ClearPM

I have an IRA at a bank whose investment services were acquired by another financial management company.  I received the expected mail -- "Don't worry, your money is safe with us."  "Don't worry, you won't have to do anything."  "Don't worry, just sign this paperwork." -- and as they promised, everything was easy.  They sent me some paperwork to complete and sign after they said I wouldn't have to do anything, but I guess that's to be expected.  I wouldn't want them to transfer my money to an unknown institution without my approval.  (As a PM, I was satisfied with their customer communication plan.)

Soon after I completed the paperwork, I got my first monthly statement from the new company.  As I hoped, all my money was there, which was my primary concern.  The name of the financial management company that my IRA was transferred to was correctly listed on top of the statement, which was nice.  And in the upper left hand corner of the statement was a big bank logo.  The problem was, it wasn't my bank's logo!  It was a little confusing, but since my money appeared to be correctly recorded with the investment house that I was moved to, I didn't pursue the issue.

Just a few days later, I got yet another letter from my new financial management company signed by the Senior VP of Operations.  "We value every customer...high standards for customer service...very disappointing if we fall short" blah, blah, blah.  But surprise, surprise, the last sentence in the first paragraph:

"I would like to take this opportunity to extend my sincere apologies for our failure to meet the standards of performance you deserve and that we demand of ourselves."

The letter went on to explain how they had messed up "due to a processing error" but that "the error was limited to the use of the wrong logo."  They wrote that my personal and financial information was not shared with anyone else, the issue has been corrected and the next statement will have the right logo on it, the error should not reflect on my bank, "trust is earned," "continuous improvement," and a phone number for any questions.

Overall, I thought this was a near perfect apology.  I didn't think the original error was a big deal, but I only had one little IRA with them.  I'm sure they got unending grief from 80-year old grandmas who have their life savings with these guys and from privacy paranoids.

Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word

Since everyone makes mistakes, what can we take away from this from a project management perspective?  Imagine that you leave an important stakeholder out of the review and approval process for a key document, or maybe you include them but then inadvertantly leave their comments out of the updated document.  The stakeholder is offended and angry.  What do you do?

1.  Apologize.  Let them know that you realize you made a mistake, it wasn't intentional or personal, and you're genuinely sorry for doing it.  Express some contrition and a little embarrassment.  In addition to the apology in the first paragraph, the Senior VP wrote, "The printing of the incorrect logo should not have occurred and we apologize for any concern or inconvenience that it has caused you."  These are good apology statements: they don't blame the offended party or someone else, they accept responsibility, they recognize their error.

2.  Explain.  Tell the offended party what happened.  Don't be tentative or try to cover up an embarrassing gaffe.  Don't make excuses.  Just come out with it.  The investment company letter explained that my bank's statements had been printed at the same time as another bank's statements leading to the printing of the wrong logo.  A straightforward explanation without sounding like an excuse or a cover up.

3.  Reassure.  Let them know everything is fine, assuming it is.  Don't leave them wondering.  For example, the VP wrote, "Your information was not inadvertantly shared with any outside party" and "This issue has been corrected and your January 2010 brokerage account statement will reflect the correct logo."  They took ownership of their mistake and made me feel better about it.

4.  Correct.  If everything is not yet as it should be as a result of your mistake, let them know how you plan to fix it.  If you left out your stakeholder: "The revision of the Transition Plan that we released yesterday now includes your comments" or "We plan to issue a new release of the Transition Plan next week and it will include your revisions."

5.  Contact.  Be sure to include some way to contact you if they have any questions or other concerns or they just want to vent.  This is critical because otherwise you're sending the message that your apology was just lip service and you don't really care about their concerns.  My friendly VP invited me to "contact the Company Service Center, 800-xxx-xxxx option 2, or your Financial Advisor."

An Even Better Apology

I didn't expect that letter from the broker, but I was satisfied that they were genuinely sorry and had fixed the problem.  Even so, I found some things I might have done differently.

• Apologize first.  The apology in the letter didn't appear until the last sentence in the first paragraph.  I think it would have been better to make the apology the first sentence.  Give it the prominence it deserves, and don't leave the recipients wondering why they're getting this letter.
• Personal is better.  It's tough to express a sincere apology in a mass mailed letter, but this mistake was relatively minor and a lot of people had to be apologized to so a more costly personal approach was probably not appropriate.  However, if the mistake warrants it, a face-to-face discussion is best.  Other options (in decreasing order of effectiveness) include a phone call, a personal e-mail, a personal letter, and lastly the mass mailing I received.
• More contact options.  Calling the 800-number customer service center is near last on my list of contact preferences.  What about an e-mail address?  A web site where I can express my anger?  I wouldn't mind contacting this VP just to say I appreciate the apology and he did a good job.
• The right person.  The Senior VP of Ops seems to be the right person to apologize in my case.  It was an operational mistake after all.  But make sure the right person says they're sorry.  CEO?  Chairman?  Printer?  I don't want an apology from someone who was just doing what they were told.

What do you think of all this?  Do you have experience with apologizing or being apologized to?  Share your thoughts about the right way to say "I was wrong."