Abby Fretz - Your Clients Are Your Students

Published: Oct. 17, 2018, 2:01 p.m.

You go to conferences\u2026 and there are moments when you pick stuff up that can help you do your job. But, once and awhile, there are those special moments when people share things in sessions that permanently change how you look at the work you do. It\u2019s rare\u2026 but it\u2019s awesome.\xa0\n\nThat happened for me this\xa0September in Memphis at the 2018 Digital PM Summit. I attended a session led by Abby Fretz called "Sustaining the Project Honeymoon Phase: How to Build Effective Client Education.\u201d In the session, Abby drew a connection between the relationship we have with our clients and the relationships students have with teachers. She reminded everyone that all of our clients are not just emotional humans, but they are also family members, friends, and experts, and that we need to care for them as a teacher would care for a student. Moreover, she reminded everyone that as much as we are the teachers of our clients, they are\xa0our\xa0teachers as well.\n\nI wish someone had said this to me 20 years ago.\n\nIn this podcast, Abby and I discuss her session from the 2018 Digital PM Summit, what led her to her metaphor, and how it has impacted her work. There is some powerful stuff in this interview and I hope it will be as valuable for you as it was for me. I am very indebted to Abby for teaching me something that seems like such common sense\u2014 I\u2019m a little ashamed I had not though of clients this way before.\n\nHere are some of the links mentioned in the podcast:\nDigital Pm Summit: https://bureauofdigital.com/abby-fretz-1/\nDPM Philly Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/DPM-Philly/\nLouder Than 10: https://louderthanten.com\nEastern Standard: https://www.easternstandard.com\n\nIf you'd like to get in touch with Abby you can reach her at:\nWeb:http://abbyfretz.com\nTwitter: https://twitter.com/abbyfretz\nLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abbyfretz/