We all know that Project Management is to a great extent about communication. Drop all the tools, and you can manage to get a project done with effective enough communications. Drop all communication, and the tools will fail you. The same goes for management, and really, your career in general, right down to the job hunt.
That’s why impressions matter. Someone’s impression of you colors every interaction. Their impression of your department, your project, or your company does the same. First impressions are always a strong dominant factor in overall impressions. Libraries are filled with books on this topic. Today I want to talk about the four impressions as they apply to you, your project, your department, and your company – and, therefore, to your career.
Personal Impressions:
1. The first meet: This is the first time you meet someone. There’s dozens of factors that apply here- your handshake, your demeanor, whether you use their name to greet them, the list goes on and on. There’s dozens of resources already out there on this, but you should go and investigate them if you haven’t yet.
For your project, this is the first pitch someone hears about your project. Try to communicate the value and need for your project. People’s willingness to support, assist, and give resources and time to your project are directly tied to the perceived value of your project in their eyes.
For your department, an extension of your own reputation. If you work in IT, and IT’s reputation in the company is bad, your work will always be colored by that. You might be seen reliably and very positively, but people will still hesitate to ask you for things because you’re part of “them”, and they are unreliable. Unfortunately, first impressions of departments in companies often come by rumor mill, or during the beginning orientation process, when sometimes new hires are pushed through the system hurriedly to get them to productive. The first interactions with your department should be as positive and helpful as possible to help create a positive image.
For your company, first impressions include your website, your public-facing staff, your phone staff, your offices, your business cards, your handouts and presentations- do they look professional? Is there an eye for detail and care? If you don’t care what you look like to them, why would you care about what the work you do for them looks like?
2. The first “sale”: This is the first time the person asks you for something. As an individual, this is your opportunity to turn from “someone I know” into “reliable resource”. As a company, this is an opportunity to build trust. To establish yourself as reliable, you want to be sure to do a number of things:
- Pay attention. Be sure to understand what they need.
- Acquire agreement. Discuss what you understand the deliverable to be, so you’re sure you deliver the right thing and at the right time.
- Deliver on time. Be clear in communications if you fail to be on time. Let them know beforehand.
- Be sure you both agree on priorities, or if not, at least that they understand your priorities. If something is going to get in the way of your delivery, or affect the quality of what you deliver, they at least understand why you’ve made the choices you’ve made.
- Deliver value. What you deliver might not be exactly what is requested, but be sure what you deliver is worth the effort that the person put in to acquire it.
- Above all, treat them how you would want to be treated if you asked for something.
3. The First Resale: This is the opportunity to validate the first sale. People are always willing to believe they “got lucky” the first time. All of the principles of the first sale apply again here. In addition, be sure to be consistent or better than the first experience.
4. The first customer service: This is the first time they come back to you with a problem. You delivered something, you tried for it to be the right thing, but something’s wrong. What’s their experience with you like? Are you accountable? Are you reasonable? Do you listen to their side of things? If you disagree, are you clear in helping them see your side of things? Did you share enough of your values with them that they can understand your side of things? Fair in one person’s eyes is not always fair in everyone’s eyes. You have to help people understand your position and values in conflict. Your goals during a customer service moment should be:
- Try to make things right for the customer.
- If you can’t, try to be fair to the customer in the customer’s eyes.
- Help the customer understand the values behind why the solution is fair. They may not agree with your solution, but it doesn’t mean you can’t establish respect for the decision behind it.
The goal of impressions for yourself, your company, or any group should always be to be seen as accountable, responsible, reliable,d fair, and worth the effort to interact with under a viable value system.