How can we deliver Value to a client unless we share an understanding of what Value means for the project?
We’ve all heard of “Good Value for money” and that something can itself be valuable. But how does the language fit into our project delivery and client management approach?
Projects start in different ways, but they all need to have one thing in common. Whether the client brings you a simple vision for the work, or they hand over a detailed 200-page specification, you still want to understand how to return the most value you can in the time available.
The article—posted to my Medium account—reflects on the challenges that Agile-first agencies face when they acquire new clients who often have a preference for traditional, Waterfall project management.
When we’re accustomed to agility and flexibility, we must adapt to provide the certainty and structured approach desired by a new client, balancing the innate human need for both certainty and excitement.
This adaptation involves documenting a delivery approach and being less agile about Agile.
But does changing our approach mean we’re no longer Agile?
Once your client induction process is complete, you’ll need to make a decision on whether their next project has a key stakeholder that’s going to be high-impact. With those two key stages in the bank, it’s time to evalute the best way to move forward.
The options below are not intended to be a definitive list. Indeed I can imagine a rewrite of this article or addition of other options in the future. What you will be able to take from reading these thoughts however is the number of ways you could move forward (or not) with a client who isn’t ready to—or won’t—consider your purely Agile delivery approach.
Most of us are lucky enough to have worked with amazing clients during our agency careers. Those clients where your key stakeholder doesn’t just pass you a project and stand back. They sell you on it, buy into it, stay by your side for it and celebrate the success with you when it’s done.
But what exactly is it about those people that makes them different from the average stakeholder? How can we evaluate a client early to consider just what their team will bring to a project? Can we build them up to be more aligned before our project gets started?
At the beginning of October last year I wrong a blog post called ‘Retirement Diary – Week One‘. As you can probably infer from the title alone my intention was for it to be the first in a series. I was planning to document what taking a step back from work looked and felt like for me. I hoped it would both allow me to return and review the experience at a later date, but also that there might be some insights I could share which would be helpful for others.
It quickly became clear however that I wasn’t actually done with work, or the impact working too much in 2022 and 2023 had on me.
