Last post, we completed the high level steps for a pre-work for commencing transition. Assuming an on-shore / off-shore setup, now you and your team reach your client’s place. You have an introductory meeting and your client introduces you to individual function owners, and expects you to start your process study. And you comply…

Stop – that’s not the right approach. During your pre-work, your planning should have included a detailed calendar. Your first few days should have included a business overview and how each function links to each other. This is again a ten thousand feet view.

You should start with an introduction for sure. Don’t make it brief. Highlight the key capabilities of your team at this point. You need to cover each individual at this point. You should also talk about the team at off-shore.

You should get your client / principal to do a similar introduction. I am confident, you will learn a great deal beyond the information that you have collected.

Post this you can ask your client to run your team through a high level introduction of his / her organization. You should understand the business and key challenges of the business. Quite often you are pushed back by the client to focus only on the relevant processes, but this may not help. An understanding of the business can help you do a better change management and understand the dynamics of the engagement.