My clients include technical people who need to develop sales capabilities, in other words, the ability to “sell” their projects directly to customers, banks, and funding bodies.

A software startup I work with has adopted an Agile* way of working as the core of its business strategy. So the organisation consists of a team of software designers and developers who are also responsible for account management.

I worked with a young software developer who needed to develop his ability to communicate directly with the customer in their bi-weekly meetings.

The main challenge he faced was getting the non-technical members of the client team to understand the implications (time, costs and risks) of apparently simple changes to requirements – “We’d like that button moved there” – or choosing one layout over another for an e-commerce platform.

My client significantly improved his communication by becoming very customer-centred. He developed his ability to understand his commissioning client’s desires and worries, and to adjust his language and communication style accordingly, focusing on the tangible impacts of his technical interventions. He learned to avoid unnecessary detail and make use of rhetorical and narrative devices such as analogy, contrast and anecdote, to make his communication with his clients more effective.

* The Agile approach was formulated in the IT sector in 2001 in response to the way projects were (and often still are) managed, with very high costs, durations and risks of failure. In traditional IT projects, direct communication between the people responsible for creating the software and the customer is limited.

Software developers decided that to reduce risk of failure they need to manage the customer’s requirements and expectations directly themselves. They defined a series of working practices intended to favour behaviours that lead to success, over standard processes they believe hinder successful product development, such as endless contract negotiation, rigid project management and the constant generation of documentation.

Agile “practitioners” focus on working closely with the customer, on regular and effective communication between all the people involved in designing and developing the product (including the customer), producing working product prototypes to show to the customer, and responding quickly to changes in product requirements.