Determining a Clients Needs

When assessing a clients needs, it’s important for us as KM leaders to LISTEN and then respond. Your response should be strategically placed as biases and cultural impact play a huge role in our ability to provide a solution(s) to clients with unique circumstances.

McKinsey 7S Model is the perfect example of a strategic model that allows KM leaders to gain a sense of understanding about the client and its current environment. Further, this model promotes critical thinking for the client–allowing them to determine and or become aware of organizational activity, infrastructure and interactions between staff and cross-departments. Allowing the client to further explore or maybe even come to a consensus on their own about how well or poorly their organization is performing–ultimately allows them to vocalize the needs of the company. It also allows KM leaders to pin-point areas of improvement so that the best solution(s) are provided.

PMI Director Stephen Townsend alludes to this same idea by stating, ‘This is how your organization can build its capabilities at the portfolio, program and project levels to more effectively utilize change management practices to support driving the strategic goals and objectives that you’re trying to reach and the benefits that you are trying to realize’.

As KM leaders it is important to keep an open mind so that we can provide the best solution(s) possible based on the clients needs and that begins with LISTENING. By doing so we are then performing gap analysis tasks so that we can determine the missing piece(s) to get the desired outcome the client wants.