Project Break-through

I am working on a number of projects at Open Text but none are as challenging as our attempt to revolutionize the customer experience. What does that mean? It’s about providing the right content to the right person at the right time. What does that mean? It’s the blueprint for holistic, engaging customer experiences that weave people, process, and content together in a way that fosters a true partnership with our customers. What does that mean?

Ah, you are starting to understand my problem. This is a great project that will change the way we interact with customers, partners, prospects, etc. but it is hard to define and since we are still lacking concrete deliverables to point people to (though more are being produced every day), it is hard to get everyone behind a common rallying cry.

And for this project, this week was definitely filled with some highs and lows. I won’t bore you with the details, but suffice to say, we had a hard fought meeting on Wednesday where we tried to gain consensus from a very large group about our action plan. Following the meeting, there was a fair bit of dissension and we were forced to re-examine what we were trying to accomplish and how we could get there.

After venting and perhaps dropping a few curse words (not me!?!), I went for a run to clear my head. And, as always, I am amazed at the clarity that can be gained by banging your feet on the pavement. We came up with a new plan. We presented it to the CMO and got a thumbs-up. Then I started the calling campaign. I called all of the key stakeholders to get their buy-in for the new plan before I issued a note to the larger team. I felt like that was important because (1) I truly valued their input and I wanted to make sure our new plan was feasible and (2) I didn’t want a stakeholder to be caught off-guard by an e-mail to a larger group about something this significant. Always better to spend a ½ day socializing something than to have your key partners surprised.

Then we rolled out the new idea (which is much better than the original plan, by the way).

Late Friday night, I got an e-mail from one of the key stakeholders. She was writing to tell me that she likes the new plan and (to quote her exactly) “it has got me rethinking how we deliver product … assets.” OMG. There are no words to describe how much that e-mail meant. This project has been so challenging. So many people just don’t “get it” and I have been really struggling to explain it in terms that resonate. We aren’t there yet, and we still need to produce tangible assets to truly show people what we are driving towards, but one of our key stakeholders gets it. And she is going to re-think the way she approaches her deliverables! That is great! It might not change the world, but the small victories are worth celebrating. So I am doing a Happy Dance and I am re-energized to take on the next sticky meeting.