The Project Has Ended…

But is the client happy?

The project has ended – it is on schedule, within scope, on budget and is of high quality. But…is the client happy? Did you meet the client’s expectations? Did you consider that in determining the success of the project? Here’s a little story for you:

A friend of a friend (who’ll we will call Ellen for the purposes of this story) was managing a fairly complex project for a key client of the company in which she is employed. When the project ended it met this criteria:

• Finished on time
• Was on budget
• Stayed within scope
• Was of high quality

The executives of the company and Ellen and her team were thrilled! The project was a success. But, when the client was asked if he was pleased – his answer was a resounding, “No.”

The executives of the company (and Ellen too!) were shocked. How could that be?  The project was on time, on budget, within scope and the quality was high.  What was missed? What would make the client so unhappy? The client’s answer – I didn’t like the project team’s attitude.

Uh oh. Houston – we have a problem! (Apollo 13 reference in case you didn’t get it). This is serious. Ellen knows it. The executives of the company know it. And the client knows it. Bottom line – the project is most certainly not a success.

What does the client mean by “I didn’t like the project team’s attitude?” Well, they asked – and here is what they heard:

• I couldn’t get status report updates when I wanted them – I was told to check in at the regularly scheduled time.
• I asked for a demo and was told “no.” I knew it wasn’t ready and there would be some glitches; but I was really excited and wanted to see progress to date – I didn’t expect perfection and I didn’t expect to be told “no.”
• Anytime I asked a question, I was made to feel like I was inconveniencing the project team.

Bottom line, the client stated he would never hire that company again to do work on any major projects for him. He truly expected much more from them. He expected to be treated well, not as an inconvenience.

Lesson learned – if the client is not happy, the project is not a success. The rest – on time, on scope, on budget, high quality – won’t matter.