Scouting Success Upfront
You see it here and there in the software business – the assumption that every challenge and every objective will automatically work within a single tool’s framework. It’s basically “universal fit” thinking that our teams try to avoid through collective discussion and understanding.
Well-designed tools can enhance an organization’s efforts and strengthen its work but meeting goals will frequently come down to factors external to systems themselves. It also comes down to having a firm idea of a successful result. That’s a major part of what our team emphasizes when working with clients to match up our software to their projects and missions.
The interesting part of the discussion for us is figuring out where our personalized service and process recommendations can help clients better identify success for themselves. Let’s say you want to expand engagement with your organization and put yourself in a good place for increased funding next year. Maybe we recommend a survey tool and some other features in anticipation of increased program participation; those would be the obvious options. But before we make the recommendation formally, we work to understand what a successful implementation means to a client and set up some guides/waypoints to make sure everyone’s efforts stay on path.
Our partnership model, which I shared in a previous post, becomes a dividend for clients in that way. We are not selling a service as a result on its own – we take the broader idea of success into consideration and advise on where our services can be tactically applied. Sometimes that will mean reconsidering an approach, while other times it might mean making a system adjustment. Whichever it is, we’re here to share what we’ve seen, learned, and recommend.
Our software and best practice will certainly have a central role in recommendations. But backing up that software with team member support is how we manage and guide the solutions so effectively, and with your defined idea of a successful outcome as our shared, clear goal.
