How do you collaborate with customers instead of negotiating contracts?

Before diving into specifics, ask relevant questions to understand the customer needs and required goals. Involve the customer throughout the process by regular connecting with them, take regular progress feedback and this is the foremost priority adopting Agile. This will surely build trust and strong relationships. By opting these strategies, we will surely build a collaborative partnership with the customers.

To understand customer needs, it is important to actively listen and ask thought provoking questions. Put yourself in the shoes of your customers to understand their perspectives, experiences, pain points, and challenges . Empathy allows you to better connect with customers and anticipate their needs and concerns.

Being an agile lawyer means I have to think multilaterally and multidimensionally a lot of the time. I need to step into the shoes of my clients. Understanding your clients industry and all the nuances of the industry is critical for a successful venture. It's important to demonstrate sound commercial awareness and also a knack for problem solving and innovation. The modern client is assertive and they expect their counsel to equally be just as assertive. You are effectively the business partner helping the client achieve important KPIs, goals and targets.

Collaborating with customers rather than merely negotiating contracts involves deeply understanding their needs and goals, which sets the foundation for a shared vision. By actively involving customers in the process, you foster transparency and ensure that the outcomes align with their expectations. Negotiating value and outcomes, rather than just terms, helps to prioritize long-term success. Adaptability to changes and continuous feedback are crucial in this approach, as they enable responsiveness to evolving needs. Building trust and strong relationships underpins this collaboration, ensuring sustained partnership and mutual growth.

Instead of focusing on contracts, we prioritize collaboration with our customers. We listen first, understand their needs, and work with them to solve challenges together. It's not just about delivering a service—it's about creating lasting partnerships built on trust and shared success. Let's build relationships that matter!

Building collaborative partnerships with customers, rather than relying exclusively on contract negotiations, can cultivate stronger relationships and contribute to a more positive and productive working environment. Below are several strategies to highlight the importance of collaboration: 1- Understand their Needs- Start by thoroughly understanding the customer's needs and goals. This involves active listening and open communication. 2 - Build Trust 3 - Open Communication 4 - Shared Goals 5 - Flexibility: In a contract,be open to modifications and adjustments based on the evolving needs of the project or partnership. 6 - Regular Feedback 7 - Long-Term Relationships 8 - Resolve Conflicts Amicably 9 - Service Excellence 6- Regular Feedback

Involving your customers in the process of creating and delivering the product or service is THE WAY. And the best way doing this is via giving your users real, working version of the product, not drawings, workshops, pictures, mock ups, REAL WORKING functional prototype to play with.

Based on the Agile principle of involving the customer more than setting up contracts and rules, an ongoing involvement and feedback loop is beneficial. Regularly keeping the customer informed ensures proper and continuous communication. The advantage is that feedback comes earlier, making it easier to correct the direction as needed. This approach fosters a more responsive and adaptive environment, where customer needs and preferences directly influence the project's evolution.

This is the most important part. If agile leaders, involve and engage customers at the right time, in the right way, and set relationship in the right direction. It is less likely that they are going go to experience disagreements in the future.

Envolver os clientes no processo é crucial para construir produtos ou serviços que realmente atendam às suas necessidades. Ao convidá-los para participar desde o início, seja em sessões de planejamento, feedback ou testes, você não apenas demonstra transparência, mas também aproveita a valiosa perspectiva do cliente. Essa abordagem permite ajustes contínuos e precisos, garantindo a entrega de algo que os clientes não apenas desejam, mas também se sentem conectados e engajados durante todo o processo.

Approach: Move away from a transactional mindset and focus on co-creating value. Negotiate based on the outcomes and benefits rather than just the terms and conditions. Considerations: Clearly define key performance indicators (KPIs) and success metrics. Align pricing and contractual terms with the value delivered.

The way our contracts need to be written requires a mindset shift from an Output driven model to an Outcome driven model. Few ways in which we can do this include 1. Focus on Value delivered vs Velocity (Value can be in terms of Revenue increased or, # of customers added, or Yield increased Also there needs to be a bond of trust between we and our customers and anything important from the business should not be stuck due to a lack of a formal contract. Also the need of the hour is to go for short term lean contracts instead of a big megadeals to quickly generate value.

Don't be afraid asking for the complete prioritization. 1 to N list is hard to achieve, it's never 100% completed, but it's recommended to move towards it. 2 or more priority 1 items, means there is NONE.

MoSCoW prioritization method categorizes, prioritizes requirements or features in a project Commonly used in agile project management methodologies, MoSCoW stands for Must have, Should have,Could have and Won't have Must have features are non-negotiable, must be delivered within the specified timeframe Should have features are important but not critical Could have features are desirable but not necessary for the project's core functionality Won't have features are not considered essential and will not be implemented The team should have a shared understanding of each of the MoSCoW features Features which have potential value to the end users and the project's overall objectives should be prioritised Priorities can change

Negociar valor e resultados representa uma abordagem mais flexível e centrada no cliente, permitindo uma entrega mais alinhada com as reais necessidades e metas. Ao priorizar o valor sobre requisitos fixos, há espaço para inovação e adaptação durante o processo. Métodos ágeis oferecem uma estrutura para essa negociação dinâmica, possibilitando a entrega incremental de funcionalidades valiosas, ajustadas conforme a evolução do projeto e das expectativas do cliente. Essa abordagem promove uma relação mais colaborativa e eficiente, resultando em soluções mais relevantes e impactantes para ambas as partes envolvidas.

By maintaining constant contact, adapting the direction becomes easier, and changes can be made at any time. However, it's also important to make the customer aware of the impact of their changes. Not every wish has the same priority. It's crucial to determine whether a change affects the current sprint or should be considered for the future. This helps in managing expectations and ensuring a smooth and efficient workflow, aligning customer needs with the team's capacity and project timelines.

Providing feedback is part of your job being Agileist. This is very important task. More challenging task is getting quality feedback from your team, peers, customers. I do recommend making this a corner stone of your every day goals. It'll help you a lot.

Mad, Sad, Glad: is an agile retrospective tool which pinpoints emotions related to the previous sprint Starfish: brainstorm observations, categorise them into: What should be continued What should be reduced What should be stopped What should be started Group similar themes, decide which ones should be acted on 4Ls: is a straightforward retrospective which stands for: Liked Learned Lacked Longed They act as an inspiration to conversations, tend to reveal a lot of findings KALM: Divide the whiteboard into four areas: Keep: continue doing something which is doing well Add: something which needs to be incorporated More: something you should do more of Less: something you should do less of Use collaborative online whiteboard

When it comes to collaboration, adapting to changes and incorporating feedbacks is central to the agile mindset. - Incorporate Feedback Loops: Agile thrives on iterative development. Regularly gather feedback from the customer after each sprint or iteration to adjust priorities. This creates a sense of partnership as both sides work together to achieve the desired outcome, rather than adhering to rigid contracts.

In theory its very easy to say we will/are collaborating but on ground most of time it does not reflects. There are many reasons for it but one of major reason is shared responsibilities the moment you share the responsibilities they will become partners instead of client n vendor. Involve customer in every aspect where they feel part of it and also contributing early itself to make the things happen. To this change of mindset is also essential.

Trust building is dynamic. There is no common formula that everyone adopts by saying, yes, they have XYZ traits, and therefore, I trust them. No. It starts with level setting the efforts of understanding (A.K.A., empathy). The more someone demonstrates that they understand a perspective I may have, whether its a similar experience, acknowledgement, or asking questions, I'm more inclined to be receptive to another perspective, and letting them in. Time is the greatest currency on earth, and when someone is putting in time to want to understand your perspective, feelings, and how you consume information, it shows you're a priority and that alone is foundational to trust.

Les relations de confiance se construisent souvent dans le temps. Au travers de technique telle que l'écoute active, l'empathie ou la transparence par exemple, la confiance va se créer. Exposer ses enjeux ou encore impliquer son client au maximum dans le quotidien vont souvent permettre de créer une confiance réciproque.

In my experience, trust is achieved if you always transparent, show good process and documentation level, open to communication, team is involved in a product discussion and motivated to help each other.

Its important to build trust to create a Strengthening Long-Term Relationships with customer.Below points can help to build trust ✅Responsiveness: exhibiting a behavior of active listening & act on feedback builds trust. Customers feel that their input/opinion is valued, which encourages more open communication. ✅Show Authenticity in your communication by using real, relatable language and avoid sounding overly corporate ✅Engage Genuinely: Avoid robotic interactions—be empathetic and patient in all customer engagements. ✅Be proactive in Anticipating customer Needs, Identify potential issues before they arise and offer solutions. ✅Show Appreciation: Thank customers for their loyalty with rewards, personalized offers, or simple gestures.

Trust has to be GAINED. Be authentic. Be human. Be you. In the beginning of your journey try start small, baby steps, small wins, bring to the team example of your previous journey, what worked as expected, what was experimented and brought not the outcome you planned for. Open up 1st. Team will appreciate this and make steps towards you as well.

In one particular project, a customer initially defined a rigid scope. However, through Agile discovery, we uncovered hidden pain points that shifted our priorities. By maintaining open collaboration and staying focused on value, we adapted mid-sprint and delivered a feature that yielded more significant ROI than the original scope. The customer experienced the tangible benefits of flexibility and placed more trust in us for future projects. This reinforced my belief that success stems from prioritizing customer needs over contract terms.

Collaborate with renewable energy customers by fostering open dialogue. Engage wind turbine buyers in joint research on optimal solutions. Work with substation stakeholders to align designs with their needs. Involve customers in offshore and onshore projects, ensuring alignment with their goals. Collaborate on grid connection solutions, incorporating feedback. Jointly conduct feasibility studies, ensuring applications meet customer requirements. This collaborative approach builds trust and results in tailored, customer-centric solutions in the dynamic renewable energy sector.

As per my experience, most of project managers still have the typical project management mindsets of schedule, scope, and closing the project. However, Agile has different mindset you need to adapt to be successfull in change driven projects.

In my experience, I have found understanding and drawing Empathy Map while having the conversations is crucial to see the full picture. What we have discovered in Empathy maps, helps us to align our values with customer and come up with better solution than just getting on to contract negotiation. After collaborating and understanding through the Empathy Map, even if in some cases, we need to negotiate on contracts, it becomes much easier and it paves a way for long term relationship.

Make it a habit to have a frequent inspect and adapt to any agreement/contract/MSA for an engagement. Keep the changes transparent and everyone informed in a timely manner. Maintain a RAID register to highlight issues that might become serious concerns