The point of this section is to help you communicate more effectively. Wow, there”s a shock! Believe us when we say that we are not claiming to be Dr. Phil, Dr. Laura or Dr. Ruth.
We’re going to address common issues that occur everyday in the workplace. Most of the ideas come from plain old common sense, but we are consistently amazed at how good sense is not that common; hence, the existence of this section.
Communication is key in whatever you do, right” Any kind of relationship depends on it to survive, flounder or grow: parent / child, girlfriend / boyfriend, boss / employee, co-worker / co-worker. You know what we”re talking about. Nothing surprising here. But any of you that have ever held a job know that just doing your job isn”t enough. You have to deal with people ” whether you like it or not.
If you”ve never worked in the field, you probably have this image in your mind of what interior designers do day-in and day-out. Most likely your mental list of tasks reads something like this: consult with clients, space plan, draw, pick out furniture, select finishes, meet with contractors, etc.
Well, guess what” You”re definitely leaving some things out. In addition to simply doing what it takes to be a designer, one frequently has to also be a”
Diplomat
Salesperson
Therapist / Friend
Marriage Counselor
Follower / Team Player
Leader/ Manager
Unless you do nothing all day but sit in a room by yourself cranking out drawings / specs / presentation boards / whatever, you are going to have to interact with your fellow human beings. However, even production people must take direction from someone, so you might as well learn how to play well with others.
In future articles, we will explore specifics for each of these categories, so stay tuned for that. As for now, let”s just go through the list and break it on down”
Diplomat
Picture the scene: A construction meeting in which the contractor is behind schedule, your client the Facilities Manager is fuming because she”s worried about reporting the bad news to the Board of Directors, and both of them are looking at you because the client picked your firm to handle the project and you picked the contractor. Where”s Boutros Boutros-Gali when you need him” You will win big points (and future projects) if you can remain calm, diffuse tense situations and, hopefully, negotiate compromises. Even if there really is no room for compromise, making one of the parties feel like they “won” something ” even when they didn”t ” is vital. We”re not going to promise you that everyone can do it. It”s an art. For some people it”s an innate talent, but for some it can be a learned skill. In the latter case, it tends to come with experience, mainly because the more you know, the more solutions you can bring to the table.
