In a day’s work.

Oh, the arrogance of youth.

After some years in the field I realized that there were a good many lessons they didn’t teach me. And that would have been very helpful to know. I’ve often imagined teaching a design class in which some of the less publicized realities of the design profession are imparted to the unsuspecting students. It might not always be a fun class, but it could be enlightening.

Lesson 1) Good clients are extremely valuable. And not so very common.

So back in school, the fantasy was, you complete your initial design phase and walk in to the client meeting armed with a handsome presentation and some reasonable rationale. The client says “I love it.” And, you’re done.

I can hear you laughing from here.

I had never imagined the variety that exists in professional disposition, office politics and budgets. Nor could I have imagined how drastically it would effect the outcome of every single project. At this point, this reality seems painfully obvious. And though there’s not a lot the designer can do about some of these elements, there are some techniques which can help one manage.

I think one of the most effective of these is to empathize with your client. Listen to them carefully to understand what they really need. Establish a relationship. Make it as easy as possible for them to embrace the work. Get a sense of what pressures they are under. Make a concerted effort to make them look good and they will be appreciative.

And, when you do find a good client, work hard to keep them happy.

Lesson 2) Collaboration can be really fun.

Some of my favorite working experiences have been sharing ideas with other designers, copywriters, clients and, heaven forbid, even account people. It’s a true joy to toss out a half-formed idea out and see it come back whole.

The trick of it is leaving yourself open, sharing and relaxing your ego a bit. Though this takes some getting used to. For me, this is most difficult when direction I’ve given is interpreted in a way I did not foresee – it’s hard to be able to make the leap to accepting that the idea’s going somewhere new. Ultimately I believe it’s important to create a sense of discovery and participation for all who are on a project.

It’s worth highlighting that clients are necessarily collaborators. And it’s important to treat them as such (see Lesson 1). Without their participation and buy in the chances of a job going poorly are greatly increased.

Overall, the goal of collaboration points out the importance of finding people you’d like to work with five days (and sometimes more) out of seven. But, when you do find a group with whom you are simpatico, it’s a magical thing.

Lesson 3) Compromise isn’t necessarily a dirty word.

This is a corollary of Lessons 2 and 5.

There are times when you may not have been informed of all of the requirements, when you may not have understood what the client saw as the objectives or when you may have misinterpreted the relative importance of those objectives. It’s a good skill to be able to reappraise the situation and, if necessary, rework the design to meet the redefined requirements. It may not be particularly fun or easy, but it’s good to be gracious about it too.

Then there are also times when quality is compromised for no discernible benefit. It’s important to recognize the difference.

Lesson 4) It’s really hard to manage other people well.

In school I studied layout, typography and conceptual development, but never management. Since graduating I have learned there are many great designers who are lousy managers. It sometimes seems the hardest thing for a designer to create is a good place to work.

Clients, it turns out, face many of the the same challenges as designers. Who knew? Though in addition to managing their own reports, they have to manage the out-of-house design team too. To the degree possible it behooves designers to offer whatever support the relationship allows. When you’re on the manag-ee end of things, a healthy dose of empathy goes a long way. (I find it’s also good to avoid using the word “behooves” in public.)

Managing people well requires utilizing some easily attainable skills and many less more challenging ones as well: listening to others really carefully; actively soliciting input and feedback; putting others in a position which makes it easy for them to do their jobs; helping people solve their problems, not yours; motivating; inspiring; acknowledging effort; turning the success over to the people who work for you.

Easy to say, difficult to do, but the rewards are self-evident.

Lesson 5) Effective communication is extremely important.

Something that never ceases to amaze me is how hard it is to communicate well. In the dynamic process that is a design job, making sure that others are working with the most recent information dramatically decreases frustration (as well as inefficiency). Keeping all team members and clients appraised of deadlines, shifting requirements and feedback can have a huge impact on morale and budget and ultimately the success of a project. And, it’s painfully easy to neglect.

Setting expectations clearly is another communication priority. In addition to the same reasons – morale and budget – when the client’s expectations are set properly, the job will go much more smoothly, the client will be much happier and happy clients tend to be good clients. And we know we like those.

Hindsight, they say, is 20/20, but if I had fully understood these lessons early in my career, it would have been a lot easier.