offer a scoping or assessment report. This may require a few hours to a week of work, depending on the size of the project, but it can save much more in time, money and frustration later on.
  
  Whether it's free or for a fee, use the time to learn as much about the project as you can. It gives you a chance to build rapport with a client. You may be surprised at the information people are willing to share. From first hand observation you find out who the real leaders and decision makers are. You can discover what employees think about the project, and can make better estimates of the effort involved in the project.
• Uncover the back story. Is there a merger in the offing? What's the political climate like in the industry, company, or organization where you're working? What do employees think of the executive in charge? How visible is this project?
  
  I was involved in a project critical to the company’s ongoing existence; I was part of a team trying to turn around a mid-sized firm that had gotten far afield from its original business model and was losing money hand over fist. The board was watching everything we did, 50% of the employees would be laid off, and there wasn't a lot of time or money for big, complicated solutions. Fat training manuals weren't the answer; detailed job aids were, along with two weeks of staffing a help desk and walking the floors to help employees through the transition.
• Be very clear about what you are—and aren't—going to deliver. If it helps, create sample deliverables. They don't have to be big or elaborate; a page or two can often help your client decide whether they need something.
  
  This was one of the best things I did for my client. She could point to a job aid, an instructor's guide, or another deliverable and tell me whether she thought it would be useful. It let me modify document formats to make them more appealing and it gave me an excellent understanding of how much work would be involved to create the kinds of deliverables she wanted. I quickly realized that I wouldn't have enough time to create a detailed participant guide, so I suggested the help desk and twice-daily floor walk instead.
• A high level work plan can identify problems before they arise. Lay out resources, roles, responsibilities, deliverables and dependencies. Understand critical path tasks and be very clear about what will happen if milestones slip.
  
  I walked through all of this, especially the dependencies, with my client and it paid off. Layoffs would mean key subject matter experts were going to be let go before I'd have a chance to interview them. If the company moved to smaller offices soon, we'd have to rent training space and a/v equipment at a hotel—a very expensive solution. Walking through my plan with the larger project calendar in front of us helped us identify several potential problems and make intelligent decisions before they became crises.
• Don't be afraid to say no. Sometimes this is the best thing you can do for yourself and your client. And you don't have to say it directly.
  
  My client wanted to pay me—at my daily rate—to copyedit manuals written by her tech team. Now I'm not a copyeditor; furthermore, my client could have gotten a very good copyeditor and paid much less for the service. I offered to find someone and gave my client the option of contracting directly with them or subcontracting through me. It cost her a bit more, but she asked me to handle the subcontract. She was delighted I saved her money and made sure she got the best product she could afford.
• Ask for feedback frequently. If possible, build in weekly status meetings where you can ask, "How am I doing?", "What went well this week?" and "What can I do better?" Listen to what your client is telling you; pay attention to body language and tone of voice as well as the words. Ask if there's anything else you need to know.
  
  I use this technique to strengthen client relationships; sometimes a chat over a cup of coffee in the cafeteria is worth a day of formal meetings. When you and your client are both relaxed—or at least out of the office—walls can come down and you can find out information you might not otherwise hear about.

The outcome of my turn-around project? The layoffs went off without a hitch, though they're never pleasant. The training was very well received because I involved subject matter experts in training delivery. Since I knew technical documentation would need to be created later on, I designed formats for the job aids that would simplify the process and make it easier to repurpose content. And my client asked me to return and manage another, even more critical project.

© MB Deans, managing partner of Douglas Partners, 2008. All rights reserved.

MB Deans—managing partner of Douglas Partners—is a workforce matchmaker and optimizer with an acute ability to quickly assess critical issues. She matches talent with need, transforms potential into production and customizes solutions to individual situations. To find out more about her services, go to www.douglas-partners.com. She can be reached at (925) 200-9702 or mb@douglas-partners.com.