“The quantity and the colors, that’s all I need…And the stock,…the quantity, the colors and the stock and that’s all I need!…and I need this, the page count…”
Do you remember the scene from the 1979 movie “The Jerk” starring Steve Martin as Navin R. Johnson, where he waddles out of his house, pants around his ankles, stating he doesn’t need anything…”not this or that”, but then one by one adds odd household items to his list of things he needs? “I don't need this or this. Just this ashtray... And this paddle game. - The ashtray and the paddle game and that's all I need...And this remote control….”
Well, if you have been in the print buying business for any length of time, you may have felt Navin R. Johnson’s pain while dealing with some of the people that give us specs at one time or another, or lack of specs, to be more precise. There have been quite a few times that I have been handed so little information and walked away feeling like Navin R. Johnson as I mumble to myself, “quantity, that’s all I need…and colors…quantity and colors, that’s all I need…and I need stock,…quantity, colors and stock and that’s all I need…and I need this…”
Inevitably, we all run across situations where we get little to no information, but are expected to generate bids or worse yet, get a job printed off of inadequate information. Whether you deal with the client directly, an agency, designers, account or project managers, they all bring highly trained skills to the table, but sometimes lack the knowledge or experience to fully understand the needs of the Print Buyer. In some cases, it may be the result of a longstanding culture within a given organization, making your task much more daunting. And we all know that, for whomever your client is, internal or external and for whomever you receive your information from, YOUR CLOCK STARTS TICKING as soon as specs are handed off to you, incomplete, vague or otherwise! A Print Buyer need to be able to effectively communicate what he or she needs to do their job effectively but more importantly, needs to draw upon their change management skills to ensure that those practices becomes SOP to get what you need, every time!
I often recount a reoccurring experience that I encountered a number of years ago in a previous position, where a Project Manager or Designer would storm into my office waving a loose comp and demanding a rush price and turnaround time from me. I’d calmly ask the basic questions (qty, colors, size, finishing, etc), which would often be met with a frantically quizzical and frustrated look from the Project Manager or Designer. “It’s blue, I need a price…it’s blue!” they’d exclaim, waving the comp that happened to have a blue background, back and forth as if so emphasizing would bring me clarity. Since those days, “BLUE!” has become my tongue-in-cheek synonym to “very vague specs” in my vocabulary and within my inner Print Buying Circle. One of my contemporary Print Buyers once told me of their similar story and stated that their tongue-in-cheek term they used for such situations was “Who’s on first?” referring to the old Abbott and Costello routine. Similarly, while recently sharing my these stories to another colleague, he chuckled and relayed his all-to-familiar tales, even offering that he’d often jokingly respond to such demands by spouting off a random number, like “3” or “7” to appease them. (or tease them).
All joking aside, it is easy to look back at such scenarios as whimsical, but at the time, it is anything but whimsical for a Print Buyer who is seemingly always under the gun. It is stressful, frustrating & time consuming for both parties and can lead to confrontation and an adversarial relationship.
So how do you deal with it? (or do you just stress out and deal with it as ‘just the way it is’ in this industry?) How do you influence change to ensure that you receive complete and timely information? How can you get what you need while creating a collaborative environment rather than creating turf barriers and resistance? Well, if you have ever tried, whether successfully or not, you know it is not easy. In fact, it is usually a long, arduous endeavor, measured in baby steps and small wins along the way.
It takes patience, perseverance, commitment and at times, compromise. It also takes partnership, collaboration and coaching. It’s an art and it takes practice (and thick skin at times!) In a way, you are rebranding yourself…and the rewards are worth the time &effort! You can’t do it over night and you can’t do it without some research or without a game plan. There are a few steps that, through my research and my own experience, I have found to be keys to a successful path.
LISTEN & COMMUNICATE:
There is an art in how to properly educate another professional without sounding standoffish and without coming off as trying to get a peer to do something they feel is not their job. If not done correctly, it is easy to come off as someone who is a know-it-all, lazy, trying to pass the buck or someone who is just covering your butt. The art is in communicating what you need from someone (information, expectations, etc) in such a way that shows the value to them while at the same time enabling you to do the best job possible for them…to make them look good by reaching and exceeding expectations in schedule, quality and budget!
Every person has a different language or a different communication preference. You need to listen to their language, know what is most important to them, know their buzz words and know their ‘hot’ buttons (good and bad). Speak to them in their language whenever possible, using their buzz words. Consciously or subconsciously, your words will resonate with them better, they will likely feel that you “get them!” Remember, they are very busy as well and their immediate perception will likely be negative; i.e. that you are about to impose on their schedule, that you are being difficult. You need to alter that perception as quickly as possible. Think about your communication strategy beforehand, concentrating on setting the tone in the first sentence or two. You want to quickly disarm any negative defense mechanism, so that you have a shot of them ‘hearing’ you.
There are many ways to accomplish this but you have to choose a strategy that will resonate best with the other person. Some people are “cut to the chase” people so a long-winded opening will disconnect them right away and further solidify any negative perceptions and defenses. Others may be insecure and untrusting, so calling immediate attention to what they didn’t give you or where they ‘failed’ will strengthen that defensive wall even further. Knowing how to create positive engagements based on an individual or group’s persona will likewise create opportunities to affect positive change.
One of my important communication strategies include using ‘partnering’ language, such as “we” or “the team” which infers you are on their side, a project partner with them. Another one, depending on the situation and the person, is to create the perception that they are doing you a favor and that you are indebted to them (for doing their job right, lol) which can be effective with some people. I know that when someone comes to me, hat in hand, asking me to help them, I am more inclined to help them because of the satisfaction you get by helping someone and the bond, real or perceived, that results from such an interaction. In short, you need to find the right tone and inflection to “help them help you!” Finding the right strategy is key, especially when it results in “getting what you need!” I firmly believe that true power and influence does not come from the authority inferred by your job title, but comes from your ability to connect and communicate with others in such a way that they willingly take action(s) that you desire from them!
It is also vital that you know HOW they prefer to communicate. If they don’t typically respond to email but respond to phone calls, then pick up the phone to talk to them. At times, I found this difficult because in this business, documentation is key and I prefer email. But I have learned that I can get the needed information via phone or in person easier if that’s what they prefer and still follow it up with a confirming email to document directions or decisions on projects, thus satisfying both goals. A “Just to follow up, we decided to go with…” email may take a little additional time, but it’s a tremendous insurance policy when trying to reconstruct the project during a “Lessons Learned” session after a project’s completion. (Or if you are like me and just “need” to have everything documented, for your own piece of mind!)
EDUCATE
You need to be able to identify then seize educational opportunities with passion and vigor! You are a professional and you deserve to share your wisdom! Again, using disarming (partnering) language is important to being effective and to ensure that you don’t come off as preachy or as a know-it-all. Whether it is educating someone on a recommended finishing technique , on the production & cost impact of getting shipping information to you up front and especially on the benefits of supplying you with complete job information in a consistent manner, the trick is to educate them in such a way that they come away knowing they have learned something that will help them in the future. You need to help them to “feel” the benefit! Change comes easier when they feel they have learned something and especially when there is a benefit (for them), real or perceived!
I had a mentor who reveled in educating others and did it with the passion of a child showing his parents how his interactive science project worked for the first time! His passion and excitement when teaching somebody something new was fresh and genuine. He had an uncanny knack for immediately connecting his audience with new knowledge and the overall benefit of what he was teaching them. Connecting “Knowledge & Benefit!” It’s a model I have adopted and I have found success with, not only in printing, but in other aspects of my life, including at home with my kids and with my baseball coaching. There is nothing like the look on someone’s face when you have given them an “Aha” moment!
Another benefit of taking this approach is that you will become a hot resource for others in the project chain and in your value chain. If not already elevated, your respect level will increase and your input will not only be sought, but will be valued and respected. So as much as you are providing a benefit to others through education, you are also creating multiple benefit streams for yourself. One is that you will likely receive clearer, consistent information on projects from better educated resources while another is that your respect level and standing within your organization and/or value chain will increase.
SET EXPECTATIONS
Once that you understand the effective communication practices, you need to make sure that you have a well thought out plan for communicating your expectations. Using effective communication skills such as the “partnering language” and leveraging the “knowledge and benefit” approach in your educational scenarios will especially help you when communicating your expectation. In essence, you are about to tell others that “this is what I need from you” and the approach you choose may make or break your efforts.
Your communication plan not only needs to optimize effective communication methods for your audience, but the content needs to be as precise and thorough as possible and should be presented in an organized manner. Whether you lay out your needs in steps or in one fell swoop, it will be important to be detailed, yet collaborative to be educational, yet convey the benefits. Basically, you need to convey what you need, when you need it and how you need it, while also instilling in your audience, that there is great benefit to them; Even if it’s as simple as enabling you to do your job more effectively which, in turn, will ensure that the goals of the project are met or exceeded!
It is also important to communicate the implications of non-compliance up front as well. For example, if you need to set a cut off for receiving proofs back from your client to ensure you can get them back to the printer in time to revise or put on press the following day, then you need to communicate that any proofs returned to you after the specific cut off time will not be able to be processed until the following day. This is especially pertinent if you have printers that are a significant distance away and you need to send proofs to them via overnight express. It’s easy to forget that even if the client hands off a proof to you at 5pm, in their head, they submitted the proof back that particular day and therefore may expect revised proofs or for the job to be on press by the next morning.
Finally, whenever possible, I believe it is vital to come full circle and relay the story of success on a given project to them after it’s completion, including how their support (i.e. complete and timely information) was a key factor in the project’s success! It will bring them a sense of satisfaction, which will act as reinforcement to the positive changes you are trying to influence.
DILIGENCE &VIGILANCE!
You’ve laid the groundwork and enhanced your communication methods within your value chain, so now what? Well, now you need to stay the course, be diligent & consistent. Make sure you follow your own stated guidelines and don’t be afraid to throw out reminders when the situation allows. For example, when a Project Manager approaches you for a rough schedule, then once you give them a ballpark turnaround time, you can always add a reinforcing statement. As an example, you might say, “when you provide me with complete specs and I have the job files in hand, I can give you a more accurate date of when the job will deliver.” This serves as 2 indirect reminders. First, it reminds the PM that the estimated turnaround date you gave them is a loosely based guess and second, it reminds the PM that you can give them more accurate feedback, the more complete and precise their information is to you…again, a nice reinforcement to the preferred behavior.
Besides being diligent about staying the course, you need to be vigilant about making sure everyone, including yourself, follows the roadmap. When someone comes to you with incomplete information in a crunch, it’s all too easy to let them slide and just dig up the answers yourself. That’s the “get it done” way,“ but it’s not necessarily the “right way” to do things. All this does is serve as an enabler for others, keeping that door open a crack for continuing ‘bad’ behavior that you are trying to change. Refuse to accept it! Nicely, but push it back while using this as another educational opportunity to reinforce what you need, why you need it and what the benefit(s) is/are in regards to the overall success of the project.
Like anything else that is new, whether it’s learning to ride a bike or whether it is learning new processes, it takes time to perfect. When you are first learning to ride a bike, it takes both mental and physical effort to remember each step to riding. We all stumbled along the way, maybe fell off here and there, but eventually, we all got to the point where we just jumped on and rode without nary a conscious thought to the steps it takes to ride. So, too, is it true for processes. People in your value chain will struggle to remember each step, what exactly you need and when they are supposed to give it to you. They will stumble, as may you, but with diligence and vigilance, it will eventually become second nature just like riding a bike later became for all of us.
Finally, you will have transformed yourself from someone that others may have initially been perceived as a bottleneck or even a stubborn stickler, to a valued resource to those around you. A valued resource for information and a respected partner who ‘knows how to get things done’ effectively and accurately, while making your clients and all of the people in your value chain look good!
The rewards will not only benefit your clients, they will also benefit you well beyond not having to chase down missing information. The streamlined and efficient processes will afford you more time to add value to your team, your value chain. Perhaps you leverage this to get involved with projects at the conceptual stage, influencing early production decisions earlier, rather than trying to deal with them at disk release. Or perhaps you begin to engage more in budget discussions, leveraging your knowledge and resources to help your clients get more “bang for their buck.” Bottom line? You will have increased your organizational value and will have successfully executed a roadmap to get nearly everything you need to get the job done correctly. Hmmm, perhaps you may even have plenty of time for paddleball…Navin R Johnson eat your heart out!
No comments:
Post a Comment