Honesty and trust, two pillars of what make up the foundation of any successful business and project.
I have seen many business relationships crumble and projects almost go up in flames because of dishonesty, and I think it is something to really think about as a project manager or business owner.
In short, at least in my opinion, there is no place for lying anywhere. Whether it be within the team, between you and your client or even at home. Lying might get you somewhere in the short term but in the long run, the truth always comes out.
Now before we get into a philosophical or religious discussion about lying, let us look at it from a business and project perspective. Too many times clients are lied to about certain functionality, capability of solutions and products and eventually end up taking their money elsewhere and ultimately your reputation gets dragged through the mud because of it.
On projects where we are too scared too come out and say “Hey! we are in trouble, help please!” we end up trying to fix things behind the scenes and only get burnt because the truth comes out and then you have a dissatisfied client and a failed or less successful project.
If we could just change one thing and that is to be totally honest no matter the consequence, I think it could change the very way we do business and the way we deliver projects. No more “selling” something to the client. It is what it is and it does what it does, easy. No more “smoothing” of risks and issues, “We ran into problems, this is what we are doing to fix it!”, simple.
Sure being honest might not be the easiest way and yes your clients might not be 100% happy at that point, but I will wager top dollar that if you are totally honest all the time your clients will come back to you for repeat business more often than not purely because they know what they will get and that you will be honest no matter the cost.
So put your client, friends and family first and don’t bend the truth, no matter what. Do not use underhanded tactics or half truth’s even if you can file it under the “good intentions” section, just be truthful in everything you do and don’t lie.
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