“How much do you share in your project status and budget reports with your customer?”
I was showing a new PM the weekly project sheet that shows the expected project burn with actuals & forecast figures.
I also share detailed timesheet reports with my client, that shows who was working on what, for how long.
He was surprised that I shared such detailed reports with my customer.
The amount of detail I provide to the customer is dependent on how much PM time has been allocated to within a project.
A lot of projects suffer from lack of time for PM, design workshops, testing and training.
Those tasks are seen as less critical than the build/development time.
There are some clients who distrust their consulting partner, maybe because of past experience.
They micromanage, or scrutinize and question every little things.
For these clients, I share the basic report – what we’ve done, what we are going to do, the RAID, and summary budget report.
Providing more detail here can sometime invite a lot of interrogation, which in turn will burn up a huge amount of Project Management time.
Then, there are some clients who trust us, and very laid back.
The client trusts that we will deliver a robust and solid system.
I don’t mind being completely open and candid in my reports with them.
Just like life, relationships that are based on mistrust generates drama and a lot of negative energy.
Past negative experiences can shape how we see things.
However, you need to get any new relationship a chance to flourish, and burying it under distrust does not lay a foundation for a good relationship.
Just because you got cheated by a no-good buttmunch doesn’t mean that the world is full of buttmunches.
Treating everyone like one means you might miss out on a soppy romance of a lifetime.
Fact. 😆
#leadership
#trustiskey
#projectmanagement
#zenhaoprotip
#personaldevelopment