Setting Expectations page

Results - Expectations = Performance

The most basic consulting maxim is to exceed expectations. To say this another way, the best way to get your client to love you is to set low expectations and wildly exceed them. In reality, this means:

• Be careful to never over promise, especially when there are external dependencies or unknowns
• Pad estimates to account for external dependencies and unknowns

Taking complete ownership of tasks and the overall project goals

Taking ownership means not only managing your specific responsibilities but also contributing to the broader success of the project. By embracing ownership, you can proactively solve problems, ensure effective communication, and drive the project toward its goals.

Define and embrace ownership

Ownership means understanding your role within the project and how your work impacts the overall goals. It’s about taking initiative, being accountable, and committing to delivering real value.

• Understand the objectives: Make sure you understand the project’s aims and your role in achieving them. Break down big goals into smaller, actionable steps to make progress measurable and manageable. For example, if the project goal is to launch a new feature, set objectives for design, development, testing, and deployment phases.
• Clarify roles and responsibilities: Clearly define your tasks and how they fit into the larger project. Know who is responsible for related tasks and where your work overlaps with theirs. For example, a backend developer should confirm if they’re responsible for defining the API or if someone else is handling architecture. If you’re not sure, ask!
• Identify the Directly Responsible Individuals (DRIs): Assign a DRI for each key component of the project. A DRI is the person accountable for the successful completion of a specific task or deliverable, ensuring there is clear ownership and no ambiguity about who is in charge.

Tips and techniques:

• Create a responsibility matrix: Use a RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) chart to map out roles and clarify who is responsible for each task.

Questions to reflect:

• Think of a recent project you worked on. How did you define your role and responsibilities? Were there any ambiguities?
• How do you ensure that your individual tasks contribute to the broader project goals?
• Describe a situation where taking ownership led to a successful outcome. What actions did you take?
• What challenges have you faced in embracing ownership, and how did you overcome them?

RACI matrix

RACI is a responsibility assignment matrix used in project management to define the roles and responsibilities of team members for specific tasks or deliverables.

RACI stands for:

• Responsible: The person(s) who do the work to complete the task.
• Accountable: The person who is ultimately answerable for the correct and thorough completion of the task.
• Consulted: The people who provide input and whose opinions are sought.
• Informed: The people who are kept up-to-date on progress and decisions.

This matrix helps clarify roles and responsibilities, ensuring that everyone knows their specific contributions to the project.

Exercise

Ambiguous responsibility: You are working on a project where roles are not clearly defined, leading to missed deadlines. How would you clarify responsibilities to your team and ensure alignment with the project goals?

Foster effective communication

Effective communication is key to successful ownership. Regular updates and open information sharing keep the team aligned and accountable.

• Keep project management software updated: Make sure tools like Jira are always up to date to reflect current progress. This helps in tracking tasks and identifying bottlenecks early.
• Give regular updates: Use daily scrum meetings or weekly meetings to give updates. Set expectations for how frequently you’ll communicate progress and stick to that schedule.
• Share information openly: Use shared tools (like Confluence) and project management tools (like Jira) to keep everyone informed. Use public chat channels whenever possible so it’s easier to reference conversations later. If those tools are not in place, be sure to use email or ask the stakeholders how they would prefer updates.
• Encourage and act on feedback: Don’t hesitate to ask feedback directly from your stakeholders. When you receive feedback, think about how you can implement it and come up with a daily or weekly review system to see if you’re progressing.

Tips and techniques:

• Adopt the “one source of truth” principle: Centralize all project documents in a single platform like Confluence.

Questions to reflect:

• How often do you communicate updates to your team? What methods do you use?
• What are the most common barriers to effective communication in a project setting?
• How do you ensure that your project management software is always up to date?

Exercise

Outdated information: Your project management software has outdated information, causing confusion. How would you ensure regular updates and accurate data?

Proactively solve problems

Anticipating and addressing challenges before they escalate is crucial. Use your experience and your team’s expertise to develop and implement effective solutions.

• Anticipate challenges: Leverage your experience and insights to identify potential issues early. For example, if you foresee a delay in a deliverable due to a dependency, address it proactively.
• Develop contingency plans: Prepare alternative strategies to keep the project on track regardless of unexpected developments. Have backup plans for critical paths and high-risk areas.

Tips and techniques:

• Conduct pre-mortem sessions: Before starting a project phase, brainstorm potential challenges and their solutions to anticipate issues.

Questions to reflect:

• Describe a situation where you anticipated a challenge before it became a major issue. How did you address it?

Exercise

Unexpected roadblocks: Midway through a project, a key team member falls ill, causing potential delays. How would you adjust the project plan and leverage team expertise to stay on track?

Balancing making forward progress and stakeholder oversight

There will always be a tradeoff between moving a project forward and getting sign-off from a client or stakeholder. You may deal with clients who say they want to be involved in many layers of decisions but they are so busy or unresponsive that progress becomes blocked waiting for their approvals.

We’ve found the best practice for balancing these concerns is to optimize for progress while giving stakeholders plenty of opportunities to weigh in or course correct. In other words, in most cases, move forward with your best judgement, but visibly document your course via emails or tickets, in a way where clients can step in if they desire.

Keep stakeholders informed

During the normal course of your work, be sure to:

• Keep project management tools up to date: Tools like Jira can provide a single source of truth for the project’s progress. Always keep it up to date and add comments to issues if it’s in progress for more than a day.
• Summarize project status in weekly updates: This can be in the form of a Slack post or email, depending on the audience. Weekly updates provide a regular way for you to report progress and flag when a blocker needs to be addressed.
• Use sprint demos/reviews to show progress: Ideally, all stakeholders will attend sprint demos to learn more about work that’s being implemented. Even if they don’t attend the meeting, it can be recorded and sent to them as a reference.
• Use backlog refinement to identify risks: When refining issues in a backlog, point out the items that are unclear, need answers, or will need stakeholder input before they are worked on. The earlier those things can be addressed, the less risky the work will be when it’s picked up.

Tips and techniques:

• Develop a communication plan: Create a detailed communication plan that outlines what information will be shared, when, how, and with whom. This plan should address the needs of all stakeholders and ensure transparency throughout the project lifecycle.
• Tailor communication styles: Adapt your communication style to suit the preferences of different stakeholders. For example, some stakeholders might prefer detailed reports, while others might prefer concise summaries or visual presentations.
• Implement weekly updates (even if you don’t think they’re required): Send out weekly summary emails highlighting key achievements, upcoming tasks, and any issues needing attention. If things start to go off track, it’s easier to put that at the top of a weekly status update (vs. having to communicate bad news in the first update).
• Keep detailed notes about delays: If a client starts to become unresponsive, keep detailed notes about the communication you’re sending them and how long it’s taking for them to get back to you. Having a timeline of events before you need it can make it easier to communicate issues.
• Use a templated format for communication: Use standardized templates for reports and updates to maintain consistency and clarity in communication.
• Add a Blocked column: In tools like Jira, adding a “Blocked” column to the far left of the sprint board can make it very clear when there are blockers that need to be handled.

Questions to reflect:

• How do you balance involving stakeholders in decision-making without slowing down project progress?
• Describe a time when stakeholder feedback led to a significant change in a project. How did you handle the change?
• What strategies do you use to encourage stakeholder participation in review sessions?
• Think about a project where communication broke down. What were the consequences, and how could they have been avoided?

Identify when a stakeholder is required for a decision

Stakeholders don’t typically need to be involved in:

• Minor adjustments: Small tweaks that don’t significantly affect the project.
• Operational details: Day-to-day operational decisions that don’t impact the project’s core objectives.
• Technical details: Technical choices that don’t have a greater business impact.

Stakeholders should be involved when there are blockers:

• Dependencies: Either on another team or a stakeholder, e.g. when someone else must finish their work first.
• Resource constraints: If the right (number of) people aren’t available to help complete the work, e.g. when someone with specific knowledge is required.
• Technical issues: When an unexpected technical problem arises, e.g. an environment is unavailable for testing.
• Scope adjustments: Alters the project scope or objectives, e.g. a goal in the original scope seems unreachable in the alloted time.
• Timeline changes: Affects the project deadlines or delivery dates, e.g. the expected end date changes due to any of these factors.

Before escalating your communication, consider:

• Who it’s important to: Involve the stakeholders who have a vested interest in getting the problem solved.
• What needs to be decided: Focus on the most important things that need to be resolved first.
• When you need a decision by: Communicate this and share the impact of not having a decision by a specific date.
• Why the decision needs to be made: If you move forward with what you think is best, will there be any ramifications later?

Escalate blockers to stakeholders

If the matter at hand is an actual blocker, try to get a hold of the stakeholder:

1. Message them directly: Include a short summary of what you need a decision on with a link to more information.
2. Schedule a meeting: Look at their calendar and find their first available slot. When possible, include a link to a message in your chat tool or a comment in the project management tool that explains the blocker so they can read up on it before the meeting.
3. Call them directly: Tools such as Microsoft Teams or Slack allow you to call another person. Avoid calling them if you know they’re in another meeting.
4. Tell your lead/Principal/etc.: Let someone else know that you’re blocked and ask them for advice for escalating it more.

In any case, try to explain what you will do if you do not hear back from them, or make it clear you are completely blocked on a piece of work until you’ve had a chance to discuss it with them.

Exercise

The unresponsive client

You’re in charge of adding a search box to a component. You could build it into the existing grid in a completely abstract way, which would take 5 days, or you could make it work in the way needed for this specific use case, which would take two days. You ask your client which they would prefer but they are in two days of meetings and not replying promptly. This is the most important feature right now, so switching to something else isn’t a viable option.

What do you do?

Advocating for change to improve efficiency and collaboration

In consulting, advocating for tool and process changes can significantly enhance project efficiency and client satisfaction. And although uncomfortable, even people change can be necessary for a fully-effective team.

This section aims to equip you with the skills to identify, propose, and implement changes that can lead to better performance and streamlined operations.

Understanding gaps in current tools and processes

Before recommending changes, it’s crucial to thoroughly understand the existing tools and processes. Conducting a gap analysis helps identify areas for improvement by comparing current practices with industry best practices.

• Understand the existing tools and processes: Before suggesting change, get up to speed with how the existing tools can support your goals.
• Compare with best practices: Think through how the current tools and processes measure up against industry best practices. Highlight areas where improvements are needed.
• Gather data: Look for or start generating data to support your claim that a tool or process is inefficient. For example, track how much time it takes to complete a manual process or measure how long a slow tool is taking.
• Prioritize actual problems (vs. preferences): Evaluate the impact of identified gaps on project performance and prioritize them based on urgency and potential benefits. Focus on the most critical areas first for maximum impact.
• Consider the political capital required: It is much easier to propose changes after you’ve built up trust and rapport with the decision makers

Tips and techniques:

• Map current process workflows: Create detailed workflow diagrams to visualize the existing processes. Identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and areas prone to errors. This visual representation helps in understanding the flow and pinpointing issues.
• Use software tools: Use workflow mapping software like Lucidchart or Miro to create dynamic and interactive diagrams.
• Impact-effort matrix: Use an impact-effort matrix to prioritize gaps based on their potential benefits and the effort required to address them.

Questions to reflect:

• How do you prioritize gaps when multiple areas need improvement? What criteria do you use to evaluate their urgency and potential benefits?

Identifying and proposing solutions

With a clear understanding of gaps and inefficiencies, the next step is to identify potential solutions. Additionally, engaging stakeholders is critical for gaining support and ensuring successful implementation of proposed changes.

Note: Stakeholders in this context may mean your other teammates!

• Brainstorm new tools and process tweaks: Brainstorm potential solutions, including new tools or adjustments to existing processes, to address the identified gaps. Make a pros and cons list for each option to understand the ramifications of choosing each one.
• Consider the cost: Consider the ease of implementation, expected benefits, and total cost. For example, changing some processes (like meetings) can be no cost while buying tooling for everyone can be costly.
• Identify all the stakeholders: Figure out who has a vested interest in the change and who you exactly you will need approval from to move forward.
• Get early feedback: Ask another teammate, Principal, etc. for feedback on your ideas before taking it to the key decision makers. Sharing your ideas as an RFC (Request For Comments) gives others an opportunity to offer suggestions or raise concerns.
• Plan integration strategies: Develop strategies for integrating new solutions with existing systems, ensuring minimal disruption. Plan for any necessary data migration, compatibility checks, and integration testing.
• Present your findings or a Proof of Concept (POC): Create a clear, data-backed presentation to communicate your findings and proposed changes to stakeholders. If applicable, POCs can demonstrate the change more effectively and make it engaging. Interactive sessions help stakeholders experience the potential improvements firsthand.
• Address concerns: Prepare to address stakeholder concerns and answer questions to build support and consensus. Be transparent about potential challenges and your plans to mitigate them.
• Engage in open dialogue: Encourage questions and feedback to ensure that the proposal is understood and that stakeholders feel heard.

Tips and techniques:

• Phased approach: Design a phased integration plan that allows gradual implementation and adjustment.
• Visualization: Use infographics and visual aids to clearly illustrate key points and findings.
• FAQ sessions: Prepare a comprehensive FAQ document to address common concerns and questions.
• One-on-one meetings: Schedule one-on-one meetings with key stakeholders to address their specific concerns and gather their support.

Questions to reflect:

• How do you prepare for presenting findings and proposals to stakeholders? What key points do you focus on?
• What strategies do you use to address stakeholder concerns and build support for proposed changes?

Testing and implementing the changes

Testing proposed changes on a small scale, followed by a full-scale rollout, ensures that improvements are both effective and sustainable. Combining these phases allows for continuous refinement and minimizes disruption.

• Define measurable goals: Establish specific, measurable goals for the pilot, such as improved efficiency, reduced errors, or higher user satisfaction. Clear goals help in evaluating success. Set up mechanisms to continuously track the performance of new tools and processes. Regular monitoring helps in identifying issues early and making timely adjustments.
• Start with a pilot test: Implement the proposed changes on a small scale to test their effectiveness. Choose a pilot group that represents the broader user base. Analyze the results of the pilot against the established goals to determine its success. Look for improvements in key metrics and overall user experience.
• Revise the plan if necessary: Create a comprehensive plan for the full-scale implementation of successful changes. Include timelines, responsibilities, and key milestones. Adjust the implementation plan based on the pilot outcomes to ensure optimal results during full-scale rollout. Incorporate lessons learned to avoid potential pitfalls.
• Get stakeholder sign-off: Ensure relevant stakeholders sign off on the change. Hold meetings to get verbal agreements from all key parties.
• Prepare documentation and support resources: Create comprehensive documentation for the new tools and processes, including usage guidelines and best practices. Make sure that documentation is accessible and easy to understand. Offer support to address any issues.
• Implement in stages: Roll out the changes in phases to manage risk and allow for incremental adjustments. This approach minimizes disruption and allows for continuous improvement.

Tips and techniques:

• Success criteria: Establish clear success criteria to evaluate the pilot’s outcomes and full-scale rollout.
• Performance metrics: Compare pilot and rollout outcomes against predefined metrics to objectively assess success.
• Phased rollout: Implement changes in manageable phases to allow for adjustments and minimize disruptions.
• Step-by-step guides: Create detailed, step-by-step guides for each new process to ensure clarity and consistency.

Questions to reflect:

• How will you ensure that the rollout plan is detailed and comprehensive?
• How do you ensure comprehensive documentation for new tools and processes?
• What strategies do you use to standardize changes across projects and ensure team alignment?

Addressing ineffective leadership

At times, inefficiencies in a project can stem not just from tools and processes, but also from the actions or decisions of leadership or other team members. When leadership or a peer is hindering progress, it’s crucial to approach the situation with care, gathering evidence and understanding the context before escalating the issue.

• Talk with your Principal: Talk early and often with your Principal about the problems you see. Frame the conversation around the impact on the project rather than personal grievances, and use the data you’ve gathered to support your case.
• Observe and gather data: Just as with process inefficiencies, start by observing and collecting data on how the individual’s actions are impacting the team. Document specific instances where their behavior or decisions are causing delays, confusion, or inefficiencies.
• Focus on actual problems: Prioritize addressing specific issues rather than personal preferences or interpersonal conflicts. Identify how these behaviors or decisions affect the project’s goals and team dynamics.
• Understand the context: Take the time to understand the reasons behind the individual’s actions. Consider factors like workload, communication styles, or external pressures that might be influencing their behavior.

Tips and techniques:

• Confidentiality: Maintain discretion when discussing these issues to protect professional relationships and ensure a constructive outcome.
• Objective assessment: Use objective tools to evaluate the situation, focusing on the impact on project deliverables and team morale.

Questions to reflect:

• How can you gather evidence of leadership or team member issues in a way that is objective and fair?
• What strategies can you use to understand the underlying causes of a team member’s or leader’s behavior before escalating the issue?
• How do you frame conversations about team dynamics in a way that is focused on solutions rather than blame?

Pushing back

Inexperienced consultants tend to be pushovers and think of project constraints as fixed and unchangeable.

Experienced consultants recognize that nothing in a project is truly unchangeable. The key to their success is identifying the largest problems standing in the way of the project success and pushing back on them, as hard as necessary.

The Consulting Trifecta

You may have heard the following maxim: cheap, fast, good… pick two. While this may be useful (and true) for sales discussions, a more useful variation for project planning is:

Scope, schedule, resources… pick two.

This means that any project lead or PM can “fix”:

• the scope and number of resources is fixed, the schedule must be variable
• the number of resources and schedule is fixed, the scope must be variable
• the scope and schedule is fixed, the number of resources must be variable

Think of a project as a balloon with three edges. If you squeeze two edges, the third must expand. If you squeeze all three edges, the balloon will pop.

Bad or inexperienced project managers will attempt to tell you that all three factors are already set, and we must “work harder” to meet expectations. This is a trap and we must push back immediately or we’ll be setting ourselves up for failure. No matter how small the project, there must be an opportunity at the start for the team to set at least one of these factors.

Identifying unreasonable expectations

Understanding and identifying unreasonable expectations is the first step in managing client demands.

• Assess resource availability: Evaluate the resources at hand, including time, budget, and team capacity. For instance, determine if a client’s request for a system overhaul within a month is feasible by comparing it to the typical several-month timeframe required for such projects.
• Analyze technological constraints: Review the technological limitations that may impact project delivery. Determine if the current technology stack can support the client’s requirements without significant modifications or additional investments.
• Evaluating project scope: Compare the requested work against past project experiences. For instance, assess if expecting a feature-rich application from a two-person team in a few weeks is realistic, considering similar projects usually require a larger team and more time.
• Benchmark against industry standards: Measure the client’s demands against industry standards and norms. If you’re unsure what’s normal, ask your team lead or Principal. This helps in identifying if the expectations are in line with what is typically achievable within the given timeframe and resources.

Tips and techniques:

• Create a checklist: Develop a checklist of factors that typically indicate unrealistic expectations, such as tight deadlines, budget constraints, and resource limitations.
• Scenario analysis: Run “what-if” scenarios to see the impact of client demands on project timelines and resources.

Questions to reflect:

• How do you differentiate between a challenging request and an unreasonable one? What criteria do you use?

Effective communication techniques

Clear and effective communication is essential to address and manage client expectations appropriately.

• Practice active listening: Understand the client’s underlying needs by listening empathetically. If you’re preparing a response in your head while they’re still talking, you’re not actively listening.
• Be transparent and direct: Always convey what your team can realistically achieve. Avoid overpromising to please the client initially. For example, if a client asks for a complex feature that requires six months, explain why it’s not possible to deliver it in three.
• Support with evidence: Use data and past project experiences to justify your stance. For instance, create estimates for the individual pieces of work to show how they exceed the expected timeline.

Tips and techniques:

• Summarize and validate: Summarize what the client said and validate their concerns before presenting your counterpoints.
• Use “I” statements: Frame your responses with “I” statements to express concerns without sounding accusatory (e.g., “I feel that this timeline might not be achievable because…”).

Questions to reflect:

• How do you ensure clarity when explaining to a client why their request cannot be met?
• What strategies do you use to gather and present evidence that supports your position?

Strategic negotiation tactics

Negotiation is key to aligning client expectations with project realities.

• Set firm boundaries: Clearly define what is achievable with the current resources. State these boundaries upfront to avoid misunderstandings later. For example, “Our team can deliver this module by the end of Q2, but not the entire project.” If appropriate, politely refer back to the original contract or agreement when a client requests something outside of the agreed scope.
• Propose viable alternatives: Offer realistic options that align with the client’s objectives. If a client wants a complex feature quickly, suggest developing a simpler MVP (Minimum Viable Product) first. Clearly explain the benefits of the proposed alternatives, how they align with the client’s goals, and why they are more practical or effective than the original request.

Tips and techniques:

• Be consistent: Consistently enforce boundaries without wavering. If you allow one exception, it sets a precedent for future requests, making it harder to maintain those boundaries.
• Refer to contracts and agreements: When a client requests something outside of the agreed scope, politely refer back to the original contract or agreement. Highlight what was initially agreed upon and explain how the new request falls outside these boundaries.
• Understand the request: Fully understand why the client is making the request. What are their underlying needs and objectives?
• Offer solutions: Present alternative solutions that achieve the client’s objectives without compromising the project’s scope or quality. For instance, if a client wants an additional feature that is out of scope, propose a phased approach where the feature is included in a future phase of the project.

Questions to reflect:

• How do you establish boundaries without damaging the client relationship?
• Can you recall a time when proposing alternatives led to a successful negotiation? What alternatives did you offer?
• What are the benefits of using phase-based agreements in managing client expectations?

Influencing and persuasion skills

Being able to influence and persuade clients is vital for successful expectation management.

• Guide the conversation: Use open-ended questions to understand the client’s priorities and constraints better. Frame your feedback in a way that aligns with their priorities. For instance, “To ensure we deliver a robust and high-quality product, we recommend extending the timeline by two weeks.”
• Leverage your credibility: Use your experience and past project successes to support your perspectives on feasibility. Highlighting your expertise can build trust and make clients more receptive to your recommendations.

Tips and techniques:

• Ask questions: Use open-ended questions to understand the client’s priorities and constraints better. This can help uncover the root cause of their requests and allow you to address their concerns more effectively.
• Use data and evidence: Support your points with data, case studies, or examples from past projects. This adds credibility to your arguments and helps clients understand the rationale behind your recommendations.
• Be assertive, not aggressive: Communicate confidently and assertively, but remain respectful and empathetic. Acknowledge the client’s needs and concerns while clearly explaining why certain requests may not be feasible.
• Stay solution-focused: Keep the conversation focused on finding solutions. Avoid getting bogged down in problems or limitations and instead, direct the discussion towards what can be achieved.

Questions to reflect:

• In what ways can guiding the conversation help achieve better project outcomes?
• How do you foster consensus among stakeholders with differing priorities?

Documenting agreements and changes

Proper documentation is essential for managing and communicating expectations clearly.

• Maintain change logs: Record any changes in project scope or expectations. This ensures that everyone is aware of what has been agreed upon.
• Regular updates: Provide frequent updates to keep everyone informed about progress and any changes in expectations. This can be done through weekly status reports or regular client meetings.

Tips and techniques:

• Meeting minutes: Keep detailed meeting minutes and distribute them to all stakeholders to ensure everyone is on the same page.
• Change request forms: Implement formal change request forms to document any changes in project scope or expectations.

Questions to reflect:

• How do you ensure all changes in project scope are accurately documented?

Exercise

Project planning

Your client informs you that your team will be working on a new feature for your project. They’ve committed to an internal deadline of July 1st, with a non-negotiable set of requirements, and you have a team of yourself and 2 devs to deliver.

What do you do?

The difficult developer

There is one particularly grumpy client developer that joins your team in the middle of the project. Every idea you propose they argue against. They tend to nitpick all your pull requests with bikeshed-type comments. Recently, they proposed that we rewrite our project in Angular because it’s easier to onboard new developers to a popular framework.

What do you do?

Speaking truth to power in an effective way

Speaking truth to power means being honest and transparent with those in authority, even when the truth may be uncomfortable or unwelcome. This concept is vital for maintaining integrity and fostering a culture of accountability within any organization. For consultants, this means providing clients with honest feedback and insights, regardless of the potential for conflict or discomfort.

• What it means: Being open and honest with the people in charge, even if it might make waves.
• Why it matters: It helps maintain honesty and responsibility in decision-making, creating an environment where truth matters more than rank.
• Possible hurdles: Worrying about negative outcomes, damaging relationships, or being left out of future opportunities.

Speaking truth to power is more than just about pushing back against unreasonable expectations. It can include:

• Tech debt: The client prefers quick fixes over sustainable solutions, leading to accumulating technical debt.
• Ignoring accessibility: The client overlooks the importance of making the product accessible to all users.
• Poor communication: The communication between you and the client is inefficient, leading to misunderstandings and delays.
• Ignoring User Experience (UX): The client prioritizes aesthetic elements over user experience, potentially leading to a poor user interface.
• Security concerns: The client suggests a shortcut that could compromise the security of the application.
• Ethical concerns: The client requests features or practices that might raise ethical concerns, such as deceptive design patterns.

Preparing your message

Before delivering difficult truths, it is essential to prepare thoroughly to ensure your message is well-received and impactful.

• Check your facts: Make sure everything you say can be supported with data and evidence. This means doing your homework and double-checking your information. Providing a strong factual basis builds credibility and minimizes the risk of disputes over the accuracy of your statements.
• Understand stakeholder perspectives: Think through what each party stands to gain or lose and tailor your message to address these concerns effectively. Understanding different viewpoints helps in framing your message in a way that resonates with all stakeholders.
• Plan your approach: Lay out your main points clearly and decide the best way to explain them convincingly. Structuring your argument logically makes it easier for others to follow and understand.
• Anticipate responses: Think about the possible pushback and emotional responses you might get, and prepare thoughtful, calm replies. Being prepared for objections allows you to address concerns confidently and maintain control of the conversation.

Tips and techniques:

• Role reversal: Put yourself in the shoes of your stakeholders to better understand their perspectives and concerns.
• Develop emotional intelligence: Enhance your ability to understand and manage emotional responses, both your own and those of others. High emotional intelligence helps in navigating sensitive conversations and maintaining a positive tone.

Delivering your message effectively

When it’s time to convey your message, the manner of delivery can be just as important as the content itself.

• Pick the right moment: Choose a setting that’s private and free from interruptions, e.g. a 1:1 chat. This ensures the conversation can proceed without distractions and allows for a candid exchange.
• Start on a positive note: Lead with what’s going well or the strengths of the project or plan, setting a positive tone for the conversation. This can help soften the impact of more critical feedback.
• Use open-ended questions: Ask questions to start a dialogue and show you’re willing to consider other points of view. Engaging in a two-way conversation demonstrates respect and openness.
• Be direct yet courteous: Convey your points clearly while maintaining politeness and professionalism. Being direct avoids ambiguity, but courtesy ensures the message is not perceived as hostile.
• Show your commitment: Remind everyone of your commitment to the project’s success and your supportive role as a consultant. Emphasizing your shared goals can foster a collaborative spirit.

Tips and techniques:

• Use clear, professional language: Communicate in a straightforward and respectful manner, avoiding jargon unless everyone understands it. Clarity helps prevent misunderstandings and keeps the focus on the message.
• Use the “data sandwich” method: Begin with data to present the problem, explain what it means, and finish with more data to back up your conclusion. This method reinforces your points with evidence, making them harder to dismiss.
• Clarity drills: Practice delivering your main points in one to two sentences to ensure clarity and conciseness.

Following up on your message

The conversation doesn’t end when you’ve delivered your message. Effective follow-up ensures your feedback leads to positive change.

• Document key points: Record the main points and agreed-upon actions to ensure progress is tracked. Documentation helps maintain clarity and accountability.
• Keep the conversation going: Provide more information or data if needed and help with any issues that come up. Continuous support shows your investment in the project’s success.
• Review the impact: Think about how your message was received and the discussion that followed to improve your technique next time. Reflecting on the outcomes allows for personal growth and better future interactions.

Tips and techniques:

• Follow-up schedule: Establish a follow-up schedule with specific dates and times to discuss progress and next steps.
• Summarization emails: Send a concise summary email after your meeting, highlighting key points and agreed-upon actions.

Exercise

Questions to reflect:

• Have you ever had to deliver difficult news or feedback to a senior leader? What was the outcome, and what did you learn from the experience?
• Think about a time when you hesitated to speak up about an issue. What were your concerns, and how might you handle a similar situation differently now?
• Imagine you’re consulting on a project where you discover a significant flaw in the proposed strategy. What steps would you take to address this with the leadership team?
• How would you approach a situation where a stakeholder is emotionally attached to a failing project component, and you need to persuade them to consider alternatives?
• How do you balance the need for honesty with maintaining a positive relationship with a client?
• How would you adjust your approach to speaking truth to power in an organization with a very hierarchical culture?

Scenario 1: Misaligned expectations

You discover that the project expectations set by the senior leadership are unrealistic given the current resources and timeline.

How would you present this issue to the leadership without causing alarm or defensiveness? What data and strategies would you use to support your message?

Scenario 2: Deceptive design patterns

You are asked to design or implement a “feature” in which users will automatically be signed up to a mailing list with either no consent or consent hidden in fine print.

How would you prepare your message to the client? What would you include in your conversations with them? How would you avoid them becoming defensive?