World-Class Professional Services

World-class PSO: Governance

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 19:56:00 +0000

PSO governance is a hot topic in my world these days. As more reps are getting involved in selling PS and we build out packages and offerings designed to give the sales reps the ability to sell PS without direct involvement from a consultant who sells, how do we ensure that expectations are set properly and that projects can be delivered to ensure a high-level of customer satisfaction AND on-time/on-budget deliver (ie, a profitable PS practice)?

The evolution of a PSO in this direction means implementing standards and processes for governing the practice and ensuring that goals are met, projects are consistently sold and delivered, and customers are getting what they need . This is "PSO Governance."

So what does governance mean for a PSO, anyway? A quick Google search produced a number of results with regard to "IT Governance", but little was found on governance for a World-class PSO. In a lot of ways, its not that different. A PSO, like any business or business unit, needs:

A defined set of KPIs and SLAs that are measured regularly and on an ongoing basis
A clear set of goals toward which to work
A set of processes, tools, and templates to use to ensure success

While the leadership team is responsible for defining the strategy and the requirements for governance, all members must provide input, and be held accountable to the KPIs, goals, and their roles in achieving a successful outcome.

In the coming weeks, I will investigate PSO Governance throughout all components of a PSO (sales, marketing, delivery, etc.). As always, I welcome our stories, ideas, and experiences.

World Class PSO: Daily Thought

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 21:23:00 +0000

I'm back!!!! I hope you had a great week. I sure did. The skiiing at Squaw Valley was great. Visits with family and friends were also great.

While I was away, I was able to watch the movie "Waiting for Superman." (Thanks American Airlines for showing it on the flight!!) This movie was very eye-opening for me. I don't have children in the public school system, and, therefore, don't have current, first-hand experiences. This documentary had very strong views on why our public schools are failing. If 1/2 of what they said are true...we should all be outraged!!

You may be wondering why I am bringing this up...it doesn't really have anything do to with World-class PSO stuff...You're right. (If I had my laptop with me on this trip (yes, I go on vacation without my laptop most of the time), I would have blogged on the subject last week.). Since I have a bit of a captive audience, I wanted a chance to encourage all of you to watch this film and get involved in what is happening in our public schools. Here are a few piece of data that were shared:

According to the film, there are schools in CA with 75% drop-out rates - teachers and administrators know that only 25% of all incoming freshman will graduate. There are schools all over the US just like these schools; they are a called "drop out factories."
The city of New York spends $100 million per year on a "rubber room" program for suspended teachers. Teachers under investigate show up to "work" each day, reading the newspaper, books, playing cards, sleeping, and surfing the web, getting paid full salaries and collecting full benefits...even earning pension vesting. It takes 3.5 years for a teacher to complete the process.
Philadelphia (or was it Pittsburg) spends more per capita on a 4 year prison sentence than for four years of schooling for a student.
One school system (can't remember which) in the Mid-Atlantic states spends enough time moving bad teachers from school to school that they have given the process a name: The Dance of The Lemons. The hope is that the principle of school A will replace his worst teacher with some "less worst" since he knows he is getting someone else's worst teacher.
The US is ranked 28th out of the top 30 developed nations in the world for public education. We are following behind!!

Now the tie back to what we do...for a PSO to be truly World-class, it needs to put the needs and interest of its customers first. (This is the first statement in our PS Values or Gomez PS.) That does not mean ignoring the needs of the practice, by any stretch...its a balancing act for sure. I firmly believe that, while the best and even the good teachers work tirelessly for their students, aka their customers, there are all too many bad, or not so good, teachers, bureaucrats, and politicians who put the objectives of the unions and the individual teachers ahead of our students and, therefore, the future of our country. The United States cannot have world-class students, schools, or workforce if we continue to de-prioritize the needs of the students over the needs. We will not have a world-class future.

I am officially stepping off my sandbox and will return to regularly scheduled World-class PSO programming tomorrow. As always, I look forward to your comments.

World Class PSO: Daily Thought

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:06:00 +0000

We've started to move to a "Packaged Offering" model, which is designed to allow the Sales team to sell PS - at least to some degree - without the help of the PS team. This means that we on the PS team will have less control of expectation setting both in terms of the offering and schedules. The PS team will need to work harder at the beginning and throughout each project to ensure that the customer is aware of the details of the project, what is expected of them, and what they can expect from us.

Additionally, the PS team needs to be prepared for those occasions when the packaged offering doesn't truly meet all of the needs the client has. The consultants will have to have confidence in the scope of work and the Change Request process to manage through those potentially difficult situations.

I am heading out on vacation..."see" you the week of February 28!!

Managing Non-Billable Work Effectively, Part 5 of 5

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 16:46:00 +0000

I reached out to my colleagues at PS Village last year and reviewed a number of posts on the LinkedIn group, and SaaS Professional Services Executive Forum to inquire about how others deal with give-away work. It seems that many respondents experience the same challenges. The trend across all of the proposed approaches to dealing with this situation is that the solution will work if, and only if, executive management places value on the work of the PS team and on the importance of managing projects properly.

Here, then, is a summary of some of the best suggestions that came across the PSVillage and Linked In Discussion Boards:

Manage non-billable, client projects like a billable project by involving PS resources in the discovery and scoping discussions early and using the SOW and CR process to manage the agreement and work effort.
Tracking non-billable work in a number of categories. For instance, one may consider tracking and reporting the percentage of PS time spent on

a. Non-billable commitments made by management (PS, Sales, and Executives)
b. Project overruns due to missed estimates on fixed-bid projects
c. Project Management approved no-cost CRs.
Charge back systems can be used to highlight the amount of non-billable work delivered (and on behalf of whom). For instance, if a sales manager commits to including five days of PS work at no additional cost in order to close a larger product deal, the Sales budget pays for the PS time. PS reports the booking and revenue like any other, but Sales takes a hit on its budget. In this model, Sales would be very aware of the value of the no-charge work and would understand the deal size that would need to be closed to make the goodwill PS work worthwhile.
Financial Reporting can be used to highlight the amount of non-billable PS work delivered to customers. One member of the PSVillage worked directly with the head of finance to change the way non-billable PS work is reported on the company’s financial statements. With this change, the financial statements reported both the “Gross PS Revenue,” the discount rate for the period, and the Actual PS Revenue. Gross PS Revenue equaled all time spent by PS on client projects at the normal billing rate (whether billable or not). The discount rate represented the value of the lost revenue of the hours that were discounted or given away. The Actual PS revenue is the difference between the two. This type of reporting put a spotlight on the value of the no-charge PS work that was being delivered.
A formal approval process ensures that all parties are aware of the need for and agrees to the no-charge work before the commitment is made to the customer. This approval should include the CFO, VP of PSO, and VP of Sales. The process should be well defined, and all parties in a position to give away PS work should be required to follow it. I would say that approval should be required before any agreements on schedules and work effort are verbalized to the customer and should require an initial discovery by a qualified PS consultant or manager.
VSOE, or Vendor Specific Object Evidence, is what determines how a business can recognize the revenue associated with a deliverable or work effort based on the fair market value of that work effort when sold as a stand-alone item. Some members of the Discussion Groups suggested that VSOE can be used as a baseline to which discounts are compared. Any discounts that bring the deal size below the VSOE would be flagged for review by finance before there is a contractual agreement between your company and your customer.
Where the primary contributor to non-billable customer work is the Sales department (and assuming reps are paid a higher rate on product sales than PS sales), some suggested that the value of the discount come out of the license cost, in turn reducing the commission to the rep. It is thought that if the rep. feels the loss in his commission check, he will think twice about making the promise in the future. This often happens when VSOE is in place.
In most cases, participants in the discussions felt that executive-level support and structuring the PSO as a profit center are the two primary drivers for reducing the pain associated with unmanaged “give away” commitments. With both in place PS managers can reduce the number and frequency of those commitments and ensuring that proper project management processes are followed in the pre- and post-sales efforts. Additionally, many thought that determining a budget for non-billable client work was important to ensure that these opportunities were scrutinized appropriately during the review and approval process.

Conclusion

PSO managers need to expect that non-billable work is a nature of the business in an embedded PSO. Personally, I am OK with goodwill work, as long as the customer understands that they are being granted a one-time discount for a specific reason and the business model for the company and PSO support some amount of goodwill work. Getting agreement from the top with regard to how and when work will be given away is critical. Showing executive and sales management how unplanned, non-billable work - without PS involvement - disrupts the apple cart, including short-term and long-term effects, is critical. Solutions for managing non-billable work exist, but they work best when supported by the executives.

World Class PSO: Daily Thought

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:40:00 +0000

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

(I know it's a Hallmark holiday...but it's a fun day just the same.)

As you move through the day, I am sure that you, too, have many meetings and things to do that require you to interact with others. Be sure to take stock of all of your relationships. We tend to focus today on our relationship with our significant other (I hate that term, BTW), but what the heck, why not use today to practice building relationships in other parts of your life.

Today, I am committed to thinking about the relationships across my life, focusing first on what the other person (whoever that is) needs from me, and trying to have conversations and interactions that improves and builds relationships.

World Class PSO: Daily Thought

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:58:00 +0000

Change only happens when the pain of not changing is greater than the pain of changing!!

I don't know who I heard saying it first, but whoever it was is right...it doesn't matter if it is organizational change, personal change, or professional change...Change is hard!!! Think about how many of us made New Year's resolutions this year...how are you doing with that? I know that the huge surge in attendance at my gym has slowed down...Change is hard!!!

So what does it take to make a successful change? That's easy:

1. A solid plan

2. Confidence and strength that your decision is right, even in the face of adversity

OK...saying it out loud is easy. Doing it is another matter. One thing that I find helpful is to state my goal, which represents a change, out loud and often to anyone who will listen. I take this so seriously that people who have traveled with me know that at the end of the night, I will tell whomever is on the elevator with me that "I am going to the gym in the morning." I don't say this because I think these people care or to brag about my own awesomeness. Rather, I say it because inevitably someone will ask me over breakfast, "Did you go to the gym?" The last thing I want to say is, "no."

Organizational change is no different. Business managers need to state the goal and the time frame for achieving it. They need to make all stakeholders clearly aware of what is coming and the role each plays in making the change. They need to stand by their decision if they truly believe it is right - even when some stakeholders don't understand or try to influence the decision in his or her favor. My advice: Be flexible in terms of how you accomplish the goal - you have a smart team who can help with that, but don't be flexible on what the goal is if you really believe in it.

Managing Non-Billable Work Effectively, Part 4 of 5

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 13:57:00 +0000

In parts 1-3, we defined the different types of non-billable work, who often "gives away" this type of PS work, and some of the challenges the PSO experiences when work is given away without the PS team's involvement. In this and the final post on this subject, I will discuss some of the ways in which non-billable work - and the chance that it will occur - can be managed.

How to Manage Non-Billable Projects and Commitments?
As I mentioned in earlier posts, most PSO managers with whom I have talked have, at one point in his or her career, had to find the balance between meeting revenue, bookings, and profitability targets with the need to support product sales or generate customer goodwill by providing customers with non-billable projects. While non-billable work can be managed in such a way to avoid the pain associated with missed expectations and missed KPIs, it often isn’t. My research shows problems arise most often when:

The PSO is not viewed as a profit center.
Sales does not truly understand the value the PSO provides
There is no agreement at an executive level of the amount of non-billable work that can be given away in a given quarter or year

So, how do you ensure that your non-billable workload does not become a problem for you or your customers? To start, there needs to be agreement at all levels of the organization that all projects are created equal. The PSO should be involved early to scope any PS project, even when a decision is made to deliver the project at no cost to the customer. In order to treat all projects equally, the following rules should apply:

Non-billable projects need to be properly scoped by the PS team, just like billable projects.
Even when a project is a no-cost project, an SOW is required - the customer and the PSO must sign the SOW representing the agreement. (This is the only way of which I know to effectively manage scope.)
Customers only value those things for which they pay. If a decision is made to give work away, the value must be spelled out. The true cost of the project must be spelled out in the SOW as well as the discounted price and percent. (The value of this project is $50,000 USD, discounted 100% for a cost to Customer of $0.00 USD.) Showing the discount rate up front makes it clear what the customer is likely to pay next time.
No scheduling of billable resources is confirmed until the SOW is signed.

This is all great on paper, but this process still has gaps. It says nothing with regard to how much no-cost work can be given away each quarter or year. It also says nothing with regard to who can agree to non-billable work or how non-billable work is approved. While it does, however, indicate that scheduling does not happen until the SOW is signed and that the PS team is responsible for scoping the work, it does not prevent individuals from outside the PSO from making commitments on schedules, even when they have no real sense of how much time is needed and when resources are available to begin work. Lastly, it does not provide a provision for the PS team to get “credit” for this work against key metrics like revenue, bookings, and profit margins. (The PSO's ability to achieve annual goals and get compensated for doing so is diminished without such provisions.)

I'll talk next week about how to close the gaps and what the eight (8) other components of a "give away work" process should be.

World Class PSO: Daily Thought

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 16:49:00 +0000

Building on yesterday's post...while one cannot truly hold another person accountable for the things s/he must do, there are steps that one can take to motivate people to do what they need to do. A couple of these things were discussed yesterday:

1. Be explicit about expectations

2. Ask the individual to confirm what s/he can and cannot get done

3. Be clear about the implications if the work isn't completed on time and to acceptable quality standards

Like I so very often say to my team, "If you don't tell me that you can't get something done...then you must get it done." The two items above can assist in ensuring that people do what they say what they will do and give you room to discuss and push them when they don't.

Additionally, a manager can use the following tools to promote the behavior and accomplishments that are required for the successful development of the team and the individual:

1. Develop a compensation structure that promotes results (individual and team),

2. Publicly reward those for their accomplishments; those who aren't getting rewarded will feel the pressure to be part of the recognized group, and

3. Review individual accomplishments and ideas with the team, particularly when those accomplishments could result in a process, tool, or template improvement within the business. Allow the team to provide input to key changes based on these successes - be careful not to manage by committee, though.

I still believe that only the individual can truly hold himself accountable, but it is your job as a manager to set proper expectations and set the individual up for success. That includes giving them a forum to discuss challenges and negotiate deliverables and deadlines, and reinforcing the implications when the work isn't getting done as expected.

World Class PSO: Daily Thought

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 13:47:00 +0000

I have been in conversations recently about "accountability." These conversations have gone something like this:

Sue said, "I asked Jane to get the integration work completed by Friday, and she didn't complete the work on time...again. This is the third time she has missed a deadline without telling me. I am the project manager! I can't manage expectations if the team isn't communicating and doing what they say they will do. How can I hold her accountable for getting her work done?"

I said in reply, "You know, at the end of the day, only Jane can hold herself accountable. You can give her all the information she needs to make good decisions, and you can provide an environment in which Sue is comfortable asking for help, but you can't make her do the work. When it comes right down to it, its the old adage, 'you can bring the horse to water, but you can't make it drink.' Have you clearly explained to Jane what is needed and when, asked her to confirm that she understands what is required and that she can complete the work on time, and explained the consequences to her, the team, the project, and the client if she does not do what is needed?"

In reality, most people don't really spell "it" out in that way. We assume that the other person can read between the lines, understand the urgency and the implications if the work isn't done, and can make the right decisions about prioritizing his/her time. As a project manager, or even as a staff-level manager, your job is to NOT ASSUME. Be clear, spell it out - whether to a client, a partner, or a team member. Be crystal clear about what is needed, by whom and when, and what will happen if the requirements are not met. Be sure to get the other person to confirm that he understands and is on board with getting done what is needed. Only then do you really have a leg to stand on if the work is not done on time. If the others don't get what is needed, you need to follow through on the consequences, which may be escalating to a staff manager, reassigning the individual less mission critical (and interesting work) or removing the person from the project.

Managing Non-Billable Work Effectively, Part 3 of 5

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 13:02:00 +0000

Last week (and the week before) I talked about work given away by project managers and work given away by PSO management. Those types of non-billable work are, in the grand scheme of things, easy to manage. As the PM or PSO manager you can decide how much to give away and can manage expectations accordingly.

In the next couple of weeks, I will share my views on the purpose and challenges associated with work given away by non-PS resources, such as Sales, Sales Management, and Executives. Additionally, I will share many of the ways a PSO manager can manage the often unexpected give-away work that gets promised.

This week, I'll start with a summary of what give away work - given away by non-PS resources, managers, and executives - looks like. Next week, I will start to delve into how you can manage non-billable work more effectively.

Work Given Away by Sales, Sales Management, and Executives
The nature of give-away work from Sales, Sales Managers, and Executives are really the same. So while I called them out separately in Part 1 of this blog series, it makes more sense to discuss the nature of this work from all these sources as one.

In talking with my peers on the PS Village forum, it is clear that embedded PSOs often struggle with managing the non-billable commitments made by individuals outside the PSO. The nature of these commitments tends to fall into two categories:

Using PS efforts to “sweeten” a product deal
Using PS efforts to gain goodwill with a customer when things go wrong with the product or with services delivered by other departments (such as tech support or customer care)

While I agree that there are legitimate reasons for providing PS services to a customer at no additional costs, my research shows that, like non-billable work agreed to by the project team or PS Management, these non-billable commitments are most successful when the PS team is brought in early to conduct proper discovery and scoping just like they would for a billable project. When the PSO is involved in the early discussions, applying their best practices for scoping and delivering a project just like they would for a for-fee project, the customer needs are met at a lower cost to the company and with higher-levels of customer satisfaction.

Problems do arise when commitments are made without the knowledge of the experts who need to deliver against the commitments. Often times, what seems like a "simple" project to a sales manager or executive is really a project measured in months and hundreds of thousands of dollars. When these commitments are made "unexpectedly" the disruptions can cause pain to other projects, the sales pipeline, and the morale of the team.

Additionally, without a proper SOW, managing scope is nearly impossible.

Tune in next week for my thoughts on how to manage give-away work more effectively.

Managing Non-Billable Work Effectively, Part 2 of 5

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 02:12:00 +0000

Last week, I talked about work given away by the project team and the various situations when it might make sense to do so. Also, I talked a bit about how to manage non-billable change requests (CR) from within the project team.

As a reminder, non-billable CRs are often issued by the project team as mea culpa when a mistake is made by the team. The non-billable CR can help get the team back in good graces with the client. Additionally, project managers may use the non-billable CR to build goodwill with a customer when s/he knows a hard discussion or larger CR is about to present themselves.

In this post, I will talk about work that is given away by the PSO management

Work Given Away by PSO Management
While it is rare, there are times when the PSO delivers complete engagements at no cost to the customer. Admittedly, most times these no-cost projects are usually initiated by sales and executive management, but there are times when PSO management agrees to a no-cost SOW.

In the case when one of the PSO's primary objectives is to support product sales, PSO management may defined small, promotional projects designed to highlight the benefits of the product while also promoting the value of the consulting team. For instance, I recently put together a program that I called (internally) the "Golden Ticket" program.

Each account manager is given one (1) Golden Ticket. S/he has the option to give away a single two-day engagement during which the PS team will audit the customer’s use of our products. The client deliverable is a 30-40 slide Power Point presentation that summarizes gaps in the customer’s methodology and a summary of apparent Web Application performance issues. Our analysis is limited by time, and we do not talk directly with the client until the analysis was complete. This allows us to complete the engagement quickly, highlighting the value of our best practices (the value proposition being: “We saw all of this without even talking to you”), and indicating where we could go deeper in a "real" engagement.

As a result of this offering, the PSO has engaged in a handful of these projects. In one case, the Account Manager was able to grow the size of the account with the customer in the same quarter the Golden Ticket was delivered. We are also in early discussions with this customer about a potential larger (billable) PS engagement down the road.

These programs tend to be well defined and well managed because they are driven by PS management, who understands best what it takes to do the work. That said, there should be close collaboration with sales management to ensure that the program is designed to meet the objectives – help the sales reps sell more product and services.

Managing Non-Billable Work Effectively, Part 1 of 5

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 23:01:00 +0000

In my experience, non-billable work can be categorized in four ways:

1. Work given away by the project team

2. Work given away by PSO management

3. Work given away by the sales team and/or sales management

4. Work given away by the executive team

Regardless of where the ‘give away’ originates, a PSO must have policies and processes for managing and tracking what work is given away (and in what situations) and how the non-billable work is managed with the client.

Work Given Away by the Project Team

Project teams rely on the Project Manager to manage scope. Technical leads, business analysts, and other team members should never have sideline agreements with members of the client team to do work that is not clearly specified in the SOW. While the SOW defines the guiding principles – or project charter - for the project team, it is unlikely that every detail of every requirement will be uncovered during the pre-sales process. Therefore, an effective change control process should be implemented to allow the consulting and client teams to work together to change the scope of work as needed.

Many change requests are designed to increase or reduce scope, requiring the project budget to increase or decrease in kind. The consulting team needs to evaluate the change request and inform the client of the effect that the change will have on the project schedule and cost. (In my experience, many change requests that must be added to the project, are not so important when the customer learns what the added cost will be.)

At my core, I believe that all work performed by the consulting team should be paid for by the customer. However, having spent the majority of my career in project management roles, I have learned that the no-charge Change Request (CR) is a very powerful tool – allowing the team to give a little to get a little (or a lot). The no-charge CR allows the consulting team to develop goodwill with the customer. Issuing these change requests allows the team to approach the relationship with the client from the position of “partnership.”

So, there are times when a Project Manager may chose to write a no-charge CR. In addition to the opportunity to develop goodwill, as discussed above, there are times when the change does not add any additional consulting time to the project. This can be the case when the customer wants to change a requirement on which the consulting team has not worked and the change represents the same level of effort as the original requirement. Even when there is no change in the level of effort or cost to the project, the Project Manager should issue a Change Request to document the new agreement between teams, allowing all parties to understand the differences between the original agreement and the ultimate deliverable.

However, Project Managers should also be empowered to issue a no-charge change even when the change requires more work. This may happen if the consulting team has made a mistake that caused some amount of pain on the part of the customer. The no-charge CR may rebuild a, potentially, damaged relationship. It may also be advantageous to issue a no-charge CR when the project team knows of a larger request that is coming down the road - bigger changes result in larger bookings and revenues. The smaller no-charge CR may leave customers feeling like “this” team is willing to work with me. The customer doesn’t feel “nickelled and dimed” and the larger, billable CR, may be easier to get executed. A good project manager understands when it is appropriate to issue a no-charge CR versus one for which the client must pay.

That said, PSO management must provide project managers with a process for managing give away work:

1. All changes must be documented, even when the change will not result in additional charges for the customer.

2. Only the project manager can agree to a change, although s/he should solicit input from the rest of the team.

3. Only small changes can be provided as non-billable. Anything that puts the schedule at risk should be billable.

4. You may want to set a cap on the size of the non-billable CR to which a project manager can agree without management approval.

5. A Change Request Board (CRB) must approve all CRs, even the non-billable CRs. The CRB includes representatives from the client and consulting teams. You may want to have PS management on the board, particularly when your less senior project managers are running projects.

The next post will discuss non-billable work given away by PSO management.

Revisiting Non-Billable Work

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 22:58:00 +0000

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,

World Class PSO: Daily Thought

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 18:00:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 21:41:00 +0000

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)

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 12:59:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:10:00 +0000

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

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Wed, 05 May 2010 04:59:00 +0000

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:

Professional Services within a product team (and probably any PSO) should be in the business of "Value Creation."
PS should drive overall business results. $1 of PS revenue should have a multiplier effect on the business through additional product and PS revenue.
PS needs to be part of the overall brand of the company - No Second Class Citizens
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.
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

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Tue, 04 May 2010 01:29:00 +0000

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.

Cloud Computing and the PSO

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:11:00 +0000

I am going to take a break from the topic of the "Top 10 Qualities of a World-class Consultant." I know you are all chomping at the bit, but you'll have to come back next week for Quality #5.

Instead, I wanted to post a timely blog as a follow up to a PS Village Executive Breakfast session that I attended this morning. The topic was "Surviving and Winning as the IT World Moves into the Cloud." Russ Klein and Dick Csapler from The Aberdeen Group presented on the topic.

Russ and Dick spelled out the value proposition for IT moving hardware and software to the cloud. In a nutshell, the cloud provides businesses to apply the "right amount of [system] resources when they its needed." According to the guys from Aberdeen, processing power of client-server environments is starting to rival that of Mainframe environments, total cost of ownership is lower given that the Cloud providers own the responsibility of keeping up with the latest and greatest technologies and the investments in cap ex for IT managers is lower with the Cloud.

Start-up businesses are more like to build applications in the cloud, and enterprise businesses are moving less mission critical applications, data back-ups, and fail-over systems to the cloud.

The major concerns that were discussed centered on Privacy and Security and culture - how does an IT manager measure success and budget for supporting the business when they have no cap ex budget - or a significantly reduced budget. As Dick said, though, Amazon EC2 probably employees more systems, tools, and experts to ensure the highest level of quality than most businesses could afford to do themselves. As enterprises find success with the less critical apps, they are likely to start to move the more critical apps to the cloud, as well.

So where does PS fit in. Russ and Dick mentioned a number of new consulting opportunities that are coming available due to the advent of Cloud Computing. Consulting groups can provide services designed to:

1. Support the migration from "on premises" environments to the cloud
2. Assist in business and IT process re-engineering efforts to support applications that are now hosted in the cloud
3. Ensure legacy hardware is disposed of in an ecological manner and to assist businesses in developing a "Green IT" strategy
4. Ensure effective data mining from the old to the new environments

SaaS is one model for Cloud computing. In SaaS business, the products are often positioned as "self-service." As businesses move to a Cloud Computing model, however, more and more will reduce the IT staff and rely on PS teams to ensure that they have the right methodologies, can implement the solutions - including training, and can optimize and evolve their use of the tools available in a way that ensures business success. The focus will become less about "implementation" services - the Cloud providers will do that - and more about expert services that provide our customers with focus, experience, and expertise required to use IT solutions to achieve business results.

4. Asks Questions sesigned to Uncover the "Real" Pain, Not Just the "Stated" Pain.

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 17:18:00 +0000

Jean DiGiovanna of ThinkPeople refers to this as "staying curious," and this is a common theme in many sales and consulting training programs and books, particularly those that espouse a "solution-selling" approach. Powerful questions are, generally, open-ended questions designed to get the customer talking. They often lead to the opportunity to ask follow-up questions, deeper discussions, and more information.

So what does a a question that is designed to uncover the real pain look like? Let's look at an example. A consultant may ask a question this way:

"Do you have a process for managing employee time off?"

Or this way:

"How do you manage employee time off?"

Which do you think is likely to result in an answer that provides the ability to ask follow up questions and deeper insights?

Questions that start with "what" and "how" generally open discussions, giving the interviewee a chance to answer in detail. They generally provide a lot of information on which the consultants can build his investigations.

The first question, in contrast, is a closed question, and there is a real chance that the answer could be a simple "yes" or "no." What have you gained in this case...one person's opinion and no understanding why they gave the answer they did. Depending on the answer, the interview could be over with one question.

In many situations, symptoms of problems are visible, even obvious. Still, the root cause is not. A manager may feel, for instance, that that problem is that the staff is not accountable for their actions..."we need to fix the accountability problem." She may feel that because the work isn't getting done on time or quality standards aren't being met. A consultant may ask:

"Has the team's manager set proper expectations with the staff about deadlines and quality?"

The answer may simply be, "Well, of course." However, if the consultant asks:

"How does the team's manager set proper expectations with the staff about deadlines and quality?"

The interviewee will start to describe what she knows, and the consultant can determine for himself if expectations have been set properly. More likely, the consultant will determine what additional questions need to be asked and to whom.

As the consultant meets with the staff, management, and customers - asking powerful questions and learning about multiple perspectives - if may be clear that the management team has not properly set the staffs expectations. While at face value the root cause of the problem may appear to stem with the work effort of the staff, the real problem may be with a manager's approach.

The lesson: Do your homework. Get multiple perspectives. Look inside and outside the organization for the root case of the issues and pain they are experiencing. Don't assume the client knows what is going on...they often don't. This is not a slam on our clients, but let's face it...everyone is over worked and has too few resources to really assess every situation. If your clients knew what the real problem was, they'd be in a much better position to fix it themselves.

World-class PSO: Daily Thought

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 01:47:00 +0000

I had the good fortune to sit in on two sales training sessions delivered by Jeff Thull (Prime Resource Group) today. Jeff is the author of The Prime Solution, Mastering the Complex Sale, and Exceptional Selling.

Throughout the session, Jeff spoke to the team about what he calls the "Three Eras of Professional Selling." In the first error, the sales process was scripted, and sales professionals were not encouraged to "think" as Jeff says it. In the second era, sales pros hung their hat on the process of "Needs Analysis" to get through the day. In the third era, the era we are in today, sales professionals are encouraged to "STOP SELLING." This is one of Jeff's "Key Thoughts," as he calls them.

While I am not a sales person in the traditional session, as a consultant I am a sales professional. As I mentioned in an earlier post, consultants are always selling. Some of us sell in a traditional sense. We conduct pre-sales discovery with the goal of understanding the customers needs, challenges, pains - what ever you want to call them. We develop standard and custom consulting solutions for our customers. We write proposals and SOWs, and we work to close the deal. Others of us are selling during every meeting. We are working to ensure that the customer buys into the engagement format, the approach, the action plans, and the recommendations - even after the ink is dry on the contract.

What became increasingly clear to me throughout the sessions with Jeff is that the role of the sales professional has to stop selling and be a consultant. Now, I know there are countless books out there on the topic of "consultative selling." I recognize that my realization is a bit old news. Still, I witness situations every day where consultants in a selling role forget to be a consultant in pre-sales situations, or the pressures of the sales process result in a sales rep falling back into the Era 1 or Era 2 ways of selling. So, its worth repeating: To be a successful sales professional, one must be a consultant.

WORLD-CLASS SALES PROFESSIONAL = WORLD-CLASS CONSULTANT (and vice-versa)

3. Seeks first to understand, and then to be understood.

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 21:31:00 +0000

Consultants come to the table with a lot of knowledge and experience. Clients hire us because of our expertise, and they want to have their questions answered quickly. How many times has a prospective client asked you for pricing information or a high-level overview of a proposed solution before you have completed your discovery? More importantly, how many times have you obliged?

It is easy for a consultant to rush to judgment regarding the nature of the problem and, therefore, the solution. We may start talking prematurely about all the things we know and what can be done to improve the client's current state. People are most comfortable talking about themselves than asking solid, insightful questions about someone else. For this reason, we all fall into the trap and start providing a solution before we really understand the problem.

While the fact is that people like to talk about ourselves and what we know, world-class consultants have figured out how to use this fact to their advantage. They conduct an appropriate amount of research and planning before a call with a client and have a plan for what they want to learn. They ask insightful and open-ended questions designed to get the client or prospective client talking. They may interject with an anecdote or story where necessary to give the client confidence that the job they are being asked to do is not foreign, and they use active listening skills to verify that they understand what the client is saying.

Even when clients push for the answer or the price, world-class consultants resist the urge to go down that path too soon in favor of continuing with the investigation.

Only after a world-class consultant feels that he understands the current state and desired future state does he begin to share his observations and recommendations.

2. Remains a client advocate and keeps the client's best interests and needs top of mind at all times.

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 13:46:00 +0000

A world-class consultant works closely with her client to uncover the real pain and assist them in developing solutions to the problem that allows the business to grow and prosper. Consultants should not conspire with their primary contacts to solve symptoms without addressing the real problems, and they confidently advise the customer to address the root cause of the issues that are being experienced.

Michael McLaughlin, author of Winning the Professional Services Sale, says that "top [professional services] sellers do share this goal: To deliver extraordinary value to their clients before, during and after the sale. To accomplish that, they uncover what each client really needs and use flexible, pragmatic strategies to chalk up wins for all concerned." He goes on to say that "packaged offerings" fundamentally change the consultant or consulting business from one focused on the client to one that is focused on the business.

While consultants must run a profitable business - without doing so we will not be able to work with clients to help them meet their goals - world-class consultants are insanely focused on meeting the needs of the customer. Some times that means telling the client things they don't want to hear, but in the end, it's all about the customer. This does not mean that we don't have to concern ourselves with what is in the contract or delivering a project on-time and on-budget. However, if a consultant determines at any point in the project that the scope of work defined in the contract is not going to meet the needs of the customers - maybe something has changed since the contract was executed - it is that consultant's responsibility to speak up.

You must talk with the customer about what has changed - ask them at key points of the project if anything has changed. When changes are significant enough to render the current SOW irrelevant, work with your client to redefine the project in a way to meets their critical needs, even if that means the project gets smaller.

Another way a world-class consultant can remain an advocate for the customer is to ensure that his company is aware of the client's needs and speaks openly about those needs that are critical. For instance, a consultant in a product company may learn that the client has needs that are not being met by the product or by another department, like Customer Service or Finance. The consultant should bring these concerns/needs to the appropriate people in his company. Do so in a manner that is non-threatening and helpful. Remember, these other groups could be hard at work solving the problem or may not even be aware that there is a problem - you don't want to accuse. Let them know, though, that the customer has a concern and help connect them to the client if they are not already working with them.

Consultants sell and deliver time, ideas, assistance, and guidance. Your goal is to be trusted by your client so they open up and want to work with you. Being their advocate and keeping their needs at the center of what you do will go a long way to showing them that you're on their side.

1. Communicates clearly and completely without bias, attitude, or judgement.

noreply@blogger.com (Andrea Mulligan) — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 14:41:00 +0000

I introduced my Top 10 Qualities of a World-class Consultant last week. Next, I will start to dig into each of the ten qualities, starting with the first quality: A World-class consultant communicates clearly and completely without bias, attitude, or judgment.

Clear, proper communication is a foundational element to any relationship: Husband and wife, parent and child, friends, business associates, and consultants and clients.

All to often, the primary reason for a relationship's failure starts with the way parties communicate. In marriages, couples often blame money, work schedules, and simply "growing apart" for their failed relationships. Yet, I know many successful couples who stay married even when they have financial concerns, crazy work schedules, and different interests. Why are these couples able to make it? They communicate! Its no different in the world of consulting.

While effective communication is a two-way street, the consultants should set the example with regard to how communication should be handled. This doesn't mean that we should dictate how it will happen. Rather, the consultant should discuss with his client how different types of information will be communicated and at what frequency and format. (I recently attended a kick-off call for a project my team is running, and the client indicated that instant messenger is the best way to reach him.)

There are a number of different types of communication that must be discussed throughout the project:

Project Management Information: Common project management-related areas that require effective communication:

- Project plans, including work breakdown major milestones, and escalation paths
- Roles and Responsibilities
- Project status versus the plan
- Risk Assessment and mitigation
- Action items & issues
- Change Requests

The consultant and client must agree on the format of project management-related communications as well as the frequency and who receives this type of communication.
Engagement Observations: As the client and consultant work together to solve the problem at hand, key observations will be made by the consultants. In some cases, it is appropriate to wait until providing the deliverables to share observations. In other cases, though, key observation should be shared along the way.

Sharing key observations along the way allows a consultant to:

- Confirm what she is learning and gather feedback
- Ask follow-up questions to put a finer point on the observations when necessary
- Let the sponsor know early if their is an observation that may be difficult for him (or the team) to hear for the first time in a larger audience.
Recommendations: In a few weeks, I will discuss Peter Block's idea that a consultant helps customers "find their own answers to their questions." While that is often true, the fact is, consultants are expected to make recommendations that the client will consider and, hopefully, implement. Some of my clients have requested sample recommendations during the selling process.

Like observations, there are times when a consultant should share key recommendations with a client before the final deliverable is provided - often for the same reasons. In some cases, the recommendations are so important, the consultant is compelled to tell the client right away, enabling the client to make a key decision and start implementation sooner.

The way one communicates is as important as what is communicated. As my husband says, it is often "not what you say, but how you say it." That is not to say that one does not have to communicate accurate, relevant, and reliable information as long as what is said is with a smile. That wouldn't work either. What you say is important. It is important to deliver your message with authority and in a tone that can be received by the other person.

Speaking more to the "how you say it," though. Some consultants still enter a problem discussion or discovery with preconceived notions and biases about what the problem is and how to solve it. When that happens, they fail to drill into the problem deep enough. The worst case is when the consultant gets impatient with the client for "not getting it" and that impatience is expressed through the communications. Remember, if they "got it," they wouldn't need you.

Keeping an open mind throughout your discovery is one way to communicate completely and in an unbiased manner. Be confident and provide anecdotes and supporting information where necessary. Use your expertise, but learn from your client.