When Your Customer Wants Everything – Use Project Management Templates

Have you ever noticed how some customers want everything thrown in including the kitchen sink?  “Change orders, you have to be kidding!  That work is supposed to be included!”  Have you heard that before?

As the project manager, when you run into one of these types of customers you have to be extremely careful.  You might find yourself way over budget at the end of the project if you aren’t.

I Want It My Way

Customers can be demanding.  That’s a given.  So, when you’re leading that type of a project, the best you can do is lay out the scope for them using Project Management Templates and manage to it.  Oh, and monitor deviations to project scope like a hawk because any deviations can send your project into a tailspin in terms of scope and cost.

Here’s what you have to do:

- Hold a formal kickoff.  Go through the statement of work (SOW) carefully with the customer.  Make sure that there is a mutual understanding on everything.  If something seems confusing, deal with it immediately.
- Develop a draft project schedule. Before the kickoff meeting with the customer, put together a draft project schedule that is based primarily off of the SOW.  Present it to the customer during kickoff discussions and modify it as needed from these discussions.  And get customer agreement on it because this Project Plan will also basically identify your baseline project scope.
- Discuss the change order process.  Change orders are necessary when the customer is asking for something that is outside the agreed upon scope of the project.  If you have a demanding customer, then it’s likely that you’ll go through a few change orders during the course of the engagement.  Explain your change order process to the customer so they understand up front that they’ll be paying for things they want that fall outside the scope of the project.  But also be ready for some negotiations because customer generally want what they can get for free and will need convincing to pay extra.
- Document, document, document.  Produce regular status reports, route notes from weekly status calls to all participants, and do a thorough job of documenting any scope changes – especially as they pertain to change orders.  And above all else, get official signoff agreement from your customer on deliverables and change orders.  If the customer doesn’t sign it, they aren’t likely to pay for it.

Summary

Customers are generally great.  Most of what I love about Online Project Management centers around customer interaction and management of customer expectations.  However, you’re bound to run into difficult customers from time to time.  They may even warn you up front that they’re going to be difficult. I’ve had that happen.  The best thing you can do is make sure you’re covered by discussing changes in detail with the customer, show them that you’re confident and in control of the project, and always get customer signoff.  They may hate to pay extra, but if they see the value, then their satisfaction will remain high.

Method123 announces the release of their new Project Office Checklist

The new Project Office Checklist from Method123 will help you define an efficient project office for your organization.

If your company needs a Project Management Office (PMO) but doesn’t know where to start, look no further than Method123’s Project Management Kit and the new Project Office Checklist that is part of its offering.

“The Project Office Checklist is designed for the organization that is ready to take the next step in its online project management methodology life cycle,” says Method123 CEO Jason Westland.  “Our checklist will guide you through the process of structuring and running a Project Management Office at your company.”

The PMO is the central organization within a company that projects are run through.  They are the keeper of the project management methodology, the clearinghouse for all processes and Project Management Templates that are to be utilized.  All project planning and tracking should begin and end with this organization.  It’s no easy or cheap task to create such an organization…and the Project Office Checklist is just the tool you need to take some of the guesswork out of the process.

Studies have shown that up to 55% of all PMOs fail within the first two years.  Further investigation has uncovered that there was a lack of project planning element involved in approximately 70% of all PMO failures.  Why leave your PMO to chance and your project managers out in the cold when you can utilize a tool as full featured and valuable as the Project Office Checklist from Method123?

This checklist will help you:
- Define the structure for the PMO
- Obtain the right tools and equipment to run the PMO
- Define the proper roles and associated responsibilities
- Create the right processes and procedures for an effective PMO
- Put in place the right project management templates to help ensure project successes

Project Management Offices can be as difficult to run as they are to setup.  Method123’s checklist will give examples of everything you need to set the PMO in motion like the right positions and roles, the templates you’ll need to get started, and tips and hints to help your PMO stay on track.

The Project Office Checklist is not just for setting up a PMO.  It is also helpful to organizations with project offices already in place.  According to Mr. Westland, the checklist can provide help for the current PMO that is in need of improvement.

“The PMO checklist gives an organization excellent guidelines to measure even their current PMO processes and effectiveness against.  It’s not just for the PMOs out there that have yet to be created.  The checklist template was created by project professionals who know what works.  There is information, processes and policies that will make any project office run better and support their Project Management Methodology more effectively,” says Westland.

If you’re looking to start your PMO off on the right foot or trying to improve the effectiveness of your existing project management office, then Method123’s Project Office Checklist is a critical tool for you.

For more information, visit Method123.com.