Suzanne wrote:
> I would take a cue from your first impressions. In the "pitch" process they
> will try to make the best impression they can. After that, the relationship
> is likely to get worse, not better. If you're not impressed with the people
> from the get-go, how can a contract make it better?
I contract them out. A large part of our problem is that I have
agencies beating down the door to get on-board, due largely to the
impression that Mr. Turner's donation to the UN is all going to be spent
on the website :P Another chunk come from friends of said donor, or
our highpowered PR firms, recommending people they want to work with.
This means I get management making the sales pitch that is, IMHO, one or
two levels higher than they should be (i.e., always VP and Pres).
To allow for better review, I've changed the review process, narrowed
them on past performance, and set up the RFP to allow for this initial
song and dance stage from upper management . . . but keep those people
away from the boss until I give them some direction. If all goes well,
they'll realize they need to send some different people for the full
pitch next time, and then they can come back for the handshaking at the
end ;)
> Most importantly, look at their portfolios and talk with their and former
> clients.
Step 1 ;)
> >in the lower ranks, and watching their faces as the boss makes
> >promises ;)
>
> A great idea. Keep in mind though that smart managers will have had
> professional training in presentation, so if they're scared to death, they
> shouldn't show it. The underlings may not have had training or experience,
> and so may look stupid even if they're the greatest creatives in the world.
> Coders may be even worse--few that I know around here are very extroverted.
> Watch for signs of tension, dislike, admiration, rapport, etc. among the
> players: stuff like managers trying to prevent underlings from talking,
> interrupting them, controlling them, etc.
>
That's more what I was after. Coders, especially, often have trouble
hiding their expressions when the boss is digging a hole they're going
to be spending time in on his behalf.
> If they're really on their toes, they may come in with a rehearsed,
> polished presentation during which everyone who comes to the meeting will
> have a speaking role. In that event, place a lot of emphasis on an informal
> Q&A session after the formal presentation -- that's when the true
> personalities will come out and you can find out how much they *really*
> know.
*hehe* Note to self: "if you ever interview Suz for job, skip the
being tricky part"
*grin*
> Also, I have an art director friend in Vienna VA who can probably give you
> some inside skinny on some of the DC area developers, or at least the one
> her company works with. E-mail Ellie: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Appreciate that. I ruled out most DC companies. Everyone left is
national/international in scope with at best a DC office.
> Could you explain this anonymous channels idea? I missed the suggested
> reading and don't know what you're talking about.
Suggested reading is Tom DeMarco's "Deadline, a novel of project
management". On my second read in a week :)
Chapter three of that outlines the importance of anonymous problem
reporting. The book uses the example of a manager that holds
confession--if a project is late, the project manager reveals this in a
confessional. Not purely anonymous, but close enough to remove the
whole guilt thing and cut to the chase.
They end up going with anonymous email on the new project. It's an idea
I like.
I've let them know that I have an email account I want used for
anonymous email from their own managers on the project. I *need* to
know when one agency is having problems if I'm going to manage a
multi-agency effort, largely because I've built that into the system--I
always have at least two things rolling out at once. if one is late, I
juggle quickly and the other gets moved up. if they both get done on
time, I hold one for continual rollouts. if they're both late, heads
roll (yeah, I'm still working on that part :P).
VPs aren't going to tell me they're going to be late until they already
are. That's lost planning time on my end that could have been spent
minimizing the effects of their being late in the first place. I want
to know two minutes after the meeting where they identified the
problem. If the project fails, I want it to be because of my bad
decisions, not someone else's.
In this case I don't want to intrude down to the staff level, but I do
want the internal managers to be able to reach me, perhaps even without
the VP/Pres knowing, so they can say "what if?" and get an answer. I
think a lot of lateness can be avoided by working out those what if's
with the project managers in advance, and then coming to some
arrangements before we drag VPs into this on either end. Lateness
doesn't matter that much to VPs as long as all of the underlings seem to
be in agreement on it . . .. And, of course, any project you can keep a
VP out of is probably going to stay on course better than one you get
them involved in ;)
Had one company this week decide not to bid on this issue alone. Had
another one, though, send me the account info on the account they
already use internally for this purpose on the same basic logic (and
they swear by it). As one might expect from an open atmosphere like
that, their past work scored a lot higher in my prelim reviews as well .
. .
back to work :P all this writing finally has me in the mood to finish
the changes to the RFP ;)
B
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