What Are Status Meetings Like with Seth at DEMAND?

Anyone who has been working in the e-commerce industry for any amount of time will be familiar with the obligatory status meetings. These meetings are often one of those things that working people see as part of the burden of life—necessary but just no fun at all. But why take for granted that these meetings need to be such a slog? I certainly don’t want to spend my days like this, and I know my clients don’t either. That’s why I take pride in doing what I can to buck this trend. Why not make this time positive and energizing? Sounds impossible, but I promise you, it’s not. Here’s a brief rundown of my technique for flipping the script on this old chestnut.

It all starts with preparation. I’ve always loved the saying, “Fail to prepare, and prepare to fail.” So, before any status meeting, I make sure to get every single duck I can identify in its row. I create a detailed agenda using our tried-and-true DPDX status report template and make sure to cover my bases. Even though I aim to break apart the normal status meeting paradigms, the basics are still vital. I review everything we have going on and ensure Jira tickets are fully up to date, project plans are current and polished, any loose ends have been addressed, and any open items are identified and noted. I check in with my teams to get any new intel and ask for any issues they want to cover. I gather the latest budget numbers and use our internal tools to forecast our anticipated budget use for the remainder of the month/project/year—whatever is most relevant to the client. Then, I take all this data and put it into the report. Now, I realize none of this demonstrates the sort of de-laming of status meetings I mentioned above—that comes next!

When I put together the status report, I always try to imagine I’m looking through the eyes of one of my clients. My clients are typically very busy people who wear many hats at their organizations. They don’t want to read a book! They want a summary of the things that matter most, presented in a way they can easily consume and share with their colleagues. So, I focus on this level of information: How much money have we spent so far this month? How much more do we plan to spend? What work have we completed? What can we still accomplish this month? Are we on budget? Are we trending over? How much more work can we achieve with what is left in this month’s budget? I aim to answer questions like these in a concise and straightforward way. And the report also needs to answer these questions when I’m not there to explain.

Then comes the best part—when all the people who work together actually get to hang out. I’m one of those lucky PMs who genuinely likes their clients. Seriously! But I don’t think this is just luck. The reason I like my clients (and I like to think they think I’m okay too) is that I treat them like actual, real-life people—not just clients I have to work with. When we spend time together, I make sure to dedicate at least a few minutes to being human together. This is not some customer service technique in play—it’s just a person treating other people the way he thinks everyone should be treated. It’s not revolutionary, but it makes a huge difference. With this foundation, we get into the nitty-gritty. Based on the accurate, concise, and cleanly displayed data I collected ahead of time, we connect and talk about what matters.

Where does our work stand? Do we have any problematic issues we need to tackle together? Are there any new challenges that require attention? Are we on track to reach our goals within the budget we have? We dive in and move forward. If things ever get tense, I call it out and help everyone stay focused and united. I ensure we end on time and really try to make sure everyone leaves with a smile—knowing they are in good hands, that their relationship with us is honored, and that we’re in great shape. Sounds lofty, maybe, but it works!

My goal? I want my clients to leave our status meetings feeling better than when they showed up. I want them to go on with their day confident that we are on top of things and they can count on us. I have to mention one crucial element of all this—I can always back it up because our devs are the best I’ve ever worked with and always come through. So, with an extra dose of humanity, a rock-solid grasp of the fundamentals, the ability to distill complex information for easy consumption, and a strong desire to enjoy life, these meetings end up being the highlights of my week.

Hope to share one with you sometime soon, Seth.