Is Frank angry?

I joined the video meeting nervously. With sweaty palms turned my camera on.

Watched as the other attendees popped onto the screen. Smile. Look normal. It will be ok.

It was our first sprint demo with my customer. Most importantly, “Frank”, the Director of the department was there and he was the main reason for the sweaty palms.

Frank wasn't an IT or tech leader. He oversaw all areas of the operations, logistics, and technology of a key state government agency and he was a tough one to woo over. His dry humor and rough edges meant that after he spoke we often paused and exchanged glances within our team - “Was that a joke or is he angry?”

We jumped into our demo and presented the data modeling framework we had built. It was the result of a few weeks of onsite workshops with the business team followed by long brainstorming sessions between me and my teammate.

I got to the end of presenting the data model, demonstrating how it would unlock new analytical insights for their team, and then paused for questions.

Frank came off mute.

“Listen,” he said. “It’s clear to me you understand us. You talk like us. The way you describe our business, workflow, and what's important to us was surprisingly accurate for a team who’s only been working with us for a few weeks”.

I let out a big sigh.

Regardless of the technical challenges ahead, we had crossed the biggest hurdle. We understood the business language and process.

Ever since that meeting I’ve entered every new project with this same framework - Understand the business first.

The technology and data come much easier after that.

I’m here,

Sawyer