10 OBSERVATIONS FROM A RECENT PROJECT - #2

2. Parlez vous YSTIST?*

If you are going to communicate the value of a project to the stakeholders, whether to the client, internally at the C-level or to the user community, you need to make sure that you are all speaking the same language. Terms and concepts must be universally understood if you ever hope to get everyone on the same page. Changing the language based on the audience may seem like a great idea but it only leads to misunderstanding and mistrust. I know it’s tempting to “dumb it down” for some audiences. Some friendly words of advice: Don’t do it. It is your responsibility as a key member of the project team to ensure that everyone understands the project goals and the roadmap and their place within the roadmap. If that means that you have to work a little harder at communicating and articulating, then know you’ll be the better for it in the long run. And, try to avoid using jargon and undefined acronyms, even if you think everyone will understand them. There’s nothing more embarrassing then opening a presentation with jargon only to have someone ask you an hour later during the Q&A session what the jargon term meant. What it means is you've just wasted an hour.

*You say tom-ay-to, I say tom-ah-to.

Jeff Lowell

If you missed it, click for the INTRO and here for #1 Change is Hard.  To easily see all of the current posts in contiguous reverse order (newest to oldest), click on the "10 Observations" link under the Categories heading in the sidebar on the right side of the page. Be sure to catch the next chapter: 2. Business is Organic.

I want to encourage everyone who reads this post to add comments (that tiny link at the very bottom of the post) and share their experiences as well. Oh, and please feel free to re-post and share (please use the buttons provided for LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook).  If you're interested in doing a guest post or want to present an alternative view, contact me.