Dynamic Duos
What makes two people work well together? The short answer: A lot of things. Let’s start with empathy, good communication skills, and being able to bring out the best in each other — even in the workplace.
For example, our project managers are constantly working with different developers, and similarly, our devs are always working with different PMs. Naturally, each person has their own working style and communication quirks where you have to adjust accordingly.
Now add a client to the mix. Generally it’s someone we’ve never worked with before, with totally different (and sometimes hard to read) tics and triggers and methods. Still, despite all the ups and downs of a project, everything turns out exactly as it was supposed to: a happy client gets a gorgeous new website.
So, what’s the secret sauce? How did the relationship end up working even with miscommunications and hardships along the way? (Which, by the way, always happens. Human error is a thing!)
As someone who sees it all, the back and forth — whether it’s project related or not — the most important thing is being able to own your role. While there are a lot of soft skills that contribute to this (I mentioned earlier having empathy — that’s a big one!), understanding when you need to take charge and gently guide the client toward a certain solution makes for a better experience overall. This applies to the client too! When the client is able to feel comfortable enough to give real feedback, it makes the process smoother for everyone.
As simple as these roles may seem, whether you are project managing deadlines, designing a website or providing feedback, you never know how people respond to certain ideas. There’s always a level of adaptability or improvisation needed.
But once you hit the right note, that’s when the process really sings.