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MANAGING CLIENTS
PATTERNS OF CLIENT BEHAVIOR
“THIS PLACE WOULD RUN SO
SMOOTHLY WITHOUT
CLIENTS.”
— Ironic crap I say while crying on the inside
OH BOY.
THE PART YOU ALREADY KNOW
CLIENTS WANT STUFF
▸ They have paid a lot of money for
you to be there.
▸ They had some kind of benefit in
mind when they made the deal.
▸ They may be having problems that
have nothing to do with you.
▸ They may be making it up as they
go along.
THE PART YOU ALREADY KNOW
THIS CAN MAKE PROBLEMS FOR YOU
▸ Unhappy clients. Contracts not
renewed.
▸ Fire drills.
▸ Bad feelings.
▸ Burn out.
SO WHAT TO DO?
1. TOOLS
2. SITUATIONS
CLIENT MANAGEMENT TOOL BELT
COMMON TOOLS AND TACTICS
▸ Certain methods apply in many or
most circumstances.
▸ This is a “tool belt” that you can
use selectively when dealing with
clients.
▸ Five reusable tools that you should
always have in mind when dealing
with clients.
CLIENT MANAGEMENT TOOL BELT
THE FIVE TOOLS
1. Build Empathy
2. Decompose the Problem
3. Create Structure
4. Check In
5. Always Have a Goal In Mind
CLIENT MANAGEMENT TOOL BELT
1. BUILD EMPATHY
▸ Feel for the client, even if you
disagree with them.
▸ Make sure the client knows you’ve
heard them.
▸ Try to understand what problem
the client is trying to solve.
▸ Understand the motivations and
tolerances of your client.
CLIENT MANAGEMENT TOOL BELT
2. DECOMPOSE THE PROBLEM
▸ Break the problem into smaller parts.
▸ Find out which of the parts matter to
the client. Often only some do.
▸ Clients may “solutioneer”. See past
that and look at the problem, not the
client framing.
▸ Seek ways to address the parts of the
problem that matter. Consider
solutions outside the client’s framing.
CLIENT MANAGEMENT TOOL BELT
3. CREATE STRUCTURE
▸ Make a plan.
▸ Make a plan, dammit.
▸ Even if it is short term. Even if it is a
plan to make a plan.
▸ Make the plan actionable.
▸ Get the client to approve the plan.
▸ If the plan doesn’t work, make a
new plan.
CLIENT MANAGEMENT TOOL BELT
4. CHECK IN
▸ You need a way to take the client’s
pulse. Usually on a weekly basis.
▸ Issues can be raised, problems
discussed.
▸ Lets you handle the client’s
concerns before they get too big.
▸ Shows the client you are handling
their concerns.
CLIENT MANAGEMENT TOOL BELT
5. ALWAYS HAVE A GOAL IN MIND
▸ In any client interaction, always keep
in mind what you’re trying to
accomplish.
▸ Do NOT take action without a goal in
mind.
▸ Game out the consequences of your
actions. If you do X, what will happen
next?
▸ (The more you understand your client,
the better you can anticipate their
reactions).
MANAGING CLIENT
SITUATIONS
CLIENT SITUATIONS
BUT FIRST, A BRIEF NOTE ON PATTERNS
▸ Archetypal and reusable
descriptions.
▸ Formalized for architecture by
Christopher Alexander.
▸ Formalized for software by Design
Patterns, by the “Gang of Four”.
▸ Spawned a lot of UML.
ANTIPATTERNS
Like patterns,
but bad.
THE SAME TYPES OF CLIENT
PROBLEMS COME UP OVER
AND OVER.
Loren. Master of the Obvious.
CLIENT SITUATIONS
CLIENT
ANTI
PATTERN
TOOL
BELT
DISCRETIONARY BACKFILL
ANTI PATTERN
ANTI PATTERN
DISCRETIONARY BACKFILL: SYMPTOMS
▸ Vendor’s mission changes constantly.
▸ Vendor drawn into pointless activities.
▸ When combined, vendor activities don’t make sense.
▸ An overall feeling of pointlessness.
ANTI PATTERN
DISCRETIONARY BACKFILL: CAUSES
▸ There is no plan, no roadmap, no success conditions.
▸ A desire by the client to “get their money’s worth”.
▸ The client organization is throwing off crises, and the
vendor is being drawn into them.
Create Structure
Build Empathy▸ This client needs a plan. They may not
know it.
▸ Determine what problems the client is
trying to solve, and come up with a
plan to solve it.
▸ The plan should have specific
timelines, deliverables and activities.
▸ Meet with, and sell the plan to the
client. Get their buy in.
▸ The team then is focussed on
executing the plan, not doing tasks “as
assigned” by the client.
DISCRETIONARY BACKFILL: SOLUTION
CLIENT FACTIONS NOT ON THE
SAME PAGE
ANTI PATTERN
ANTI PATTERN
CLIENT FACTIONS NOT ON SAME PAGE: SYMPTOMS
▸ Project being obstructed by group or individual within
client organization.
▸ Contradictory instructions given to team from different
people within client organization.
▸ Resistance to attempts to make plans.
ANTI PATTERN
CLIENT FACTIONS NOT ON SAME PAGE: CAUSES
▸ Different factions within client organization have different
priorities.
▸ Different factions have different values and pain points.
▸ Politics. Sigh.
Decompose the
Problem
Check In
Create Structure
Build Empathy
▸ Build consensus…by
▸ Consult each stakeholder. Find out:
▸ Concerns (risks)
▸ Pain points
▸ Success conditions
▸ Don’t accept their initial solutions.
Find a solution that meets all of
their needs, not what they dictate.
▸ Propose solution to them all. Get
buy-in.
CLIENT FACTIONS NOT ON SAME PAGE: SOLUTION
Decompose the
Problem
Check In
Create Structure
Build Empathy
▸ What about politics?
▸ Some times factions don’t act in
good faith, they want you to fail.
▸ Make sure the faction that you
directly work for is satisfied.
▸ Try to inoculate yourself against
the rogue faction.
▸ Keep track of power structures
within the organization.
CLIENT FACTIONS NOT ON SAME PAGE: SOLUTION
UNREALISTIC CLIENT
EXPECTATIONS
ANTI PATTERN
ANTI PATTERN
UNREALISTIC CLIENT EXPECTATIONS: SYMPTOMS
▸ Client asks things that are not possible.
▸ Or don’t make sense.
▸ Or just won’t work.
▸ Client is disappointed when those things don’t work out.
▸ That disappointment is transferred to the vendor.
ANTI PATTERN
UNREALISTIC CLIENT EXPECTATIONS: CAUSES
▸ Client legitimately may not understand how something (ie
software development) works.
▸ Magical thinking: believing something is true because you
want it to be true.
▸ Lack of precision or metrics: unable to gather and process
data that reveals the truth of a situation.
Build Empathy
Decompose the
Problem
Check In
▸ Make it clear that you share the
client’s objectives. You are trying
to help them, not stand in their
way.
▸ Quantify everything you can: work
estimates, velocity, externally-
originating delays etc.
▸ Let the numbers be the bad guy.
▸ Do NOT gloss over any sort of
estimate, evaluation or assessment.
Dot the i’s, cross the t’s.
UNREALISTIC CLIENT EXPECTATIONS: SOLUTION
CLIENT SUFFERS FROM
UNRECOGNIZED PROBLEMS
ANTI PATTERNS
ANTI PATTERN
CLIENT SUFFERS FROM UNRECOGNIZED PROBLEMS: SYMPTOMS
▸ Problem is compromised by terrible:
▸ Code base
▸ In house developers
▸ Project management
▸ Foundational technology
▸ …any other internal, structural problem client can’t see.
▸ As a result, progress is slowed or perhaps halted.
▸ And, vendor is blamed for lack of progress.
ANTI PATTERN
CLIENT SUFFERS FROM UNRECOGNIZED PROBLEMS: CAUSES
▸ Client may lack knowledge to assess problem.
▸ Client values may get in the way (e.g. pennywise and
pound-foolish).
▸ Client may be being taken advantage of by another party.
Build Empathy
Create Structure
Always Have A
Goal in Mind
▸ Determine the cause of the lack of
recognition of the problem in the client? Is
it lack of knowledge? Values? Are they
being taken advantage of?
▸ Gain the client’s trust first. Get them to
value your insight before you hit them with
this.
▸ Bring the issue to their attention in a way
that works with the cause of lack of
recognition.
▸ Keep in mind what you expect them to do
about it. Work towards that goal.
▸ If there’s no possible goal, don’t take action.
CLIENT SUFFERS FROM UNRECOGNIZED PROBLEMS: SOLUTION
CLIENT CONTROL
FREAKING
ANTI PATTERN
ANTI PATTERN
CLIENT CONTROL FREAKING: SYMPTOMS
▸ Client demands approval on everything.
▸ Pushback on vendor decisions, not for substance, but for
process.
▸ Very little freedom for vendor to make strategic decisions.
▸ Limited vendor control means limited ability to create a
positive outcome.
ANTI PATTERN
CLIENT CONTROL FREAKING: CAUSES
▸ Vendor may not have done enough to install client trust.
▸ Client history of being burned by vendors.
▸ Client may not detect a plan from vendor.
▸ Client may just be a control freak.
Build Empathy
Create Structure
Always Have A
Goal in Mind
Check In
▸ You can’t wrest control from the client, you
have to earn it.
▸ Show the client that you understand their
concerns.
▸ Make a plan with the client’s input. Build in
approval points for the client. Lots of
approval points.
▸ Document approvals.
▸ Make sure there is a regular touchpoint
where client can make fine-grained
approvals.
▸ If client is affecting velocity make sure that
is also exposed to them.
CLIENT CONTROL FREAKING: SOLUTION
FIRE DRILL!
ANTI PATTERN
ANTI PATTERN
FIRE DRILL!: SYMPTOMS
▸ Client asks vendor to work many extra hours.
▸ Crunch time happens repeatedly.
▸ Work turns out to be wildly more than estimated.
▸ Client feels like vendor isn’t supporting them in crunch
time.
ANTI PATTERN
FIRE DRILL!: CAUSES
▸ Work isn’t being estimated accurately.
▸ Busy times aren’t being anticipated.
▸ Understaffing.
▸ Lack of prioritization in work.
Create Structure
Decompose the
Problem
▸ Good old project management.
▸ Make and maintain an estimate
model. Update it with all new
information. Let it be the bad guy.
▸ Create interim deliverables.
Blowing an interim deliverable is a
canary in your coal mine.
▸ Get explicit prioritization of
features. Not everything is equally
important.
FIRE DRILL!: SOLUTION
CLIENT MANAGEMENT TAKES
PRACTICE.

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Client management workshop for tech

  • 2. “THIS PLACE WOULD RUN SO SMOOTHLY WITHOUT CLIENTS.” — Ironic crap I say while crying on the inside OH BOY.
  • 3. THE PART YOU ALREADY KNOW CLIENTS WANT STUFF ▸ They have paid a lot of money for you to be there. ▸ They had some kind of benefit in mind when they made the deal. ▸ They may be having problems that have nothing to do with you. ▸ They may be making it up as they go along.
  • 4. THE PART YOU ALREADY KNOW THIS CAN MAKE PROBLEMS FOR YOU ▸ Unhappy clients. Contracts not renewed. ▸ Fire drills. ▸ Bad feelings. ▸ Burn out.
  • 7. CLIENT MANAGEMENT TOOL BELT COMMON TOOLS AND TACTICS ▸ Certain methods apply in many or most circumstances. ▸ This is a “tool belt” that you can use selectively when dealing with clients. ▸ Five reusable tools that you should always have in mind when dealing with clients.
  • 8. CLIENT MANAGEMENT TOOL BELT THE FIVE TOOLS 1. Build Empathy 2. Decompose the Problem 3. Create Structure 4. Check In 5. Always Have a Goal In Mind
  • 9. CLIENT MANAGEMENT TOOL BELT 1. BUILD EMPATHY ▸ Feel for the client, even if you disagree with them. ▸ Make sure the client knows you’ve heard them. ▸ Try to understand what problem the client is trying to solve. ▸ Understand the motivations and tolerances of your client.
  • 10. CLIENT MANAGEMENT TOOL BELT 2. DECOMPOSE THE PROBLEM ▸ Break the problem into smaller parts. ▸ Find out which of the parts matter to the client. Often only some do. ▸ Clients may “solutioneer”. See past that and look at the problem, not the client framing. ▸ Seek ways to address the parts of the problem that matter. Consider solutions outside the client’s framing.
  • 11. CLIENT MANAGEMENT TOOL BELT 3. CREATE STRUCTURE ▸ Make a plan. ▸ Make a plan, dammit. ▸ Even if it is short term. Even if it is a plan to make a plan. ▸ Make the plan actionable. ▸ Get the client to approve the plan. ▸ If the plan doesn’t work, make a new plan.
  • 12. CLIENT MANAGEMENT TOOL BELT 4. CHECK IN ▸ You need a way to take the client’s pulse. Usually on a weekly basis. ▸ Issues can be raised, problems discussed. ▸ Lets you handle the client’s concerns before they get too big. ▸ Shows the client you are handling their concerns.
  • 13. CLIENT MANAGEMENT TOOL BELT 5. ALWAYS HAVE A GOAL IN MIND ▸ In any client interaction, always keep in mind what you’re trying to accomplish. ▸ Do NOT take action without a goal in mind. ▸ Game out the consequences of your actions. If you do X, what will happen next? ▸ (The more you understand your client, the better you can anticipate their reactions).
  • 15. CLIENT SITUATIONS BUT FIRST, A BRIEF NOTE ON PATTERNS ▸ Archetypal and reusable descriptions. ▸ Formalized for architecture by Christopher Alexander. ▸ Formalized for software by Design Patterns, by the “Gang of Four”. ▸ Spawned a lot of UML.
  • 17. THE SAME TYPES OF CLIENT PROBLEMS COME UP OVER AND OVER. Loren. Master of the Obvious. CLIENT SITUATIONS
  • 20. ANTI PATTERN DISCRETIONARY BACKFILL: SYMPTOMS ▸ Vendor’s mission changes constantly. ▸ Vendor drawn into pointless activities. ▸ When combined, vendor activities don’t make sense. ▸ An overall feeling of pointlessness.
  • 21. ANTI PATTERN DISCRETIONARY BACKFILL: CAUSES ▸ There is no plan, no roadmap, no success conditions. ▸ A desire by the client to “get their money’s worth”. ▸ The client organization is throwing off crises, and the vendor is being drawn into them.
  • 22. Create Structure Build Empathy▸ This client needs a plan. They may not know it. ▸ Determine what problems the client is trying to solve, and come up with a plan to solve it. ▸ The plan should have specific timelines, deliverables and activities. ▸ Meet with, and sell the plan to the client. Get their buy in. ▸ The team then is focussed on executing the plan, not doing tasks “as assigned” by the client. DISCRETIONARY BACKFILL: SOLUTION
  • 23. CLIENT FACTIONS NOT ON THE SAME PAGE ANTI PATTERN
  • 24. ANTI PATTERN CLIENT FACTIONS NOT ON SAME PAGE: SYMPTOMS ▸ Project being obstructed by group or individual within client organization. ▸ Contradictory instructions given to team from different people within client organization. ▸ Resistance to attempts to make plans.
  • 25. ANTI PATTERN CLIENT FACTIONS NOT ON SAME PAGE: CAUSES ▸ Different factions within client organization have different priorities. ▸ Different factions have different values and pain points. ▸ Politics. Sigh.
  • 26. Decompose the Problem Check In Create Structure Build Empathy ▸ Build consensus…by ▸ Consult each stakeholder. Find out: ▸ Concerns (risks) ▸ Pain points ▸ Success conditions ▸ Don’t accept their initial solutions. Find a solution that meets all of their needs, not what they dictate. ▸ Propose solution to them all. Get buy-in. CLIENT FACTIONS NOT ON SAME PAGE: SOLUTION
  • 27. Decompose the Problem Check In Create Structure Build Empathy ▸ What about politics? ▸ Some times factions don’t act in good faith, they want you to fail. ▸ Make sure the faction that you directly work for is satisfied. ▸ Try to inoculate yourself against the rogue faction. ▸ Keep track of power structures within the organization. CLIENT FACTIONS NOT ON SAME PAGE: SOLUTION
  • 29. ANTI PATTERN UNREALISTIC CLIENT EXPECTATIONS: SYMPTOMS ▸ Client asks things that are not possible. ▸ Or don’t make sense. ▸ Or just won’t work. ▸ Client is disappointed when those things don’t work out. ▸ That disappointment is transferred to the vendor.
  • 30. ANTI PATTERN UNREALISTIC CLIENT EXPECTATIONS: CAUSES ▸ Client legitimately may not understand how something (ie software development) works. ▸ Magical thinking: believing something is true because you want it to be true. ▸ Lack of precision or metrics: unable to gather and process data that reveals the truth of a situation.
  • 31. Build Empathy Decompose the Problem Check In ▸ Make it clear that you share the client’s objectives. You are trying to help them, not stand in their way. ▸ Quantify everything you can: work estimates, velocity, externally- originating delays etc. ▸ Let the numbers be the bad guy. ▸ Do NOT gloss over any sort of estimate, evaluation or assessment. Dot the i’s, cross the t’s. UNREALISTIC CLIENT EXPECTATIONS: SOLUTION
  • 32. CLIENT SUFFERS FROM UNRECOGNIZED PROBLEMS ANTI PATTERNS
  • 33. ANTI PATTERN CLIENT SUFFERS FROM UNRECOGNIZED PROBLEMS: SYMPTOMS ▸ Problem is compromised by terrible: ▸ Code base ▸ In house developers ▸ Project management ▸ Foundational technology ▸ …any other internal, structural problem client can’t see. ▸ As a result, progress is slowed or perhaps halted. ▸ And, vendor is blamed for lack of progress.
  • 34. ANTI PATTERN CLIENT SUFFERS FROM UNRECOGNIZED PROBLEMS: CAUSES ▸ Client may lack knowledge to assess problem. ▸ Client values may get in the way (e.g. pennywise and pound-foolish). ▸ Client may be being taken advantage of by another party.
  • 35. Build Empathy Create Structure Always Have A Goal in Mind ▸ Determine the cause of the lack of recognition of the problem in the client? Is it lack of knowledge? Values? Are they being taken advantage of? ▸ Gain the client’s trust first. Get them to value your insight before you hit them with this. ▸ Bring the issue to their attention in a way that works with the cause of lack of recognition. ▸ Keep in mind what you expect them to do about it. Work towards that goal. ▸ If there’s no possible goal, don’t take action. CLIENT SUFFERS FROM UNRECOGNIZED PROBLEMS: SOLUTION
  • 37. ANTI PATTERN CLIENT CONTROL FREAKING: SYMPTOMS ▸ Client demands approval on everything. ▸ Pushback on vendor decisions, not for substance, but for process. ▸ Very little freedom for vendor to make strategic decisions. ▸ Limited vendor control means limited ability to create a positive outcome.
  • 38. ANTI PATTERN CLIENT CONTROL FREAKING: CAUSES ▸ Vendor may not have done enough to install client trust. ▸ Client history of being burned by vendors. ▸ Client may not detect a plan from vendor. ▸ Client may just be a control freak.
  • 39. Build Empathy Create Structure Always Have A Goal in Mind Check In ▸ You can’t wrest control from the client, you have to earn it. ▸ Show the client that you understand their concerns. ▸ Make a plan with the client’s input. Build in approval points for the client. Lots of approval points. ▸ Document approvals. ▸ Make sure there is a regular touchpoint where client can make fine-grained approvals. ▸ If client is affecting velocity make sure that is also exposed to them. CLIENT CONTROL FREAKING: SOLUTION
  • 41. ANTI PATTERN FIRE DRILL!: SYMPTOMS ▸ Client asks vendor to work many extra hours. ▸ Crunch time happens repeatedly. ▸ Work turns out to be wildly more than estimated. ▸ Client feels like vendor isn’t supporting them in crunch time.
  • 42. ANTI PATTERN FIRE DRILL!: CAUSES ▸ Work isn’t being estimated accurately. ▸ Busy times aren’t being anticipated. ▸ Understaffing. ▸ Lack of prioritization in work.
  • 43. Create Structure Decompose the Problem ▸ Good old project management. ▸ Make and maintain an estimate model. Update it with all new information. Let it be the bad guy. ▸ Create interim deliverables. Blowing an interim deliverable is a canary in your coal mine. ▸ Get explicit prioritization of features. Not everything is equally important. FIRE DRILL!: SOLUTION