Am I Communicating Effectively? (February 2009)

No matter how much we want to be able to help our clients increase their organizational capacities and individual capability, we cannot succeed in our contract mission unless the client is willing to listen to what we have to offer, and apply that knowledge to their operations.

Sometimes this is the hardest part of being a mentor or advisor. Although we are held to the deliverables in the contract for accomplishment, the on-going success of the deliverables is based on the daily contact and work that we complete with the client.

Our mentor/advisors have the expertise and experience to accomplish the tasks required in accordance with the Statement of Work and Task Orders. That is not the problem! In fact, left to our own devices, we could accomplish the task quicker and more efficiently if we did it ourselves; however, that is not the goal and only delays the inevitable. The client, at some point, should be learning new functional skills in order to carry on the work after our departure and it is better if they are involved from start to finish.

Mentor/advisors have the opportunity to share their insights, knowledge, and the experience of their functional skills with our clients. When faced with new challenges, our professional skills and knowledge often must take a back-seat to developing a level of trust and confidence with the client.

We are faced with a number of different issues when working with our clients, in a foreign environment filled with customs and traditions with which we are often unfamiliar. Desiring to assist the client learn new skills and capabilities that will help their organization run more effectively and efficiently is essential.

Before we can teach skills, concepts and practices it is important that we develop a trusting relationship. The sooner the relationship is established, the quicker we are able to help assess the current skill level of the client and help them develop a work plan based on their mission and expectations, and help execute that work plan to achieve some measures of success over a given period of time.

The best way to build a trusting relationship with the client is to listen to them and bring them into the discussion and learning process. When an individual doesn’t appear to be listening or interested in what we have to offer, it may be necessary for us to re-examine how we are approaching the client.

These are some questions to ask ourselves, to see if we are really listening to the what the client
needs are: What is the work environment that we are placed in? What are the demands placed on our client for daily and future activities? Who does our client report to and what is their agenda? How does our expertise and experience relate to what the client really needs or wants to know? Do we demonstrate that we have a commitment to the success of the client?

We often have very little control over what will be retained by the client, but we do have a lot of control over how we approach them, how we deal with them daily and what we do in accomplishing the contract mission. Working with the client to achieve goals that are not the clients is a sure way of failing to achieve the mission. However, when we focus on what the client’s needs and requirements are by listening to them, showing our concern and giving them alternative ways to accomplish a task, they are more likely to accept our knowledge and skills for adaptation to their operative way of doing business.