When You & Your Client Have Failure to Communicate
What we got here is… failure to communicate.
Firing a client is an emotionally anguishing action, but one that sometimes is the best strategy in a situation where you can’t see eye-to-eye on the scope of a project and its requirements. How you get to this situation is often a confusing mess of poor contract writing on your part, poor communication of requirements on the client’s part, and a muddle of clarifications, expectations, and sometimes a total lack of understanding by the client of underlying technologies and the possibility that you acted without full understanding of their project needs; all of which leads to their disappointment and your frustration.
How the Situation Was Created
I was recently hired by a software start-up to polish the content and its look and feel for a marketing website that supported a new suite of software. The website existed and was live. It was based on an Open Source platform called Joomla! that I have extensive experience creating for and managing.
During my initial briefing, I was told that they had previously hired two designers who had tried to create a template to define the look and behavior of the website two separate times. I was also told that the designers had been fired because they were too slow and couldn’t produce a viable template. The term “template” means something very specific in Joomla! sites and I made my first mistake—I assumed that the CEO meant the same thing when he used the word “template.”
I made my first mistake—I assumed.
The CEO had now given the job of creating the site to the System Administrator/Lead Programmer who was also in charge of developing the web application they were selling and managing ongoing business. The scope of my work was to take the raw content and publish it in Joomla! as well as ensure that the site gained a professional polish. The fact that they had hired great artists who didn’t know the technology and had subsequently given the underlying coding to their traditional programmer rather than a Joomla! guru should have given me a clue that all was not as smooth sailing as the CEO made it seem. So, I made my second mistake, I accepted the challenge.
I wrote the contract using my standard language for a Joomla! site and a copywriting project. I made it very clear that I would take the template that I assumed from my briefing had been created already and polish it and its contents for navigation, flow, and marketing values. I was very clear that I had to work with the Joomla! infrastructure to ensure that contents were displayed professionally. The client accepted the contract.
The client worked in a time zone across the International Date Line and we communicated via Skype. That was no problem except as I gained access to the site and began my work, I noticed a pattern and the time zone difference made fixing this problem through continuous communication problematic. The Joomla! site was definitely not finished and was built without proper code to enable it to function as a content management system. In addition, each time I went to work, the site structurally and technologically behaved differently.
It turned out that the programmer was performing his coding work piecemeal on a development site served from elsewhere that bore little to no similarity to the live site they had me working on. (One of the great things about Joomla! is that the platform is stable and once installed isn’t edited much and one only has to “install” add-ons to get behaviors and applications needed to make the site interactive. So there was no need to have the site in pieces.)
He would tell me after I questioned the issue of missing formatting and graphics and actual code in the template directory, that he hadn’t gotten around to moving the updated code to the live site. We clearly had a disconnect between his priorities and what I was hired to accomplish (or at least my understanding of what I was supposed to be doing). In addition, he admitted to me that he had no idea how Joomla! or a content management system functioned at the level of Administration.
He was confident, he kept telling me, that he would get to the coding at a later date to “joomlify” the pieces that were missing. Because the entire project was on a very tight deadline which was important to the company, the programmer’s priorities were focused on getting the money-making product off the ground and not on completing the marketing site built to support sales and service. I couldn’t understand why the site was not whole to begin with, but I learned as I went that the programmer was using Joomla! as sort of a testbed for home-coded applications. It was a definite non-standard design.
So, the days passed and I tried to produce copy and pull my hair out that it wouldn’t display properly and I wasn’t allowed to fix the PHP code. Unbeknownst to me, the development team would meet and make decisions and they made assumptions about the display problems (becoming justifiably frustrated due to these assumptions and expectations). They began to blame me for slow work and bad results. And they were right because I couldn’t work where the systems in place were not actually connected to the output and wouldn’t be because I had no control over priorities but was supposed to do my job anyway. It was definitely a case of Catch-22.
I had no control over priorities but was supposed to do my job anyway.
I followed their protocols as they tightened their control, but I was getting no feedback on what I produced as well as a lot of flak about making changes to titles and menu names nobody had told me were frozen. In addition, because no one seemed to be reading my documentation entries in their Project Management and Change Order systems as well as their Wiki, it was difficult to convey my reasoning. I also could not get through a language barrier concerning how Joomla! worked versus assumptions by lay people on how they assumed content was created.
For the week I was on this project, I would be briefed in emails by the CEO as to what sections I should concentrate on and then get other information from the Marketing Manager as to where supporting materials should have been located, but wasn’t. I realized by the end of that week of begging for fixes and content, that the project leader was totally on a different priority page than the marketing manager, and together they were on a different page from the CEO who hired me. I began to worry that when the project did not meet its deadline that I would catch the grief. I found myself more and more up all night worrying about the quality of my work and the lack of feedback I was getting, and my stress began to affect my private life and family. This situation couldn’t continue.
The straw that broke this camel’s back came in an email where I was told that I couldn’t post work using Joomla’s editor (which is the only way you can get materials into the site) and that the software was frozen with only the programmer allowed to perform changes. But, I was still responsible for the look and polish of the content. That sounds rational in a typical software development project and absolutely good business sense, except that I couldn’t do web design with my hands tied behind my back, which is what they had done to stop changes I had made to try to remedy what I saw as the situation.
I made the difficult decision to quit before the miscommunication became hatred. I blame myself for not understanding the enormity of the gap between what I thought the job was about and what the client thought the job was about. I wrote a long explanation of my side of the story and the confusion of expectations and assumptions on both our sides. The CEO graciously accepted my resignation and apologized for this chaotic time, and asked me to consider coming back at a later date when things were more settled. That offer cemented my conviction that I had done the right thing.
20:20 Hindsight
What went wrong? How could I learn from my mistakes?
- Ask more questions about the project management work flow and players and how I was to interact.
- If I had changes I wanted to make, get approval before making them and don’t assume they fell within the scope of my work.
- Listen carefully to what is not said as much as what is said about the project. For example, the client’s marketing manager kept speaking of me doing the writing and fixing the CSS. The problem was that she was assuming that Joomla functions like classic web design and that each page is sculpted independently by massaging CSS and text. But Joomla is database driven and the CSS is called on but not edited to create articles that the software creates pages from on the fly. These are totally different concepts. I didn’t realize our disconnect until too late.
- Work with programmers and win their trust before making large steps. Or, be leery of working on large-scale enterprise web design projects where my freelance experience would get in the way of the more top-down methodology. Stick to collaborative endeavors where I was comfortable.
- If all else fails, then have an exit plan that doesn’t burn bridges.
- Don’t be afraid to fire yourself.
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Assumptions have been my mistake too. Writing down everything and wait for the approval of the document before starting to code is my technique now, get everything clear. No way they can come back accusing me later, unless of my own ‘real’ mistakes. Great article!
Freelancer mistake #1. When accepting a contract to polish a marketing website from a business that is rolling out money making products, do not assume the entire company will make you, the freelancer hired to polish their website because, their defcon 1 priority. Do not even assume they will even remember you the next day.
You are so right. This was my first effort at this type of site since I typically build from scratch as part of the original team. When startups have to come out with a product at a specified date to meet VC deadlines, the marketing comes in secondary.
I had to cancel a job after a communication issue rose when the PR company that hired me was not communicating my terms of design and work to the client. The client assumed they would get ‘unlimited’ design changes when in fact my initial proposal to the PR company was that they would get a limited number of chanegs (specific number mentioned).
A few other miscommunications by the damn PR company and eventualy the client wanted to sack me. I put the whole situation straight and I agreed to leave the project.
They took the designs, which they paid for and totally ruined it with another designer. I was just glad to get rid of them.
But funny thing, just last week, they called me up and desperately want me to get back on to work with another one of their proejcts because the other designer(s) failed to give the same quality of work.
Yup, I’ve been there once before, too. My graphics partner gets this regularly but has to please the client — the PR firm who holds the communications strings. I hate that scenario because it is like playing telephone.
Isn’t it weird how sometimes we get called back in?
I had similar experience when i was a rookie on freelancing field. Experience is an excellent teacher.
Sounds like a rough one. I think we all encounter situations that make us stop and reevaluate how we approach the work we do. It’s no fun at the time, but learning from these types of situation is one of the many ways you improve your business and management skills as a freelancer. It’s definitely helpful to all of us that you share the situation and give your insight as to how it can be avoided.
Regardless of the eventual outcome, the fact that they were understanding and even made the offer that you come back when things are back on track, speaks volumes of your professionalism and how you handled the situation. I’m impressed!
Amzing post, Rita. I rarely see somebody honestly talking, analyzing the failure of a project. I think you handled the situation rather well and I will keep in mind everything you described.
By the way, you mentioned contracts, but do you write creative briefs as in advertising industry for web design projects?
Cheers! Risto
In the 19 years I’ve been freelancing this is the first time I’ve ever had to walk away due to a lack of communications. I’ve walked away due to not being paid and once because I realized I wasn’t qualified for what they wanted, but this was hard.
I make it a practice to post-mortim the good and the bad projects so that I learn about the business practices (which I find that I’m not half as good at as the creative side). Thanks for the feedback! It really means a lot.
By the way, you mentioned contracts, but do you write creative briefs as in advertising industry for web design projects?
No, I suppose not because I’m not sure what a creative brief is. I do write an extensive description of the project scope and work to be performed as well as the technology to be used.
I hope to write an article about this process soon. I’d love to know more about writing creative briefs — it sounds like a solution to the changes and additions issue.
+1 to Risto. I agree. Thank you Rita.
Good Luck to your project
great post. this is just like a project im working on now. The people who hired me are not telling me everything they want. They keep adding stuff and expect me too add it to the finale project right away. It really gets under your skin..
Yours is a very difficult scenario that is a little different from what happened to me. You have to set down rules for your client about changes and freeze the design or you will never finish or if you declare a project finished the client won’t be happy because they feel their changes and add-ons weren’t done right. I had one like that and I sued because they wouldn’t sign off on the original contract. I won. You have to be prepared to do that.
Indeed, good luck on the project. Thanks for telling this story, it isn’t often that people are so open about how their projects go. Especially ones that don’t go 100% according to plan!
I went through something similar recently, and I have just one question: Did you get any of your fee?
Yes, the CEO doubled my fee. I had given them a lot of consulting information about Joomla! and he was really nice to pay me for it. I had offered to walk without payment.
The company is a good one and I hope their product hits the ground running, but these start up projects are dicey when the guys doing the marketing choose software that they don’t know (and admit they don’t know).
Great article.
I found there are three types of clients.
1. Those who want you to design something trusting in your expertise 100%. They don’t care what the end result is as long as your expert explanation is convincing enough.
2. There are those who tell you vaguely what they want, but in the process tell you what they like and don’t like and expect you to follow through.
3. There are those who want to get involved in all the intricate details of the project, they will even bring you all the sketches on how they want it to look…and they don’t care what you think.
The second clients are the worst to deal with, because they change their mind like the wind changes its course. During the interview you need to figure that out, because no matter what you put in your contract afterwards, will not help you out… and make sure you get your 50% before the start of the project, if in case you do need to FIRE YOURSELF, so that you don’t lose your money’s worth.
Absolutely! #2 is very scary and I find that if I don’t manage expectations (I have this need to please) they will take advantage because they really have no clue what they want.
I’ve only had one client in 5 years of freelancing that is a #1. And I learned early on to not take projects when I identify a #3 (I usually tell them to hire an “employee”, not a freelancer). As for #2s, write the tightest contract you can with every possible contingency covered and fees attached. Still, that doesn’t always work.
In my 7 years of freelancing, I’ve just had to fire my first client. The brief was all clear, the functional spec and wireframes were signed. But day after day this client continues to add bits and bobs and some how wants this all fitted in to an already (started in April) overdue project. Not to mention the client comes back with requests like, break up the columns and make the text one long box (harder to reader). I can’t understand why clients hire designers only to refuse to see the rational behind decisions – especially when I’m saving you time and thus money. In the long run I told them was neither party’s but we just are not a fit for what they are looking.
I’m currently dealing with a type 2 client. They’ve asked for countless additions to the site and today, they asked to change the navigation… the site is already built! I’m drafting up an email to let them know they signed a contract and a design approval letter stating there would be no additions or changes.
Anyone have any words of advice on how to word this? I feel like they don’t thoroughly read their emails and with it being a freelance job, in a different city, I really need to come to some sort of resolution.
I used to dread these types of changes mid project. Now I embrace them. Why? Because I understand that clients don’t always know what they want until they see something (I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’s true). When a client wants changes that are “out of scope” of the original contract (either in terms of new requirements, additional rounds of changes, or eating up allotted time in a certain area not previously budgeted), I respond like this (very enthusiastic and positive):
“I’d be more than happy to make those changes you suggested. It will require additional time not part of the original contract/requirements/budget. My estimate for those changes is $$$ (you can break these out individually by change item and charge if you want). Please let me know if you want me to proceed and I’ll get on them right away.”
This approach will make you a saint in the eyes of your client of your willingness to work with them on changes. You’ll stay away from an adversarial relationship with them and will make money on all their changes. Win/Win. Most of the time, when the client sees there are additional time charges for the changes, they will reconsider (hopefully not). Change orders can be very profitable.