Legal project management tip of the month: Be sure you fully understand client needs
Near the beginning of each engagement, make sure you understand what your client wants and needs. What would the client consider to be a successful outcome? What are their priorities, both overall and for this particular matter? Exactly what problem are they trying to solve?
The first Wednesday of every month is devoted to a very short and simple tip like this to help lawyers increase efficiency and provide greater value to their clients.
The battle between wants and needs continues. After engaging with clients for over 20 years I have concluded that wants are a reflection of the client's solution to an unstated problem. To get to the real needs statement I often use a Root Cause Analysis. That reduces the scope to convincing the client that what they want is what they need. Without this validation the project is likely to fail.
Posted by: Bob Wysocki | August 03, 2011 at 03:49 PM
Shouldn't that go without saying? You have to know what sort of agreement you're entering into with a client.
Posted by: Joe | August 08, 2011 at 11:15 PM