Being Proactive

A major reason clients rely on CLS is our experience, both individually and collectively. Experience in past cases enables us to be proactive, to anticipate potential pitfalls and address them before they derail current projects. Think ahead so you can shield your client from unpleasant surprises.

Of course, being proactive is not always easy. We build our project plan and workflow based on assumptions we get from our client, but electronic data is notoriously unpredictable. We may encounter problems that neither our client nor we could have anticipated. That’s the nature of the beast.

In such cases, our engineers will assess the situation and propose likely solutions. They may have to work through more than one round of trial and error to settle on an effective, defensible solution. Of course, the clock is ticking all the while.

This is the type of situation that will test your judgment as a project manager. You want to alert your client at the earliest juncture of potential dangers, but you don’t want to be alarmist. Here is where knowing your team is really important. Get the best information you can from Engineering, but don’t be shy about reaching out to Directors and VPs to get their input on how to deal with the situation.