If you’re a parent, you’ve probably told your kids that they have about an hour until bedtime. This is usually followed by a simultaneous groan of, “ONLY an hour?” On the flip side, if you’d planned to head over to the park in about an hour, you’d get the same groan, followed by, “a WHOLE hour?”
An hour is an hour, but when it’s leading up to something you dread, it seems like a short amount of time, and when it’s leading up to something you enjoy, it feels like forever. It’s a simple matter of perspective.
One person or group may think something is too big, while another thinks it’s a perfect fit. Someone may think it’s a little chilly, while everyone else in the room thinks it’s just right. Your great aunt may think the new paint color is a brilliant off-white, when it’s really eggshell.
Similar things can happen in business.
A deadline, or turnaround on a project, may seem quick for the vendor, while the client may think it seems slow. A fee for producing a brochure may seem a little high to the client, when the vendor may only be clearing a small bit of profit after paying their staff for labor and production costs.
It helps, in these situations, to be clear in conveying typical schedules up front when taking on a project. As in: Here’s WHAT we’re going to do. It’ll take THIS long. Here are the STEPS that will happen, from start to finish. And it’s not a bad idea to ask the other party whether it all makes sense to them. If you get a puzzled look, you’ll want to clarify things a bit.
The fall harvest has been bountiful for us at Farmboy. We’ve had the privilege to partner on design and web development projects for businesses in various areas of healthcare, insurance, industry and information. We’re working with them to develop branding systems, marketing materials, brochures, print and online advertising, and custom websites that our clients can manage themselves. We maintain various checkpoints throughout each project and loop in the client during every step of the way.
When things are presented clearly, and people are on the same page, it ensures that everyone involved is viewing things from the same perspective.
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