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Unlocking Project Potential: Effective Tips To Improve The Business Owner-Project Manager Partnership
Forging a great business relationship between the project manager and business owner is the central pillar to successful project management and product launch, there comes a time when they will both face the challenges of procedure, and only clear and honest communication will be the key to battle these challenges.
Facing an unhappy circumstance is not precisely an incredible sight to behold; But by building client relationship management in the project manager’s domain of skills, and the business owner’s composure and maintenance, the path to recovery becomes clear, reducing the likelihood of encountering the same issue once more.
Let’s begin with client relationship management:
The strategic approach towards the management of interactions with a client is known as client relationship management; Its end goal is to maintain excellent customer satisfaction while successfully delivering the project.
Client relationship management can take shape as:
1. Involving clients in establishing project priorities and timelines
2. Communicating changes ahead of time
3. Surveying the team and client to find out how they’re feeling
4. Proactively checking in on their needs and satisfaction levels
Project managers who develop strong communication skills will be in a good position to do well in handling clients, which can open up better prospects ahead.
By enhancing their behavioral skills, the project managers alongside business owners will lessen the arguments and improve communication.
It’s time to talk about composure maintenance:
As a business owner, it’s important to avoid the display of any signs of immature or unprepared leadership, as this can cause the outsourcing team to feel a certain negativity towards you and your project which might result in bad communication with a project manager team.
Here are 5 methods to maintain composed leadership in high-pressure situations:
1. Don’t allow your negative emotions to get in the way
2. Don’t take things personally
3. Keep a positive attitude
4. Take accountability for your mistakes
There's no denying that losing composure during a crisis is a common behavior but that is the exact moment when the good business owner is divided from a common one; By remaining calm, you'll discover that salvation will come in faster waves and that cool behavior will put those who are accompanying you in the journey at ease and creates a safe environment which will lead to more honest communication.
With that said, here are 8 tips to prevent provocation between business owners and project managers:
1. Clear communication:
Project manager: Discover clients’ preferences on the style and frequency of communication in order to inform them of much-needed details.
Business owner: Prepare the key questions to narrate the procedure of each daily or weekly meeting in the most efficient way possible. Remember, the more you ask the more you get.
2. Respect each other’s time:
Project manager: Most outsourcings are based on the fact that the company didn’t possess the resources themselves to complete the job in-house; long talks, unnecessary information, and pointless meetings make the process exhausting and the business owner might give up for the sake of it.
Business owner: Overwhelming the project manager with an excessive workload and expecting everything to be done by the end of the day will only put unnecessary pressure on them; Prioritise the tasks and specify the rational due date.
3. The phone is your best friend:
Project manager: A paper trail requires a lot of communication, sometimes a five-minute call can save a week's worth of emailing back and forth.
Business owner: The workload of an owner is so high that there is a high chance of forgetting that one mail or message they were supposed to answer; Make sure having a conversation through the phone is a part of the routine procedure of communicating with the project manager.
4. Acknowledge each other’s industry:
Project manager: Break every complex tech phrase into simplified understandable ones and put effort into gaining knowledge about the ways of the client’s industry and how it works.
Business owner: The more you know about the tech industry, the more you will be able to make efficient inquiries about the procedure.
5. Transparency is the key:
Project manager: Be honest about what’s happening on your end; being upfront about the issues that have occurred makes you a trustworthy option for future partnerships.
Business owner: What you demand is what you will receive; The project managers need you to be crystal clear about what you require from their team, so they can operate in the most efficient way possible.
6. Set goals and go along with them:
Project manager: Making promises according to the project scope will result in less delayed project delivery and miscommunication.
Business owner: Setting realistic and agreed goals will reduce any surprises during the procedure and make up for delays; Make sure you know your role in the project and have a calculated move to deal with delays and how you are going to respond to them.
7. KPIs matter:
Project manager: Be certain about what success looks like from both parties' perspectives to avoid misunderstanding.
Business owner: Track and celebrate promising results together to make sure of a friendly environment; you never know when will be the next time that two parties will become partners again.
8. Feedback is important:
Project manager: Seek feedback from clients; There is no better way of knowing how the client feels than to ask them properly, by that, you’ll gain valuable data about how to handle the next steps of the way.
Business owner: Any feedback from you is valuable in order to build a better relationship and develop better products according to your desire. Don’t shy away from giving that important feedback any time you feel like it.
In conclusion; if you have read between the lines you’ll grasp that everything circles back to honest and healthy communication, more talk, and less dreamy expectations of tasks being done without being told to. So make sure both parties are on the same page and are informed of even the slightest change or improvement to avoid misunderstanding as much as possible.
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