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.

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.

Salesperson

If you think about it, you are almost always selling something. When you are interviewing for a job with a firm, you are selling yourself as a viable, productive employee who will assimilate well into that workplace. When you are part of a firm interviewing with a potential client, you’re selling your team as the perfect choice to solve the company’s problems and bring their vision to fruition. When you are an employee in a design firm looking to get a promotion, you are selling your successful track record, firm experience and cumulative skill set to set you apart as the best and most deserving person for the position. Lastly – and the most obvious example – when you are a manufacturer’s representative, you are selling your company’s product as the best solution for the project at hand. Whether it’s an idea or an image, a person and their abilities, a firm and their track record, or a tangible product and its warranty, selling is usually the goal. Now how do you do it? That’s for another time.

Therapist / Friend

Be prepared to listen. Everyone has a bad day, and many time a co-worker’s, boss’s or client’s bad day affects your good day. You cannot escape this, and you may need someone to return the favor one of these days, so you must learn to handle it. When you get into this sort of situation, usually the best thing to do is simply to listen. Actually offering concrete advice and possible solutions (as well thought out as they may be) can be dangerous territory… especially with a client. Of course it depends on how long you’ve known the person, how comfortable you are with him / her, how serious the situation, etc., but 99% of the time people just need to vent a little, get it out of their system, and move on. Be a friend and listen. It won’t kill you to do this once in a while. However, if it keeps happening and starts affecting your or your team’s work, then that is another matter entirely. It moves out of the realm of being friendly and supportive into being burdened, and that shouldn’t be part of your job description.

Marriage Counselor

You laugh, but this happens. We don’t know the hard numbers (frankly, we’re too lazy to look it up), but many a marriage falls apart over the remodeling of a home. Real estate agents share this role in common with designers because merely looking for a house together is incredibly stressful. Let’s think about this. Who usually meets with designer and makes most of the decisions? Traditionally, the wife. But the times, they are a-changin’. Due to the recent interest in everything “remodel” on television, more and more men want to take part and have their say. We definitely think this phenomenon is a good thing, but that means the designer has to be ready to deal with contradictory messages, domestic squabbling, and downright lying by one spouse or both. Don’t think this situation only occurs in residential projects. Watch out for it in corporate (when executives bring in wives to decorate), healthcare (ditto for doctors’ offices), hospitality (husband and wife co-owners of a restaurant or boutique hotel), etc. It’s more prevalent than you think.

Follower / Team Player

When you first start out in The Biz, you’re definitely going to be a Follower. At first, you’re going to be nervous, insecure, uncertain and downright scared. If you’re not, then what’s wrong with you? Are you a robot? These are natural feelings. Get comfortable with taking direction. There’s a lot to absorb at first. Get a feel for the environment, the pace of work, the office vibe. After a few months, you’ll get into the groove and become a Team Player. (We’re not particularly fond of this term because it’s been so overused, but it’s descriptive, and everyone knows what it means, so we’re using it.) Co-workers will look to you for help in sharing the workload and meeting a common goal, and managers will look to you to stay on schedule, trouble-shoot and complete the tasks at hand. A warning: at some point you’ll get caught between pleasing your boss and staying friendly with your co-workers. Fun, huh?

Leader/ Manager

You’ve put in years of long hours, hard work, elbow grease, blood, sweat & tears (we can’t think of anymore clichés) to get where you are, and now you’re ready to coast. Get real, my friend. It’s at this point you’ve got to work even harder because people are looking to you for direction. If you don’t set a good example, how do you expect your Followers to follow? If you don’t inspire them to do good work, how are you going to trust that they’ve been thorough? Moving up the ladder doesn’t mean complacency and your own little dictatorial regime. You are now the person you used to resent. Always remember that. A word of advice: If you are a manager and haven’t seen Office Space, log off of your computer right this second and go rent it. This movie spells out everything that is wrong with a stereotypical office environment. The sad thing is that it’s stereotypical for a reason: workplaces like this exist all over the world. Learn by humorous example and don’t let your position turn you into Bill Lumbergh.