Why is this icon important? It’s a subliminal thing. Your users associate that with your software product and your company, even if they don’t know they’re doing it. Look at this symbol:
If you see this on your computer, you immediately know that clicking on it is going to open up Microsoft Word so that you can create a document. Note that not only do you remember the functionality (word processing), but the name of the product and the company that produced it. All this from the visual cues provided by that icon itself. It’s a useful tactic not only to positively impact the user’s overall impression of your program, but also spread awareness of your company.
Let's create our own!
So we hoped to do the same thing with the icon for our Modeling Studio. We deploy it to every one of our clients -- let’s create a version that will also help them think of TranSystems. And since our company has just completed a major branding initiative, we can use our new logo as a basis!
Problem is, that doesn't shrink down very well to a nice square 16x16 image suitable for an application icon. So we hired a graphic designer who created a "silver bullet" looking thing that nobody really liked, although it won’t slow us down. We tried a couple of versions on our own, before realizing that we’re programmers at heart, not artists. (Some of you may object.) Finally, we enlisted the help of our company’s graphic designer in Kansas City, who came up with a perfect solution -- an icon-sized version of our corporate logo with a T and an S.
We got all excited, the icon looked great, it reminded us of TranSystems, it was aligned with the corporate branding, the whole development team loved it, why wouldn’t everyone else love it too? Let’s unleash it on the world. But first, because it’s the right thing to do, let’s run it by our corporate marketing chief...
And you can guess what happened: Crash! She said that word we all dread to hear: "NO".
No means no
She had good, valid points in her objections. But needless to say, the whole team was bummed. What was so clearly a great idea to us wasn’t perceived in the same way by the person who makes the decisions. So we all gave up and sulked in our cubicles and ate lots of chocolate.No, not really... we’re just going to let it rest for a little while. We’ll make some changes that address her concerns, and give it another run. Our general design ideas are sound, we’ve thought through the pros and the cons, and we think this is a Good Thing to do for the product and for the company and hope to convince her of that.
The question becomes: How can we more effectively communicate to get a "yes" answer the next time?
Helping get to "yes"
It reminded of an article I once read called 10 Rules to Manage Your Boss. The basic premise is that when you think of "managing someone", you typically think of managing a subordinate. But you should also be thinking of it in the other way -- your boss needs you too, and there are positive actions you can do to help make that relationship more effective and foster better decisions and more trust. The author reminds us:Your boss has other subordinates, other decisions to make. Thus, her (for simplicity, we use 'her' from now on in this article) best bet, if she is pressed for a decision, will be to say no. No, it is too risky; no, we do not have enough evidence; no, it is the wrong timing; no, it is off strategy, et cetera.
The author of the article then says simply: To avoid the ‘no’, give her a hand.
- Manage her time: You may only represent 1% of her problems, don’t make it as if is 100%.
- Remind her of where you left it the last time you met.
- Remind her of the objective rather than rushing to the ‘what’ and ‘how’.
- Quickly summarize the options considered, and your criteria for selecting one option – the one you are presenting.
- Tell her what you expect from her: simply to inform, to decide jointly, to add one criterion, etc.
- Be prepared with facts/data for potential disagreements so she can grasp the situation faster.
- After your meeting, summarize for her the decision in writing to make sure of the understanding.
- And finally, once a decision has been made, your way, her way, or no way, do not criticize it. You have become the best ambassador of what was decided.
This bears repeating. Keep in mind that you may still get a “NO” answer for your amazingly great idea. That’s OK. You’ve learned something in the process, you’ve participated in the decision making, and you’ve taken a step to fostering a stronger relationship between you and your boss.
Now where’s that silver bullet?
