Guy Kawasaki wrote a great post a while back about customer happiness. I’ve seen this at work before. My parents, for example, have been thinking about buying a big screen television for years. The problem is, nowadays, there’s HDTV, LCDs, DLP, plasma, projection, etc. The choices are too many, the television makers are not clear on what it all means, the salesmen keep sharing more and more technical details, and so in frustration and confusion they simply do not buy. If someone simply made the decision about what the television looked like, what size they want, and ‘hey, look how nice this picture is’, they would’ve made the decision by now- but the sales folk don’t do things that way, and so they lose out on the sale.
So it goes in IT and project management as well. Too many times, we want the business to understand that we’re thinking ahead for them, that we’re using the right technologies, making good decisions, and sometimes the business simply does not care. It’s not that they don’t want us to make good decisions, its that that’s our job, and they don’t need to hear about it. They need to know when we’ll make their jobs easier. The key is understanding when you should simplify things for the client, and when you should not. Here’s a few example cases.
When the Sponsor/client cares about the end result:
Sometimes, people just want their problem solved. They don’t care that you’re using web services to solve their problem. They don’t care about the database. They don’t care about anything except solving the specific business problem that they’ve identified. What you should report to them is when you’ll be done, when the documentation and training will be available, and when you think they’ll be able to put the solution to use. If this is what your client wants, then anything else other than updates to these three pieces of information likely just irritates them. The result is everything to them. If you talk about all the details you are wasting their time, and to them you are focusing on the process rather than getting them their result. Stick to the basics.
When you are late on a project:
See the item before. No matter how much the client may care about the process and the details when you’re on track, once you’re late, then they can get impatient. Stick to the details of what you’re doing to get things back on track. Don’t worry about the rest until you’ve solved that problem.
When your problems are not the client’s problems
The client’s problems consist of the fact that they don’t have their solution yet, what to do until it arrives, all the communication and change management around the solution implementation, training their staff, listening to their staff complain about things changing, learning how to use the new solution, providing training, and dozens of other things not related to your project/product. The difficulties related to RPMs not compiling correctly on the linux installation are of no interest to them- that’s your problem, and that’s why you’re in charge of the project, not them. In fact, there’s some chance that they don’t even care if you’re using linux, windows, unix, or bands of mongoose that quickly rewrite their screen every time they click on something new. They just want their solution, and if you can tell them how you’ll make their other problems easier, that’s an added bonus.
Other times, you should share as much information as possible with the client. Some examples are:
The solution will be delivered in phases
The client isn’t getting everything they want up front. This complicates their lives. Share as much as possible about what they can expect and when.
The client will be maintaining the solution after implementation
If the client has to maintain whatever it is you’re delivering, then you can’t give them enough information. They will want and should have as much say as possible in as many decisions as possible.
All in all, understanding the right amount of information to share with the customer goes a long way towards their happiness. Share too much, and you’re wasting their time and your own. Keep your project reports tuned to the audience’s needs.