Quick Wins and How to Say No
In client services, the ability to go above and beyond is not just necessary, it is a must. Just floating by and doing the bare minimum may be enough to successfully complete the items listed in the statement of work, but your ultimate goal should always be on winning the next set of follow-up work. One of the best ways to do this is by delivering slightly more than what your client originally signed up for. Growing existing clients rather than finding new ones is the easiest way to win work for your firm and it is the job of the team on the ground to ensure that happens.
As requirements evolve and the project ebbs and flows, you will have the opportunity to take on new additional items that may either be an extension of the existing scope or tangential. Tasks that can be done in a relatively short period of time and not impact or impede the overall project plan are called quick wins.
The ability to spot a good quick win vs. what would not be worth the effort is where the ability to say no to a client intersects. Clients can and will ask you to take on additional work all the time and it will be up to you and your project manager to decide whether the extra effort will be worth it in the long run. Usually, if the item is low effort and high reward, it is a safe bet to take on the extra item. It will be perceived well by the client and not add too much risk to your existing project. As the work increases in complexity and lowers in terms of the reward it carries for the client, this is where it is wise to begin pushing back on the client. Maybe you could push the work to another future phase, or carefully explain the work vs. the impact. You will need to learn to say no to a client from time to time. Whether the client is innocent in asking for additional items or they are purposely pushing the team to get more bang for their buck, this is where scope creep can begin to put your project at risk. It will be down to you and your project manager to manage expectations.
Saying No and Finding a Compromise
A client once approached my desk, rolled up a chair and sat down next to me. As I removed my headphones and turned from the task I was currently working on, he started to engage in some quick small talk. As I listened to a story about his dog, I knew he was on track to pivot to a requirement change. Clients that need a quick change usually avoid project management and go directly to the developer in hopes of getting what they want. “Oh, I believe it’s simple, but I would be grateful if we could also have the tool to do so and so…”
I let him know his request was fair and I would look into feasibility while knowing that the change being requested would add a lot of work to my plate as well as derail the task I was currently working on. Once he left, I reported the task back to my project manager who recorded the item to the backlog. At the next status meeting, we brought up the new item with all parties being present and quickly decided that the new item was worth the effort and the current task I was working on could be bumped to a later phase. In this scenario, the client gave up a bit but also got something he wanted, and I did not have to double time it to produce more work. Win-Win.
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