"Clients often want to get moving as quickly as possible and do not have the desire to wait while all of the details are figured out. In this case, I usually request to facilitate a vision and goal-setting session with as many stakeholders as possible. During that time, I try to gather as wide a perspective as possible on what is working, what is broken, and what the high-level solution expectations are. From there, I lean on my experience and intuition to determine where the project managers, analysts, and other seniors within the program I am assigned need to dig further and which areas we can leave at a cursory review.
I establish relationships with the stakeholders as I go by taking them to lunch or calling them to brainstorm ideas. I also encourage members of the teams I am leading to shadow front-line users in the areas that will be affected the most by whatever strategy we follow. I immediately implement any tactical changes that require minimal resources. This helps me to quickly gain trust with the stakeholders. That trust is imperative when I present a recommendation because it allows me to be transparent about the areas we did not have time to analyze fully before we begin work on the associated projects."
