Do you know who is your project customer?
Those who have habit of learning project management via internet know Elizabeth Harrin. She has written a book on Customer Centric Project Management, which has just been released.
She has written recently about who is your project customer in a recent blog post.
Elizabeth says, “Project customers are those stakeholders with a significant vested interest in the outcome of the project.”
Why project customer is important?
The reason is simple – he defines what “value” means to them.
Managing project from just the Scope perspective is conventional; managing project from Customer perspective is little different.
It requires keeping in constant touch with the project stakeholders, maintaining continuous communication with the project customer and ensuring common understanding.
To me, customer centric project management means working collaboratively with the project customer rather than investing more and more time in negotiating what is right and what is not.
Sure, it requires a different mindset and application of project management knowledge but I think that’s where the world is heading.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Utpal, I agree (although I suppose I’m slightly biased!). The world is heading towards managing less by scope and more by customer satisfaction. As we become more picky about what we want in all areas of life, that will spill over into expecting better customer service from our colleagues at work as well. Thanks for mentioning my book in your article – I look forward to seeing how this subject evolves over time!
Elizabeth recently posted..Customer-Centric Project Management showcased at Ørdev 2012
Thanks Elizabeth for your comment. I have practiced conventional project management for years and lately started using Scrum as a preferred framework for developing software projects. The reason is simple – customers and service providers are on the same side. Conventional Project Management has also its strong position however regardless of the frameworks, we work to achieve one goal – create “value” for our customers and the mindset that helps us achieve that is good to have.
All the best for your book. I’ll order it soon!