Comment:     by Laura Guevarra 3/26/2004 I wish I read this article earlier this month. My project was due on the 15th. My client went on vacation and was unreachable for a week and a half. The contact person she refered me to did not return any call and did not send back the user reviews/comments I required. Since none of my communications contained the explicit language "project schedule date x shows you missed the required...", the same customer is questioning me about "where the time went" and "why are we late on this project?". Now I know better.
	Comment:     by Laurent Bossavit 3/19/2004 I'm aghast at the "approved by default" language. It just sounds totally wrong to me. I've posted some more thoughts on why to my blog - http://bossavit.com/thoughts/archives/000715.html
	Comment:     by T. A. Indira 3/16/2004 Doing nothing or remaining silent without highlighting or escalating the issue is definitely not the solution. The strategies suggested by the author should judiciously be used by the Project Manager. It is important to make a formal communication and also make a personal call to the customer to highlight the genuine concern and the risk involved. It also helps to proactively think of any solution or alternate plan and discuss the same in the call. This would reduce the friction and would also generate some interest in the customer in terms of resolving the problem caused from his end. I believe specific escalations to higher authorities...Read On
	Comment:     by Erik Petersen 3/14/2004 I think this approach may be more poison pill than pebbles. Rather than leave a document behind that is a negative reflection of a customer, I'd talk to them first face-to-face or over the phone, agree an outcome, then followup with an "as discussed" email which would be similar content but capture what their commitment was (and if there wasn't one, we could include the if-we-don't-hear-from-you-we-presume-you've-approved clause). That way, we have a record of a two-way communication, rather than a one way "you have been naughty" one.
	Comment:     by Pat Barkman 3/11/2004 It's always better to manage your customers instead of the other way around. They are project team members, the same as any coder or tester. When they miss deadlines, there's a proportional project impact. The trick is to find out where the power (money) is in the client's organization. Make sure that all the customer stakeholders are notified. For example, if you only notify one contact who's responsible for implementation -- but isn't responsible for paying you -- then you are low-hanging fruit on the blame tree when the project comes in late, over budget or poor quality. The implementation contact will blame you to save face with their...Read On Author's Response: 3/11/2004     "Following the money" is always outstanding advice. It is very easy to get caught up in communication with individuals on the customer side with whom you have no contractual relationship. Often, this happens just because they are the only ones who are communicating with you.
	Comment:     by Jayatheerthan Sundararajan 3/9/2004 The important takeaway is to call the customer and inform about the mail to make it politically correct.The project manager should understand the attention of the senior management on escalations and to communicate timely. The frequency of escalation is also very important. Dropping pebbles frequently will leave half the trail empty. Author's Response: 3/11/2004     Jayatherthan, you are correct that this strategy is best used in moderation. Laying your bread crumbs too close together can quickly escalate into an antagonistic relationship with key stakeholders on your project. This can come back to haunt you in the final phases, when you are attempting to get customer acceptance (and payment!). A good rule of thumb is no more than one or two such notifications per month. It is possible to send them more often on larger projects, just because of the sheer volume of documents being exchanged.
	Comment:     by Tek Wallah 3/8/2004 That sounds like excellent advice. It’s always good business to be polite, explicit and on (electronic or physical) paper. Just remember that what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Coming across as too heavy-handed is inviting retaliation – unless, of course, you never miss deadlines yourself. Author's Response: 3/11/2004     I agree with you that being heavy handed can be very dangerous (see my early comment to Jayatherthan). And of course I never miss deadlines ;)
	Comment:     by Gene Fellner 3/8/2004 Great idea! This is one of a few situations in which impersonalization may help. Sending the stakeholder a form with the blanks filled in for the project name and other variables lets them know that this is not the first time this has happened and they are not being singled out for complaint, yet this is a serious enough problem that the organization had to develop a formal procedure for handling it and a formula for measuring its impact on the project schedule. I'd be wary of the "assume approval by default" tactic in an in-house situation. Office politics being what it is, the stakeholder may be able to argue -- if things go wrong -- that...Read On Author's Response: 3/11/2004     I have mixed feelings about the form letter idea. In general, I believe that bad news should be delivered in as personal a manner as possible, to attempt to soften the blow and to attempt to resolve the problem. You do have a valid point that a form letter would show that this is a relatively common occurance. I'm not sure what is worse politically for internal projects - assuming approval or declaring a schedule slide. Both can be personally dangerous, particularly if the stakeholder directly or indirectly "signs your check". In this case, it is going to be a judgement call as to which will be worse for the organization - increasing the risk of substantial rework or increasing the risk (likelihood) that the project will be delivered late. I really like the idea of an "approval-by-default" clause in a contract, but I don't know of many customers who would sign a contract with that sort of language in it. Have you used this technique yourself? How did it work out?

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