The Consultant who Communicates
5 communication tactics that make a difference
I lead a group coaching cohort at Clevertech and this past week we had a discussion on what are the first things one should do when starting a new project with a new client.
Some of our junior developers were focused on tasks like: taking time to study and brush up on technical skills, familiarize themselves with the code and begin to deliver on tickets.
After they shared their thoughts, one of our senior leaders chimed in, his answer blew me away. He said his first priority was to connect with the client, understand who was REALLY in charge, what kind of results would make them look good and focus on delivering that FIRST.
It was a simple answer, but oftentimes we get stuck in the weeds of what we THINK is important and completely miss the fact that communication - especially the side of communication that involves deep listening and understanding the desired outcome of a client or manager we are working for - should be our highest priority.
It’s what allows us to make and keep the right kinds of promises and keeping promises is what builds trust. Let’s break down the answer into its important parts
Connect with the client
Understand who was REALLY in charge
what results would make them look good
focus on delivering that
FIRST
Lets shed light on each of these five tactics to see how you can use them in your own situations.
Connect with the client
You know the difference between a good relationship where communicating is easy, there are shorthands for complex topics and there is care for one another. Creating that takes work.
The elements of creating that connection involve the following:
Build background - “have you done this before? How’d it go?” Listen for previous accomplishments, the words they used that may be different than you are used to, the problems they faced and how they handled it.
Build trust - Trust involves sincerity, competence and reliability. How are you showcasing yours? An approach we like is weekly demos to show progress and give confidence that we are on the right track.
Build excitement - Talk about the future and look forward to what it will look like when we launch. Consider what it would look like for this to be a great success? and do the opposite - assume it failed and discuss why. Then use that to resolve those failure risks.
Build agreements - Sometimes presenting trade offs can give you more insight - “do we have enough time for testing all the use cases? Or is it better to launch with core features”
Understand who is REALLY in charge
Not everyone has the same weight, and the priorities coming from the person truly in charge are the ones that set direction. Don’t waste time on misleading direction. Just being aware of this danger is so important.
Determine what results would make them look good
What is going to move the needle in a way that is presentable? This is where we focus first. When you start a new relationship, demonstrating early success is critical to building that early trust.
Focus on delivering that
Understanding who is in charge and what they want to see now gives you the cheat sheet! Use it! This is your surefire way to built trust and build it quickly.
Don’t ignore this by first doing some underlying work that no one can see but you know is critically important. That’s a move to make after you have trust. If you are in trust building mode, first earn the trust with tangible deliverables.
With speed
Speed is a huge differentiating factor. It demonstrates your understanding and even if you get some of it wrong, you will learn and have enough time to recover. Speed is always appreciated in the service of creating deeper understanding. It also allows for tangible communications in actual features instead of abstractions in words and hastily drawn whiteboards.
This is one of the absolute best ways to build trust and create a strong connection with the client.
Communicating throughout each step
It happens often, there’s a good bit of communication at the beginning, when the scope of the project is being negotiated, and then, the work begins, everyone puts their heads down and things go quiet.
Don’t let this happen to you. Communicate just as often (if not more) once work begins. Check in regularly with the client to assess if the actions taken are TRULY contributing to the desired outcome, or if there are adjustments and shifts that need to be made.
High quality projects, Highly skilled teams, High level of autonomy
Practice at Home
If you want to get better, you have to practice. At Clevertech we form small groups who take leadership courses together where we practice outside of client engagements with our coaches. Another way you can practice is to have a written conversation with yourself and here are some questions to kick you off -
“How would you define satisfaction for your work?”
“How would the client define satisfaction?”
“Is there a difference?”
”If so, whose satisfaction is most important and why?”
”What would meeting expectations look like?”
”What would exceeding expectations look like?”
As you ramp up your communication, pay attention to what feels easy to address and what you are avoiding. This is important because it will highlight the potential blind spots that may become a problem later on.
You could ask “What am I avoiding talking about and why?”
Take the time this week to begin to press in, flex that communication muscle and start crafting solutions with the highest priority and desired outcome in mind.
We did a lot today. If you got to the bottom here, hit reply and let us know what you issues you are dealing with right now and would love to hear our input. We will do out best to reply to you all.