We sit down with the client at the beginning of the project and go through all of the kickoff information. We look over the statement of work – out loud with the customer – and we go through it with a fine-toothed comb. At the end of the initial kickoff session everyone – you, the customer, senior management on both sides – should be on the exact same page, right? That’s not usually the case, though… is it?
Somehow clients always seem to expect more than we are prepared to deliver. This expectation gap is usually more the result of a failure to communicate than it is of anything else, and this lack of communications starts at the beginning of a project and extends all the way to the end. This unfortunate situation does not have to happen. In this section, we share a tool that we have used successfully for many years. Understand at the outset that the tool is easy to explain and understand, but difficult to put into practice.
Customer wants vs. customer needs
The root cause of many problems that come up in the course of a project originate in a disconnect between what the client says they want and what they really need. The disconnect may come about because the client is swept up in euphoria over the technology and is so enamored with the solution possibilities that they have convinced themselves they have to have this or that without further thought of exactly what it is they really need.
The disconnect can also come about because the client does not really know what they need. If there is any reason to believe that what the client says they want is different from what they need, the project manager and the project team have the responsibility of sorting through the requirements and bringing gap concerns to the attention of the customer. After all, if the solution ultimately doesn’t truly meet the customer’s needs at the end of the day, the customer will not be satisfied and the project will likely be labeled a failure.