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Successfully Interviewing Your Project Customer and Gathering Project Requirements - Part XIV - Guidelines To Communicate Recommendations Effectively

January 6, 2008 | Author: PM Hut | Filed under: Communications Management, Project Management Best Practices, Requirements Management

Successfully Interviewing Your Project Customer and Gathering Project Requirements - Part XIV - Guidelines To Communicate Recommendations Effectively (#14 in the series Successfully Interviewing Your Project Customer and Gathering Project Requirements)
By Keith Mathis - PM Expert Live

Making recommendations to the customer seems to be part of the normal interviewing process. This comes about due to the fact that customers have not finalized all of their plans for a project when you began interviewing. In many cases, they are looking for someone to assist them in developing their ideas. It is not uncommon to make recommendations to the customer as a matter of guiding them toward a more detailed explanation of the scope of the project they are seeking.

The following guidelines will assist you in being able to make recommendations to your customer in a more effective manner.

Discuss and present one idea at a time.

When making recommendations to your customer, it is important that you do not overwhelm them with numerous topics at once. The more topics the customers have to think through or decide upon, the higher the possibility they will get confused and will make no decision at all. To reduce this from happening, it is better to present one idea at a time in a manner that leads your customer toward a decision.

Get confirmation on each point before you move forward.

After you have discussed each idea, it is important to get some type of confirmation from your customer before you move to the next. This confirmation can come verbally, in writing, or, as a last resort, body language. One of the things you will notice when making recommendations is that the customer will give you cues which will show you they understand your point and idea.

Be specific with your recommendations.

Some interviewers think their role should be one which does not guide the customer in any direction, but allows the customer the opportunity to always have control. This makes sense in many situations; however, when interviewing a customer, it is possible they do not know what direction they are headed.

To effectively deal with this, the interviewer should make a specific recommendation to the customer based on their experience and understanding of the project requirements. The interviewer should remember that a specific recommendation is stronger than one which possesses a great deal of ambiguity. The specifics of the recommendation allow the customer to accept or reject what the interviewer is saying. This decision allows both the customer and the interviewer to go in a new direction without any misunderstandings.

Be prepared for any questions.

Questions from the customer are common when making recommendations. Some interviewers become extremely concerned due to the enormous amount of questions that a customer will fire back at a recommendation. It is good to remember that when a customer is asking questions, they do not normally do this with the intent of disagreeing, but they are only asking for more information.

Create notes on what you want to say and recommend.

Recommendations should not be something that is just off the top of an interviewer’s head. It should be very strategic in manner and should be something that is well thought out and detailed. To make sure your recommendation is clear and specific, it is beneficial for the interviewer to write down the exact recommendation.

Keep the meeting logical or chronological to assist in understanding.

Keeping the meeting logical and chronological will make the difference on whether or not the customer understands the full depth of your recommendation. There are many individuals who cannot grasp a recommendation unless they see it in sequence as it relates to the project.

Keep all terms and language as simple as possible.

When making recommendations, keep your terms and language as simple as possible. This is not a time to show off with hundred dollar words or acronyms which the customer does not understand. Your goal is to make sure that the customer understands what you are recommending and why in the simplest format.

Be a good listener to all customer comments.

As you interact with the customer during the recommendations, make sure you listen to the exact comments the customer is making. You are trying to determine if the customer fully understands the recommendation and why it should be considered, as well as if there are any objections. The interviewer must make sure to listen to the customer and analyze what is being said prior to making additional comments.

As you can see, it is very important for the modern project team to go the extra mile and interview the customer. Unless a detailed interview is accomplished prior to planning, it is almost impossible for a project team to meet the requirements demanded by the customer. The interview process should be structured and precise in gathering the information, goals, and success factors of the project. When this is done correctly, the details and clarity of the project are focused, and the project team is now ready to plan the project in detail.

Dr. Keith Mathis, founder and CEO of The Mathis Group, specializes in Project Management, Management Leadership, and Marketing training for private businesses and government agencies of all kinds. He offers 33 Project Management courses, is a Project Management Professional, is certified by the Project Management Institute and will customize every training session to your individual company’s needs. The Mathis Group also sponsors www.pmexpertlive.com, which is a powerful project management resource with free reports, podcasts, videos, and a monthly newsletter. He also offers customized management training and coaching on any subject with prolific communication and professionalism.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, January 6th, 2008 and is filed under Communications Management, Project Management Best Practices, Requirements Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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