Communication 300

 

Project delivery has many challenges. Outside of the technical aspect of whatever the project entails, there are meetings. During the sales process, there are scoping meetings. As the project commences there are kickoff meetings. When the project continues forward, there are technical meetings. As the project hits a snag, there are more meetings. Coordination of disparate task teams generates even more meetings. These meetings might be large, or they might be only a few technical types. What is important to recognize out of all this is that there is, in each meeting, an audience for whatever it is you are trying to communicate.

1. For a meeting with tin-foil-hat types, you need to be prepared to go into the minutiae of the project. Whatever you do in this situation, don’t say anything if you are not 100% sure of your response. I have been in meetings where the question asker already knows an answer and is looking to trip you up. In this case, you need to have a zippy answer ready.

Gosh Billy, what a great question! Did you memorize that from the vendor documentation stack? I am not 100% positive of the correct answer, so I will write this question down and get the proper answer and get it back to you. Will next Monday work for that?” Other than that scenario, you can dive into the 300-400 level answers at will.

2. If you have a technical manager running the meeting, you will need to keep the answers to the 200 (maybe 250) level. If there is a tin-foil type looking to impress their boss with their question depth; fall back to scenario 1 for that question. Otherwise, keep the answers to the technical solution high level details that the project needs. You may wish to include the ties to the business requirement – but stay away from IP addresses, ports, protocols, URL’s, et cetera. Unless, of course, the manager asks for some of that information. If you have a business manager meeting, but still technically focused, you might need to raise the level of acceptable answer (unless details are requested) to the 150-250 bracket.

3. For the final meeting discussed herein, we are talking about a pre-sales or scoping type call, where the primary meeting driver is a business person. This person does not wish to hear details past the 100 level of “yes, this technical solution in this format answers your specific, outlined business need” or “the proposed solution can be accomplished with minimal or no downtime for the end-user” or something of that ilk. I remember a meeting where the business leader asked a question where the answer needed to be couched in risk management terms. The engineer gave a long-winded technical answer, which did not address what was asked. Oopsie! Minus 5 points.

Luckily, people at that level totally understand the answer methodology from scenario 1. Give an active listening (you do know what that is, right?) response, write down the question on the spot, right in front of them, and then follow-up before when you say you will.

If you are a bit confused as to what the difference between a 100, 200, 300, or 400 level answer is, think a bit on this:

100 = Organizational, business requirement. A business issue/problem that needs resolution. Time, effort level, risk, measurable outcomes. The big picture seen from resources, calendar, CAPEX, OPEX, etc. Risk Management, gap analysis, scope, impact.

200 = How is the solution going to work in broad terms? High-level Visio diagrams.

300 = Architecture/design. Think detailed Visio depictions.

400 = The weeds. My standard as-built document is 31 sheets in an Excel workbook replete with FQDN’s, IP’s firewall rules, et cetera. The server install sheet runs about 85 lines down the page.

If you have a meeting where the C’x’O (or equivalent) is present, then make sure your answers to overall questions remains aimed at the business unless you are specifically asked for details. If the meeting is above the technical delivery team, then stay in the 100-200-250 zone. The communication process for each of the outlined levels is the same. Identify the players in the room and tailor your communication.

YMMV