Ek is 'n konsultant vir baie jare nou, en as 'n ervare konsultant weet, good communication is one of the key pillars to the successful delivery of a project. Dit is so duidelik, it’s really almost boring to talk about. This isn’t a post about generic communication. In plaas daarvan, Ek skryf oor die donkerder kant van kommunikasie — kommunikasie slegte nuus.

Dit gaan sonder om te sê dat die goeie nuus aan die kliënt al die tyd gedoen word, as often as possible. Who doesn’t want to give good news? Who doesn’t like to hear good news?

Aan die ander kant, bad news is no fun at all. I have always struggled with this. In the earlier days of my career, Ek wil weet iets verkeerd was met 'n projek en in plaas van die vertel van die kliënt, I would work longer hours to try and solve the problem. I would enjoin my team to work harder. It’s a natural enough impulse to think that a super-human effort can save the day. Some times this works, some times it does not. Even when it "works" it’s often a mixed bag. Is the quality of the deliverable really up to spec when key parts have been developed over several 60 aan 80 uur weke?

Wat is die beste manier om slegte nuus te hanteer? The answer is: tell it early. Don’t wait until one week before the project budget will be consumed. If you know six weeks out that there simply isn’t enough time to deliver some bit of promised functionality, tell the client right then and there. The client may get upset (sal waarskynlik), there may be incriminations and accusations and hurt feelings. Maar, wanneer emosies af te koel, there’s still six weeks left on the project. Six weeks is a good chunk of time. There’s time to adjust plans, verander skedules, Kry die bal aan die rol van begroting uitbreidings (baie geluk!) en net in die algemeen te vang met die "feite op die grond" and devise a new plan that still results in a successful project.

Geval in punt: Ek werk op 'n projek wat gekenmerk word deur:

• T&E begroting met 'n mus "Nie te oorskry" dollar bedrag.
• 'N "beste pogings gemaak sal word" belofte X te lewer, Y en Z met die einde van die projek.
• Lack of promised key resources on the client side. These resources were not withheld on purpose, of vir 'n "slegte" rede, Maar hulle is teruggehou.
• 'N dagbreek besef as die projek wat die half-pad te wys dat ons nie in staat wees om te red "Z" (hoofsaaklik omdat die beloofde hulpbronne was nie eintlik beskikbaar nie).
• Gereelde status verslae en "CYA" dokumentasie wat ondersteun ons (die raadgewende span) up.
• Hechte implementering span met lede van die raadgewende organisasie getrek (my maatskappy) en die kliënt.
• Distant bestuur span, in both a metaphorical and physical sense. The management team was focused on another large enterprise project and due to space constraints, die implementering span is gehuisves in 'n afsonderlike gebou op die kampus, 'n heuwel af en redelik ver weg van "beskawing".

Met ongeveer ses weke op die projek se begroting, ons (die implementering span) knew that we were trouble. The contract said that we needed to deliver "Z". Even though the project is time & materiale en selfs al het ons net beloof "beste pogings" Z te lewer en selfs al het ons 'n groot motivering vir die vermiste die lewering … die bottom line is dat dit nie is op soek na goeie — ons is nie van plan om Z te lewer in 'n vorm van 'n kwaliteit wat enigiemand trots sou maak.

Die erkenning van hierdie, ons het om te bestuur en het vir hulle gesê dat die begroting van die projek sal verteer word deur 'n sekere datum en dat ons in die moeilikheid met Z.

'N mini-Fire Storm uitgebars oor die volgende paar dae.

Dag 1: Bestuur span doen 'n beroep in sy personeel vir 'n spesiale vergadering (ons, die konsultante is nie genooi nie). Contracts are printed and handed out to everyone and a line-by-line review ensues. Management puts the staff members on the defensive. I don’t think the phrase "Stockholm-sindroom" * eintlik * gebruik, maar jy kry die prentjie. We’re a tight-knit group, na al, en die personeel is besig met ons die konsultante dag in en uit vir 'n paar maande nou.

Dag 2: Management calls another staff meeting. They feel a little better. They want options and ideas for moving forward. They realize there’s still six weeks remaining in the current project budget, which is still a decent bit of time. One of the action items: 'n afspraak met 'n volle implementering span (insluitend konsultante).

Dag 5: Volledige span vergader, constructive meeting ensues and a new achievable plan put into place. Even better, we’ve already begun discussing phase two and the client invites us to prepare proposals for that phase immediately.

As ons het gewag tot net drie weke gebly, of nog erger, een of twee weke, it would have been much different. Instead of a constructive meeting to re-align the project, ons sou gewees het trek status verslae, parsing the contract and reviewing old emails to justify this or that decision. We would have "won" maar dit is regtig "wen" in hierdie geval?

So, as jy slegte nuus te gee, give it early. Bad news given late isn’t just bad, dis verskriklik.