Creating a Transition Plan – Effectively Moving On

In a fast paced consulting environment it is very common for resources to change projects several times per year – especially for junior resources.  Commonly, at Rosetta, we are asking junior level business analysts to assume more responsibility so more experienced business analysts can take on more value-add roles with our clients. This is the basic leverage model of many consulting firms.

This presents a real challenge for the person “rolling off” the project – you must…
1. continue to operate at a high level on your current engagement
2. effectively transition your current responsibilities to someone else
3. quickly become effective on your new engagement

In this post, I will visit item #2 – effectively transitioning your current responsibilities to someone else.  I believe that, of the three points above, this is the most critical.  Being effective at #2, will allow for minimal impact to your current engagement (#1) and maximum impact to your new engagement (#3).

There are three keys to an effective transition…
1. Task Transfer
2. Shadowing
3. Structured Oversight

Where are Online Retailers Focusing their Dollars?

The client I currently work with at Rosetta is a very large retailer and of course has been impacted by the economic downturn – hell, who hasn’t been?  Dollars are scarce and projects of all sizes are being evaluated and re-evaluated to ensure they will impact the bottom-line.

I have been spending more time over at shop.org, following the Strategy & Innovation 09 Forum that the National Retail Foundation (parent of shop.org) puts on each year.  Given the economic challenges that retailers are facing, this article on shop.org really caught my eye – Focusing Ecommerce Investing: Smartly Stretching Your Ecommerce Dollars While Still Innovating for Differentiation . It was a discussion with panelist from eBags, Patagonia and Bluefly.

Some similarities I found in each panelist’s comments about their focus -
- filtered navigation (guided navigation is different and somewhat specific to Endeca)
- SEO landing pages (marketing) and SEO in general
- better product content – descriptions, images, videos, make shopping exciting
- increase product lines
- reviews both online and across channels

Micromanagement

A few days ago I read this article from the blog, Coding Horror.  I read it fairly frequently even though it has a very technical slant to it.  It claims that if you answer yes or kinda yes to any of these questions – you are probably micromanaging.  I shared my answers below – in some cases I disagreed or felt it wasn’t as black and white as the article makes it out to be.

1. 1. Do you pride yourself on being “on top of” the projects or your direct reports? Do you have a solid grasp of the details of every project?
2. Do you believe that you could perform most of the tasks of your direct reports, and potentially do a better job?
3. Do you pride yourself on frequent communication with your employees? Does that communication include asking them for detailed status reports and updates?
4. Do you believe that being a manager means that you have more knowledge and skills than your employees, and thus are better equipped to make decisions?
5. Do you believe that you care about things (quality, deadlines, etc.) more than your employees?

Here are my answers to those questions -

Get a Client to Say Yes

I found this article on “getting a client to say yes” to be fascinating.  It really made me stop and consider how I conduct conversations with my clients.  Not just in a situations where creative design or direction is being discussed (not my strength) but in all conversations. The article starts with a 35 minute presentation and ppt and is followed by a fantastic write-up.
How do YOU get a client to say yes? Post your thoughts in the comments below.

- Bill Weber

photo credit: wallrevolution