The real need?  Does the customer know it?  Do you know it from the initial information given to you?  Let’s look at the following project scenario….

 

 

Dave walked briskly over to Bill’s cubicle. “Bill, I just got a call from Amy. She’s got a problem and needs our help. I’d like you to go over there right away and get the details. Figure out what she needs and take care of her.”



Bill was pleased to be assigned to one of his organization’s most valued clients. By the next afternoon, he was sitting in Amy’s office, carefully reviewing the documents she’d prepared.



“Bill, we need the capability of screening all of our incoming components before they come into the assembly line,” said Amy. “You’re free to do this any way you’d like; just make sure that they fall within these guidelines.” She handed Bill some design documents and a list entitled Incoming Material Screening Requirements.



Bill was happy that Amy had given him free rein in determining the solution to her problem. He studied the project requirements and formed a project team. Then, he and his team developed and installed the hardware and software necessary to check all incoming components for compliance with the screening requirements. It was truly a thing of beauty. Bill was proud of the job he and his team had done.



Less than a week later, Dave called Bill into his office. “Bill, Amy just called me,” he said. “They’re still having the same problem as before— too many rejects coming off the end of their assembly line. What happened?”



Suddenly Bill realized what had happened. He had just discovered Amy’s true need—the hard way.

 


(The above project scenario comes from Gary Heerkens’ book entitled, “Project Management.”)



I really like the example above.  It’s simple, straightforward, gives you the impression that the problem has been solved through the project work and then BAM! … you realize that nothing has changed and you’re smacked upside the head with management questioning you wondering what you actually did on the project.



I can’t say that I’ve experienced utter project failure like this before – not where I’ve come to the end of the project before realizing that I really wasn’t solving anything or at least not the right thing.  But it has happened in midstream – though usually early enough in the project to take some corrective action without trashing the project.



So how do we avoid these types of situations?  The answer … more up front planning.  The project manager or consultant or whatever you happen to be when you’re taking on a customer’s need like this must ask the right questions.  Never assume that the requirements the customer hands you are the right requirements and certainly never assume that they are final requirements or correct requirements.  Skepticism almost always pays off.  Dig a little deeper.  Ask questions of eventual end users.  You’ll always get more information that will help you figure out the real problem.  This will allow you to hand over a final solution that really meets the customer’s needs and keeps them coming back for more business.