What Are Whispers?

Workspace Whisperer - 2/14/2017 12:00:00 AM

Welcome to Whispers – it's what I'm calling my blog. Why Whispers?

Those of you who have worked with me in the past know that on occasion the client will come to me stressed out about this or that issue which at that moment seems to threaten on-time completion of a project. These are highly emotional times in the lifecycle of a project and the tendency of the person in charge is to forcefully get things back on track.

As backup support for my clients, I've always found a less strident approach more productive. While I don't exactly whisper, neither do I shout or finger-point. More typically, I identify the parties involved in the bottle-neck and we work together to calmly untangle things. After all, we all have the same goal – successful project completion on time and on budget.

So, while quietly supporting our client with a steady hand and professional advice is Workplace Whisperer's signature style, our blog will not only provide tips on relocation, but this is where you will find news about our latest clients, new partners, and sometimes reports on studies informing the relocation industry.

We will also explore why I have always preferred meetings to conference calls whenever practical. The short answer is meetings offer an opportunity to observe body language and micro expressions. It also affords me an opportunity to communicate observations and advice privately with my client in side conversations. After all, relocation is a moving target, and decisions must be dynamic so information that emerges at a meeting might affect a major decision.

It's also crucial to know when such meetings are necessary and how to ensure the right people attend. How do you find the right time for meeting with extremely busy people for whom time is money? I'll offer my advice in a future blog.

If you are in the business, you probably already know managing a major office construction and relocation project is like assembling a 10,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. Yes, you have the corners, but what if you are partially color blind? The analogy to our work is that clients have varying degrees of understanding about the dozens of subject area domains involved in a major office relocation.

Workplace Whisperer does not have a monopoly on good ideas for project planning and execution. If you have solved an interesting relocation project issue and would like to share it with others in the business, just give me a shout at kathy@workspacewhisperer.com. Write it yourself or we'll ghost it from an interview with your byline.

Future blogs will also draw on academic studies on the issues facing clients and anyone involved in the business. But the mainstay of Whispers will be tips about how to achieve smooth relocation projects whose construction, furniture, AV and IT installations finish on time and on budget with happy employees and a satisfied client!