A fairytale story for the modern freelancer…

I have a conundrum for you today, one that I have personally experienced and wasn’t sure how to deal with so what better way to solve a problem that present it to the ether via blog!

Once upon a time... You have a client for whom you do a specific task, it’s the sort of task you have experience in – years of experience in fact as well as having shown a track record for knowing what you’re talking about. The client is a micromanager (which in and of itself is not an issue, it’s just not a very efficient way to run things) and when they review something you have created, they have firm views on the changes they think should be made.

A series of unfortunate events… At this point it’s not too much of an issue I hear you cry, it’s their business, they’re allowed an opinion! However, what if that opinion is, well, wrong? In this instance the changes were contrary to best practice and what I knew would work. I felt that the changes would be detrimental to what we were trying to achieve.

Trying the shoe on a hundred feet… So, what do I do at this point? For context this has happened before and I’ve always raised it – explaining why I disagree, why I think things should be done differently, asking why they wanted it the way they had requested and generally having a discussion around it. So, the question is do I do the same thing again or accept that, as the client (customer), they are right and I should just do as I’m asked?

The moment the fireworks go off… I’ll be completely honest, I’m busy, I spend a lot of time explaining and chasing and generally doing things that make my life a whole lot harder so a part of me thinks just doing what I’m told is the easiest way. But. And this is a big but, I care. I’m passionate about what I do and how I can help people and it really goes against my instincts to not do something in the best way possible, knowing it will get the best results.

Happily ever after… I don’t know, what do you think?