Communication in the Telecom Industry

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As I sat in the austere office of this telecom conglomerate, I glanced over the shoulder of the Director of Operations into the blue mist of the Tennessee Mountains. A vibrant display of fall's color reflected in the window behind him, yet at that moment, I wished I were anywhere else. The Director's grievances were lengthy, and as the new Project Manager for this customer, I had inherited them all. My black composition book was perched securely on my lap while I furiously scribbled notes in keeping with his demeanor.

Yesterday's customer meeting in another office much like this one mirrored most of the issues this Director had on his list. Yesterday's customer was undergoing management changes which would give me a chance to start fresh with the new staff and move beyond the history of missed deadlines. After that meeting the outgoing Project Manager had driven the couple of hundred miles to our next location.

We arrived at our hotel near dusk, checked into rooms and spent the next few hours catching up on e-mail accumulated during air travel and our road trip. Using the hotel dial-up modems was painfully slow. Still wired up from the day's events, I was unable to settle down until after midnight. This was my first assignment for this major customer. I had been forewarned this transition meeting would be "challenging" in the words of my manager back at corporate. She had a way of understating things.

This morning, the Tennessee Director of Operations was poised for this moment, armed with a list of grievances of missed deadlines and delivery and installation delays on my company's end. He was way beyond frustrated with the damages they were suffering when our telecom equipment installed in their concrete shelters shifted during transportation to site. We were being held accountable for those repairs and handed an accelerated installation schedule to make up for lost time.

At the conclusion of our meeting, the Director issued an ultimatum. He wanted a face-to-face meeting with our Vice President and a personal apology for the schedule delays or he would pull their purchase orders. At this point, the director's face had turned a deep purple color matching the veins which stood out on his neck.

Our company was experiencing personnel changes too. The newly assigned Vice President for the region had other major demands on her time, making it unlikely she would show up in this office anytime soon.

In the midst of the angst, I tried maintaining good eye contact, nodding in acknowledgement throughout his dialogue, mirroring his posture and allowing him to let off steam before reacting or asking any questions. When he concluded with his monologue, it was my turn to answer to these issues.

From my notes, I reiterated his issues, and agreed to propose a timeline to remedy the schedule slippage, and to my relief, the Director slowly began to change his demeanor. It would never have been mistaken for friendly, but his features softened when I assured him I would make it my first priority to turn this situation around.

The Site Installation Manager, whose resources were always overworked and spread too thin, was outraged at the first delivery schedule I proposed, which fell on a holiday. It took some fast talking to work out the details with both he and the equipment delivery transportation coordinator on the line. Once the situation was understood by all, they went out of their way to meet the short lead time we had been given.

Our transportation vendor, which was outsourced as well, agreed to schedules requiring some all-night driving to facilitate predawn delivery windows. Project Coordinators worked their magic in the SAP system shipping any missing parts and pieces of equipment shorted from the original delivery. Through the efforts of our whole team we made it come together.

The customer's Project Manager presided over her weekly status meeting with an iron hand, asking her recurring phrase at line items on the project schedule:

"Material delivery delayed? What's up with that?"

"No inspection? What's up with that?"

With a directness and cool authority, she could evoke burly telephone linemen to quake in their boots. It was through her cooperation and support we were able to work our way through the missed communications of the past. At our very first meeting we agreed, our mutual success was the only acceptable outcome to the situation. We made a vow to do whatever it took to make that a reality.

Over the course of the project, I was most impressed by the work ethic of the installation teams who, forfeiting holidays and leaving loved ones behind, traveled to locations in remote mountainous regions, battled uncooperative weather, equipment delays, locked gates, hunger, insects and instances when neighbors carrying shotguns protested their trespass. They persevered throughout, completing their assignments on time and within budget, making us all look good.

We ended our six-month project having installed radio base station equipment in over 300 sites in the three-state area. Our company's Vice President and our support team members made a road trip to the Chattanooga office, where the Director's long awaited requirement was finally and happily met.

For the first time in six months, I was greeted by his smile.