We’ve all been there…the beginning of a project when you talk specifically about the performance the client expects. You’ve said the meeting will be detailed and a tad grueling…but within minutes your client is flinching, looking for caffeine and reading her smart phone hoping that an urgent meeting demanding her attendance beckons. She’s battling uncertainty and boredom and a bit of anger—she is eager to get results and DOES NOT UNDERSTAND why we are traveling at this snail’s pace to define behaviors.
Beware – she’s about to succumb in the deadly Infrastructure Battle. She has information we need, and honestly it is tediously hard work to detail the nuances of expected performance. It is the ugly back and forth dance: “Do you need them to use the model on a daily basis or just be able to explain how the model operates?”
If you want to avoid watching your client die a horrible death, here are 7 Tips to help you emerge victorious:
- Make sure the right people are in the room – Days before the meeting, set expectations about the profile of the attendees—“We are going to ask specific questions about the performance your company expects from a modeling specialist. To ensure the time is well spent, the meeting attendees need to be a select group who:
- Know the roles, responsibilities and tasks of a modeling specialist (this could be a star SME)
- Be a credible decision-maker regarding the performance to be assessed (this is a management person with credibility and who has skin in the project game)” - Control the environment – Take two extra minutes and ensure your meeting spot has windows, available drinks, comfy chairs and a better than average ambiance. Yep– it sounds cheesy but you need to help your client think through some tough stuff. Best if you can make the environment as pleasant as possible.
- Stop talking and show pictures – Set the tone by creating a non-nerdy visual with all the different ways to describe performance.
- Infrastructure passes, business results last – Show how clarity of performance is used in assessments, setting training and development objectives, yearly performance reviews, on the job coaching—this is the “we are all singing from the same page” scenario. You are providing clear descriptions of behavior for the individual in the role, and the individual managing the role.
- Make things easily digestible – Break the role into logical chunks and tackle just one chunk at a time. “First we just want to talk about the leadership skills an individual needs in this role.”
- Keep ’em comfortable – Give ample small breaks. Essentially you are poking and prodding to get the right information; you must be even more conscious about your client’s comfort during this process.
- Show the light at the end of the tunnel – Show the project plan, with the ever-present arrow from today’s activity to the real deal project your client wants completed.
Yep…building infrastructure is delayed gratification for the client – so our job is to recognize the battle, minimize the potential damage, keep your eye on the goal of the activity and press forward.
