The Stories We Weave

How many data points does it take to shape a story, so the client walks away from a meeting with confidence in you, the project team, and the project? Is this a trick question? I’ve seen stories put together with vaporware, twine, string, and a grain of fact. In my experience, a client is looking for the evidence they want to see. If a project is important to them to succeed (i.e., their career is riding on the success of the project they have agreed to) then they will want to see success and will view data markers from that perspective. If, on the other hand, the client has been brought in to review where a project stands and whether it should proceed, they may view the same data points from an entirely different perspective. Glass half empty or glass half full.

The drivers to putting together a story for the client are the questions the client will ask. Understanding what motivates the client is critical to being able to put together the explanation of what is happening in the project in a way to gain client confidence. How can you learn what is important to the client? Asking them seems easy enough and I’ve discovered that doesn’t always get the responses needed. There are usually hidden truths not shared, not out of malice, out of a belief that boundaries are important, or out of a desire to share only pertinent information. An example would be a client who is reluctant to share that the last three projects they’ve led have been over budget and that leadership has been clear that another project over budget would be harmful to their career. To discover what is important to the client it is important to listen not only to what the client is saying, it is important to understand their actions and those things they are not saying.

What is the trick? No trick, well, not really. The idea is to listen. Not listening thinking of your response, not listening wondering why they aren’t getting what you are trying to say, and not listening while thinking that we’ve talked the same topic repeatedly. The trick? Caring about the client and what the client is saying. No, this isn’t altruistic mumbo jumbo. This is nuts and bolts caring about other people, making them more important that what you have to say. Making it your job to understand first and then, after understanding fully, asking questions from a caring and listening perspective, being curious what the client means and what they are looking for, only then is it possible to begin to weave the story, paint the picture, and provide the information that the client desires.

This isn’t a “The customer is always right” perspective. To meet the client where they are, putting the data points, as factually put together as possible, into a language they understand, in a manner where they will understand it.

As a project manager I am responsible for providing information in a manner that explains the health of a project so that the client understands. I am responsible for get the data to show the client that the project is proceeding, not necessarily as planned because that isn’t always possible, but as near to plan as possible. I am responsible for providing the ebb and flow narrative, the explanations, the heads up, and the good, bad, and yes, potentially ugly information associated with a project. I am responsible for sharing the news that is uncomfortable to share without causing more undue stress than necessary.

To make that happen, I must approach every communication with the client with an intentional message, a context for the message, and clear data points that back that up. That means I get to be clear in my own head and think through what I want to the client to walk away from every meeting with. Context, intention, data points, and walk away with. When I set up my meetings with a clear context for the meeting, I set a clear intention for the meeting, I gather the data points that support the context, the intention, and the walk away with, I have a successful meeting. It is when I am unprepared that meetings go off the rails.

By the way, the context, intention, data points, walk away with are successful in all meetings, not only client meetings. Practicing these things, no matter what conversations you want to have, work or personal, provides a formula where relationships can be healthy, and outcomes can be progressive. Workshops, meetings, conversations of any type can reap a benefit from a little preparation. Context, intention, data points and clear outcomes (walk away with) makes a difference. What are you practicing today?