I had a compelling experience over a recent quarter where I began to suspect a client was actually conducting behaviors that would lead to my failure. They had given me erroneous information about our upcoming event, sharing information with participants that was contrary to our discussions and asked for significant favors that were completely out of bounds for any of my other clients. I began to get the over-your-shoulders-someone-is-watching feeling that comes with paranoia. Each time I would come home with a new story, my wife would ask me, "Why are we doing this work?"
I would explain the benefits of the client, the future business they could bring to the table and how they could positively influence our future. Her reply?
"Why are we doing this work?"
My wife, Nancy is sometimes a business genius. Really. Every now and then, she can cut to the nub of a problem, raise the simple question and drive home a powerful point. The last time she had been so incisive was when I broke out on my own and became an independent consultant over a decade ago. Both then and now, the fundamental question reigned. Do the benefits outweigh the costs? Is this a good deal for all concerned?
While I've never been a member of Rotary International, I grew up staring at a local billboard on the side of Keller's Hardware store in Columbiana, Ohio. That billboard actually helped shape my business life. It was the Rotarian's four questions:
- Is it the TRUTH?
- Is it FAIR to all concerned?
- Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
- Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
Without realizing it, the Rotarians actually helped shape my business philosophy. A "no" answer to any one question should raise alarm bells. A "no" answer to any two questions marks a relationship that should be allowed to quickly fade away. Three or four? It's time to run screaming. You're not paranoid. They are out to get you.
So what do we do when we determine our job, our client, our environment is no longer in everyone's best interest? Do we set the stage by proclaiming their failures and pronouncing ourselves better than all that? Actually, just the opposite. We thank them for the times they did right by us. If they push, we acknowledge that it is our business structure or ethic that makes the relationship untenable. Why? It serves no one's interests to go into detail about their shortcomings. While it might seem a worthwhile exercise to show them how they lost us, generally the advice will not be well heeded. Instead, highlight what they have done right, in the hope that they will learn to accentuate those skills they already have in abundance. And at the same time, no bridges will be burned, and no bad feelings left behind (that weren't already there).
Carl, you have to be out of your mind. In this economy? You're telling me I should walk away from some clients or my job?
I return to my lovely wife, Nancy. She has always been quick to point out that we have never walked away from a bread-and-butter job without a clear sense of direction. Before bidding farewell to any work, our organization has carefully staged replacement interviews, work, opportunities, and relationships. For every minute that would have been spent in the more difficult environment, we commit to spend it chasing RFPs, rekindling old (more favorable) relationships, and building new alliances. We don't sit back licking our wounds. We look to the future.
In other words, we manage the project of quitting a job!
The task list includes items like these:
- Identify the pros and cons of the existing environment.
- Determine if the cons outweigh the pros long-term
- Determine if the cons outweigh the pros short-term
- Identify comparable opportunity(ies)
- Begin building alternative relationships
- Identify an entry strategy for the new relationships
- Identify a graceful exit strategy for the old relationship
- Begin entry into the new alliances
- Exit the old alliance
- Cultivate the new alternative relationships
- Thank the old alliance, but keep it at arm's length. Avoid re-entry.
Sometimes, this process will stop just a couple of steps in. The long-term benefits may prove to be significant enough that it just makes sense to keep the relationship alive. But avoid thinking in terms of sheer financial gain. Remember to think like a Rotarian.
And if it's time to let it go? Don't overlook steps six and seven. As project managers, we don't walk blindly in to (or out of) relationships. We establish strategies and game plans. We have a safety net. But once the safety net is woven, we cannot be afraid to take the leap.
Carl Pritchard takes the leap again in June and August. June: PMP Exam Prep in Rockville, MD. August: Risk Management Excellence aboard Royal Caribbean to BERMUDA! Join him for the fun, the experience and the PDUs! www.carlpritchard.com/NEW/index.html