Whether you're a Web designer, a
usability engineer, or a brand manager, you're an integral cog who
works with the rest of the creative team to develop solutions to
clients' problems.
Eventually, you
must communicate these solutions to your project manager, who is
responsible for passing these ideas on to the client. So ask
yourself: Are the team's findings communicated as-is, or modified
on delivery?
Here's a scenario
The creative
team spends an entire weekend researching and performing usability
tests on the client's product. It takes numerous hours to collect
data and build competitive charts based upon product demographics.
On Monday
morning, your team outlines your findings to the project manager.
The project manager agrees with your team analysis, and schedules
a meeting to outline these findings to the client.
During the
client meeting, the project manager only presents half of your
team's analysis. By only presenting 50 percent of the prepared
solution, the project manager has disregarded a lot of expert
advice from the creative team members.
The possible
implications
Design,
usability, and branding teams cannot do their jobs effectively if
project managers don't heed their expert advice. For example, in
the above scenario, the project manager is:
- Jeopardizing the integrity of the
final creative output.
- Undermining the creative teams'
intelligence and authority.
Fix this failure to
communicate
Project
managers are the vein that keeps the blood flowing between your
team and the client. This flow of information should be regulated
wisely, but must be kept moving at all times.
The key is
finding a way to control the information. As a creative team
member, your goal should be to make sure the project manager
presents your information as the team prepared it. Keep in mind
these three possible ways to make that happen:
- Get
sign off: Request that your project manager sign off on
the information you provide. Stipulate that the manager's
signature means that he or she will be presenting the
information in an unmodified form.
- Have
a "sit down": Sometimes project managers believe
they are just doing what's right for the client, or simply
don't understand that they are jeopardizing the project.
Arrange an informal meeting to discuss the specifics of
interaction and communication.
- Go
above their heads: If nothing else works, you may have to
see the boss. Explain the situation, and ask the boss to take
action for the sake of the project.
Of course, not
all project managers will have trouble relaying your team's ideas.
However, if you ever encounter a situation in which your teams'
proposed solutions are misconstrued or falsely represented to a
client, it won't take long before you start figuring out how that
situation won't repeat itself. When it comes down to it, it's your
reputation that's on the line.
