This year, I had the honor of presenting at DrupalCon Seattle, 2019. My talk: No Longer Lost In Translation: How to Convert Business Requirements into Drupal Speak.
Download the PDF of the slides.
What I would like to share, however, is the experience I had while — and following — presenting this topic. During the presentation, as I was outlining the ways that clients and developers can easily miscommunicate if the right questions aren’t asked (and if assumptions are made) along the way, I witnessed hundreds of bobbing heads — an audience full of people who were validating the subject matter, saying “yes, I’ve been there.”
Remarkably, this wasn’t just an audience full of developers feeling sorry for themselves for building the wrong products over the years. It also included clients who wanted to get more out of their relationships with vendors. This was a room full of people who knew there was a problem and were ready to do something about it. They simply needed the tools to succeed.
Following the session, a group of about 12 individuals — a combination of clients, vendors, project managers, and developers — stayed in the hall with me for nearly an hour. We spent the time talking about ways to foster stronger communication, ways to ask “why” for meaningful responses, and ways to recognize assumptions so as to avoid their allure.
It is uplifting to know that so many technologists and content providers are thinking alike, moving towards more effective communication.
If you want to know more, please reach out! We are here and ready to listen.