Strategy #1: Calibrate your success perceptions
You’re working with a client to create a new e-Learning solution. Before you discuss the solution, consider asking yourself this question: where are you both coming from? Think about it. People from different backgrounds, disciplines, and varying experience levels come together to create a “thing.” Varying perceptions based on pre-conceived ideas and experiences are a reality. Taking time to unveil hidden (or not so hidden) perceptions and biases, in order to make adjustments possible, can help relationships thrive faster and can help the creative process progress quickly. The strategy, admittedly, is based upon a simple premise. If you know your attitudes, and how far you have to adjust them, you will. Conversely, if you know where your client’s attitudes are, and where you’d like them to be, you will be in a better position to work with them to help them move there. Ultimately, this strategy sharpens understanding and outcomes of any success conversation.
How to implement this strategy
Here are two approaches.
- Approach A: List common perceptions your client(s) have in terms of success and compare your perceptions to see how you both align.
- Approach B: List consistently occurring perceptions across many clients and compare your perceptions.
You can do these openly with the client or privately on the side. The key is to keep it simple and targeted to perceptions you see as potential roadblocks. As you engage your client, take note of which comments make you tense, pause or instinctively wonder. Trust your experience and intuition and create a list based on those.
Here is an example of a calibrator I use (see Figure 1). I’ve listed consistently occurring perceptions and attitudes I’ve found many clients and designers tend to exhibit related to creating learning solutions, solving problems, and content design. The figure shows how things may look like after a client and designer first meet. Your calibrator, of course, may look different depending upon your list and perceptions. Nevertheless, upon first meeting a client, I use this list and mark on the continuum where I think the client falls, based on reactions I’m hearing in early meetings in which we are working out solutions. I then mark where I fall on the continuum and compare.
Figure 1: The generic success calibrator
Replaying Tom’s Strategy Play
Let’s return to Tom’s conversation. Figure 2 is representation of what Tom learned from his client. It’s a quick consulting roadmap Tom can use to quickly anticipate issues and begin to influence effective design direction.
Figure 2: Tom’s calibrator after the first meeting with Sheila
Tom and his client, Sheila, nearly agree about the solution being some type of experience (this information will drive the type and complexity of design methodologies they will eventually choose, such as scenarios, simulations, or games). They agree that asking learners is important. Tom can now feel confident about including learner focus groups or formative testing in his approach. Finally, Sheila strongly believes that including detailed content (code word for “more content is better”) is highly important. Tom and Sheila are far apart on this. So, how can Tom begin to “unfuzz” the bar and clarify expectations?
Replay
Sheila: We want everyone to complete this course and learn all there is to know about X. It’s tremendously important to our business. People really need to know the details of how X works and how it drives our business. The more they know, the more it will help all of us.
Tom: [insert rewind sound] Great. Describe the kind of impact you see this having on our organization. Say more about this. Do you want to see much of the content found in the 200-page policy document in this solution?
Sheila: Well, yes. That document was created by the steering committee. A lot of people played a part in getting that done and approved.
Tom: I know that getting this training rolled out quickly is highest priority for you, but an aggressive timeline and a non-prioritized content strategy work completely against each other. Prioritizing content and presenting in an engaging simple manner, particularly given the importance of this topic and complexity, is critical for getting this completed effectively and on time. We’re committed to making this a success for everyone. Your help in communicating this across the project team will save us a ton of time. Does this make sense and can you help us?
Note how Tom capitalized on knowing/seeing the disparity of views and began to solicit buy-in to a high-level design approach immediately. When compared side by side, the success trajectories of the design for each of these solutions will likely be very different.
You’ll find your success-calibration list will likely come out of asking questions such as, “In your view what does success look like? What’s your blue-sky how-will-it-work vision for this solution?” The opposite (and less successful) approach is to ask your client where they think they land on these continua. I’ve learned not to ask clients these questions in a rapid-fire or question/answer approach. It gives the conversation a disjointed, clinical feel, as if you’re giving your client a psychological test. In the end, seeking the answers to your client's expectations within the context of a conversation and open dialogue results in better understanding and relationship.
As you know, not everyone’s views are black or white. That’s why I’ve found a continuum works best to quickly identify how far your perceptions are apart from your client’s. The success calibration strategy has four values:
- It eases potential consulting tensions and helps people connect. Relationship connection is a key factor in making great design.
- It reduces rework and frustration arising from misperceptions, and it increases design success.
- It reduces time spent determining a solution.
- It helps make leading and managing easier because consulting issues are made clear.
Let’s look at another example.
Strategy #1 in play: “Could This Be You? Episode 2”
The scene: Jennifer, an e-Learning Manager, has just received a tense call from Omar, a developer. Omar is frustrated: his client is not accepting his ideas.
Jennifer: Omar, I hear your frustration. Tell me about the situation.
Omar: I’ve reworked X three times. I don’t understand why they’re not accepting my ideas. I’m wasting time. We’re reworking what we’ve reworked. Ugh!
Jennifer: It must be very frustrating. What could you do differently to stop the rework?
Omar: I’ve tried everything! I don’t really know.
Pause. Let’s rewrite
this scene. Imagine Omar was asked to use the success calibrator weeks earlier.
Jennifer: It must be very frustrating. What have you done to align your success perceptions with your clients? Where were you and your client weeks ago and where are you and your client now?
Omar: I’m still here and they are still there. [He said, looking at the Success Calibrator] Oh. My consulting tactics really aren’t working. I see the problem. We’re not aligning. I could be doing more of X and less of Y to get closer alignment.
