Revisiting Non-Billable Work

Earlier in 2010, I started a series discussing the role of non-billable work. I wanted to revisit that series in the next couple of weeks. The first posts, starting today, will be a repeat from that series. Keep reading, though...more will come.

Thanks,

A

World Class PSO: Daily Thought

Value! Value!! Value!!!

That's what is all about.

Every day, whether you a consultant or not, you should ask yourself, "What value am I going to add today?" Before you shut down for the day, ask yourself, "Did I add value today?" If the answer is, "no," ask yourself why not.

Plan your day, know what value you are going to add, and hold yourself accountable to adding value where ever you can. You will be surprise at what success comes when you focus on value and accountability.

World Class PSO: Daily Thought

One of my consultants recently commented that it is harder to build relationships with clients when working remotely than it is when working onsite. He makes a great point. One of my colleagues says that some of the best sales meetings happen after the sales call as he is walking out to the reception desk with the customer. That can be true with consulting, too.

I think we over look the importance of those short, informal, and non-threatening conversations we have with our customers as we are walking to or from the conference room, and it can be hard to have the same informal chats when we are on a bridge waiting for others to join. So what can we do?

On ideas is to use the information available to us. We have more and more information at our disposal online. Take a few minutes to see if the meeting attendees are on LinkedIn and try to learn about their experiences and background. Don't go all "Big Brother" on them, but see if you can use that information to make a personal connection that lightens the mood.

I recently did something a little more bold...ok, just a little more...In a meeting last night, I made a reference to doing a song and dance. The client commented on wanting to see a video of that. Now, I certainly wasn't going to send her a video from my cousin's wedding last summer, that's for sure. However, as a joke, I sent her the clip of Elaine from Seinfeld doing her crazy leg kick dance. We all had a good laugh, and I showed a little of my personality. Next time, we might have an easier time with the light chit-chat that helps lower the barriers...it also showed her that I was listening to her.

Having fun with your clients and exposing yourself for who you are is a good thing - as long as it is done professionally.

So, how do you break down barriers and build relationships when you work remotely with your clients?

World Class PSO: Daily Thought (Trying to get back on track)

Before the summer started, I was in a groove - I was blogging regularly and feeling good about it. Then...summer happened. We had the biggest quarter in our history, we hired new consultants - nearly doubling the size of our team, and we started to make huge strides in maturing the delivery arm of our practice. It's been a good few months!! Now I'm back...

Later this week I will pick up my series on the "Top 10 Qualities of a World-class Consultant." Before I do, though, I wanted to share a quote from the book, 50 Success Classics, edited by Tom Butler-Bowdoin. Tom quotes from Born to Win, by Muriel James & Dorothy Jongeward:

"It takes courage to experience the freedom that comes from autonomy, courage to accept intimacy and directly encounter other persons, courage to take a stand in an unpopular cause, courage to choose authenticity over approval and to choose it again and again, courage to accept the responsibility for your own choices, and indeed, courage to be the unique person you really are."

It may sound corny, but I think this one sentence summarizes the life that we as consultants and project managers need to live. We need to strike a balance between competing forces: The needs of our customers, the needs of our employer, the needs of the delivery consultants, and the contract between all parties. We have to really, truly engage with our customers - care about their successes and failures - and listen carefully to what is being said...and not said.

I have told my consultants that they need to develop the self-confidence required to confidently tell the customer what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. I have also told them that they need to be professional and diplomatic in how they do so.

We walk a tight rope every day. World-class consultants are able to find the balance and be a truly trusted advisor for your customers.

Running an Effective Meeting – A Checklist

The Checklist

Before the meeting:

• The meeting objective has been defined and shared with all participants.
• The meeting agenda has been defined and shared with all participants.
  - The agenda includes topics with owners.
  - The agenda includes time allocates for each topic.
  - The agenda is manageable given the time available for the meeting.
  - The agenda includes reasonable breaks.
  - The agenda enables participation, interaction, collection of feedback,
  decision making, and communication.
  - The agenda allows for Q&A.
• The meeting leader is aware of potential “off-topic” discussions that may happen and is prepared to address (or table) them.
• The meeting leader is aware of political or personality conflicts that may distract from the meeting and is prepared to address them (or reduce their impact).
• The meeting leader has determined the best, worst, and most-likely outcome from the meeting and has prepared for the worst in an effort to achieve the best.
• Critical participants have been identified and are confirmed for the meeting.
• Non-critical participants are aware that their attendance is optional.
• The meeting room has been scheduled.
  - The meeting room has the necessary technology (projector/screen, white board, flip charts, phone, Internet access).
  - The meeting room is suitable for the audience (size, layout).
• Conference Bridge has been scheduled and shared with all participants.
• WebEx has been scheduled and shared with all participant.
• For longer meetings, snacks and beverages have been ordered and supplied.

• Roles and responsibilities have been determined for the meeting (SME, Note Taker, Time Keeper, Judge)
• All participants are aware of their responsibilities in terms of Preparation for the meeting.
  - Assignments have been handed out.
  - Participants have confirmed that they have completed their assignments
• Hand-outs, slides, and examples have been prepared and reviewed.

In the meeting:

• Start the meeting on-time – do not go back for those who are late.
• Start the meeting with a review of the meeting objectives, the agenda, and roles and responsibilities.
• Allow participants to introduce themselves: “Does everyone know each other?”
• Ask participants if any other topics should be added to the agenda, if time allows.
• “Parking lot” items are captured for follow up meetings and discussions.
• Stick to the time schedule – allow “heated” discussions, but cut it off to keep on track with the agenda.
• Manage to the agenda, not personal agendas or politics.
• Encourage questions and discussions – the agenda should allow for this.
• Avoid “Death by Power Point.”
• Keep meeting notes, including action items.
• Capture owners for all action items and commitments for when the action items will be completed/delivered.
• Action Items and Next Steps have been determined and agreed on.
• Thank participants for their time and attention.
• End on time – respect everyone’s schedule.

After the meeting:

• Meeting Notes, with Action Items, have been captured and distributed.
• Meeting leader has followed up with participants and action items are complete.
• Follow meeting and discussions have been scheduled.
• Feedback from participants has been captured

Resources:

http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/RunningMeetings.htm

http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/sep2006/sb20060927_259688.htm

http://www.suite101.com/content/running-an-effective-meeting-a59348

http://sabes.org/resources/facilitationguide.pdf

http://www.meetingwizard.org/meetings/running-effective-meetings.cfm

http://spac.ucdavis.edu/forms/leadership_tips/running_fun_and_effective_meetings.pdf

World-class PSO: Daily Thought

Day 2 of the TSIA Technology Services World Conference has wrapped up, and it was another day of idea sharing and generation. Some sessions were, of course, more valuable that others. Here are my top five "key take-aways" from today's session:

1. Professional Services within a product team (and probably any PSO) should be in the business of "Value Creation."
2. PS should drive overall business results. $1 of PS revenue should have a multiplier effect on the business through additional product and PS revenue.
3. PS needs to be part of the overall brand of the company - No Second Class Citizens
4. PS and Sales managers need to develop "Deal Attributes" that indicate when/if PS should be included in a deal. The two teams should work together to review major accounts and key deals to ensure the sales team is included when it should be.
5. AVOID true Packaged offerings. Sales is responsible for finding and qualifying PS leads, PS is responsible for educating those leads and proposing solutions, Sales is responsible for closing the deal, and PS is responsible for delivering. At the end of the day, Product Sales will struggle with matching the right PS offering and sizing it correctly leaving PS to clean up a potential mess. Additionally, for publicly traded companies, Package Offerings create VSOE challenges that must be considered.

I look forward to sharing more tomorrow.

World-class PSO: Daily Thought

Day 1 of this springs Technology Services World conference is complete. The day started with a "Value" workshop in which we discussed ways to quantify the value a PSO provides its customers and how to develop a services portfolio designed to add value. While we all agreed that we need to define offerings and services that meet the needs of our companies, the focus of this session was all about the customer.

Marc Lacroix from RTM consulting discussed the Value Model. Additionally, we discussed our teams readiness in terms of delivering value-added services. A lot of the concepts discussed in this session came from J.B. Wood's book, The Complexity Avalanche, (which I haven't read, but I have bought it, and it is next on my reading list).

In the afternoon, Thomas Lah, President of TSIA discussed the implications of Cloud Computing on TSIA members. My first impression is that Mr. Lah is concerned that Cloud Computing is hype that may or may not have a marketable effect on what we do. I got the impression that he felt that, at a minimum, it is a distraction that will make all of our jobs harder. (For instance, he compared the Oracle business margins to Salesforce.com's without acknowledging that SFDC is a growing business forging new paths. They are in investment mode, where as Oracle is a mature business in the top spot in its space.)

After his presentation, though, Mt. Lah brought executives from NetSuite, Oracle, EMC, and IBM who all agreed that Cloud Computing is game-changing and PSOs are poised to capitalize on the change if they think strategically about the needs of the customer base: Business Process Changes and Change Management, Data Migration, and Managed Services.