When clients come to us with a new app or feature request, they naturally come up with a solution and ask for delivery. That solution is based on the best client knowledge of implementing it. We should not stop here. We can only develop the best solution when we understand a deep need. That means that we should ask:
Context is the key to understanding what the client has in mind.
We can take advantage of our expertise when we understand the client’s deep need for the requested app or feature. We know best how to validate the app idea, the cost of building a solution, our approach, and the complexity. We also leverage our experience in other projects.
That should lead us to build a roadmap (a strategy/plan/approach) to reach client goals. We should use the best techniques:
to deeply understand the problem and prepare a plan the client can understand. Our goal is to define the problem and approach to solve that problem.
The plan should also define milestones and key metrics we will observe during the execution phase. This will allow us to align the leading and lagging indicators with the clients as we execute.
Understanding constraints and measures of success from the previous phase allows us to prepare a plan that is not only viable but valuable. So, the estimated costs over benefits that the client counts on can be measured, and our chances of success can be increased. We should identify risks that increase the client's trust that we know what we are doing.
This phase ends with presenting that plan to the client. It’s essential to have a buy-in from the client. That means that our clients not only listen to our idea, but we ensure they understand it and they can give feedback. We use that feedback to engage clients and be part of this plan. The plan is the best possible solution to achieve the desired success metrics.
The consulting phase is important because I believe it will give benefits that will allow us to generate and capture more value.