rohitc 87397 (9/5/2014)
Andy, I think you just opened my eyes. I am one of those people who have always claimed that titles don't matter, and I never use it when introducing myself to vendors, clients, or even to new colleagues within my organization. I'm going to change that now - as you said, it's not about who outranks whom, but it just helps people build their mental model and know when to come to you for assistance or advice.
Agree, sometimes something is not important for the obvious reasons.
I often find myself in another kind of problem, though: one title is not enough! Or rather: Sometimes I wish I could change title for every task I do...
Because, as rohitc and Andy says, it just helps people build their mental model. And when my, rather uninformative, title of "Analyst" is in play, it doesn't help at all! On the other hand, should I assume a more specialized title which fits some of the things I do, the majority of other meetings will erupt in chaos because I would be viewed as completely incompetent there! So, I find that keeping other stakeholders a little in the dark is preferable to let them assume too much... At least, now I get asked what I do.