Process story: Show target completion status or show empathy?

Process story: Show target completion status or show empathy?

In Jan 2018, my operational project at ZS was assigned an India partner for the first time in six years. During an in-person meeting in the US with this India partner in Feb 2018, the client contact requested better processes, SOPs, and documentation for the project.

However, by June 2018, it was almost certain that the project would be transferred to another vendor. Additionally, the client’s office was moving from New Jersey to Boston, and many employees, including the client contact, decided to take the severance package and leave by the end of the year.

In July 2018, I was in the US managing the project in the absence of the US manager. I visited the client office daily, where the main topic of discussion was whether employees should move to Boston or leave the organization. My heart went out to these employees, as their families and lives were centered around the NJ area, and they now faced tough decisions.

Coincidentally, the partner was also visiting and wanted to meet the client contact. He asked me to schedule a meeting with the client contact, him, and myself. During the meeting, partner referenced the issues highlighted by the client contact during their last meeting in February 2018 and started giving status update on improvements made to the processes and SOPs, providing a comprehensive status update. 

While there was nothing wrong with what he said, I felt that given the situation, the partner should have asked the client contact about his plans after the year-end and offered help with his job search instead of the status update on something which was told before the change of event. Although the partner had only known the client for a few months and was not directly involved in the project, I believed that showing some empathy would have been good.

This is my personal opinion, and I may be completely wrong, but I believe that prioritizing others’ issues over my own targets is more important.

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