Understanding professionalism for real
Lately, I’ve realized a lesson I learned in the past, but only now that it’s actually happening in practice do I truly get it.
The lesson is: Professionalism is not only your craft, but your interactions with the team and people around you, too.
I read books about it. I preached it to others. I’ve discussed it with people in different formats, but I only got to understand the true meaning of it nowadays.
The importance of syncing
Besides me and the design team that supports me, there are more stakeholders responsible for what I’m doing and affected by my assignments. This means you might do a great job designing that page or logo, but if you didn’t put the energy and minimal effort into syncing everyone involved, you raise the chances of getting pushback.
It's not because the idea or execution missed the mark, but because you should respect the experience and feedback of those around you who might know a few things more than you. Especially when you are at the very beginning of a new job. You want to get them into the process. Show them the progress. Get their opinion. You decide what to do with it, but don’t skip it.
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The trap of moving too fast
However, what makes it tricky for me are messages that are ambiguous. You’ve been instructed that this project should be very similar to something done in the past. What I get from this groundwork is: Start the work, and just notify me when you are finished. So, as a proactive person, you execute start-to-finish and minimize interactions, because it was delivered as a short, "more of the same" request.
What I missed in that assumption is that even though it might be a short brief, I am still a newbie in this environment. I haven’t earned the right to go that fast and skip approval milestones, no matter how small the jobs might seem or how they were described.
Slowing down to build trust
This lesson changed my perspective. You might have the ability to run, but you haven’t got the social trust to do so yet. Thus, you have to go a bit slower to get everyone synced. That way, later, when you do want to run, they will know they can trust you.
Questions to ask myself
- Who are the stakeholders that should be involved?
- How frequently should they be involved? On every small step or on specific milestones?
- What is each stakeholder's role in terms of the feedback cycle?
- What makes this assignment "done" besides designing it?
- What information should each stakeholder supply?
- What about the time frame? Is this request short and urgent?
- In case it is short and urgent, should I still go the full cycle with each of the stakeholders?
- Am I true to myself about listening to the information being delivered? And asking the relevant questions that will enable me to execute it?
- Have I earned the right to suggest the solution here?
- Did I understand the problem end-to-end? Are you sure?
Finding the balance
How does one become a true listener? What’s the connection between proving yourself and synergy with the team?
I can tell I’m a good partner. But there is something in my mindset that is a soloist in practice, and I want to identify the balance between being the best teammate and being the best designer I can be.
