Anger Management
Few times in my professional career have I ever been offended. It happened this week. I’ve always found it a difficult balance between showing your human side to the client, while at the same time being impervious to criticism. And I can take criticism. It makes me a better person. But the circumstances surrounding this particular situation pushed me over the edge.
I didn’t lose my cool, or show (much of) my frustration to the client, but inside I was raging.
It’s these times that I need to remember that the word “professional” is not just a noun, but also a descriptor. The act of being professional can be far different from being a professional. People who are jerks should never run for public office because nobody would vote for them. Likewise, professionals who tell off clients (no matter how valid their argument) will struggle to gain more business. It’s just the nature of the beast.
In this case I’ve had to go against my normal approach to design and development, and completely detach myself from this project. I had to tell myself that whatever the client wanted, that’s what I would do, even if I thought it was a bad decision. And that’s frustrating. I enjoy taking ownership of a job, making it the best that it can be, and being proud of the results. But sometimes that’s just not possible.
So in a few weeks the project will be over and things will be back to normal. Until then, I’m opening lots of canned smiles and nods, and hoping that everything will work itself out.
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Published June 18, 2004 by:
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You know Steve, even though i am fresh out of college, i have worked with a great number of people. Not all people are able to display comman sense, or even think for themselves. More-so, not all people can handle criticism. Now, of all the people i have worked with, you are among the most self-controlled yet. I have never seen you blow up, and you are good at seperating client beliefs from personal opinions. While this time has to be incredibly frustrating for you, (and i know it must be given your frustrations) i know that you will be able to handle it. And even more-so, i know that you will learn more out of this situation then any other. For, it is not in our prime that we experiance our weaknesses and lackings, but in our time of trial. So, be encouraged, Steve, cause you are extremly good at what you do. I would be more than thrilled to work for/with you at any time!
June 18th, 2004
I know what you are talking about; it has been happen to me quite a lot lately, I am not sure where these client are on, but on my last medium web project, we were only allowed to have the pages talk directly to the database, no stored procedures or even a business layer, but I did my time, this is only 1 of the most reason examples I can give the list goes on and on, I have nearly got to the stage of please don’t call me for further work unless you would like to use my experience which is over 10 years in software development and design.
June 22nd, 2004
I had a boss tell me once that “the customer may not always be right, but the customer is still the customer.” And while that may be true, it’s been my experience that, sometimes, in the service business, firing a customer can be a very profitable thing to do. The time and energy expended in this type of situation can never yield a profitable return. While the transaction may bring in the cash required to service your business, what is the cost or reduction in your “personal” inventory? There are always others that want and need your services. It’s my opinion that any business transaction should be a win for the person giving the service and a win the person receiving the service.
June 25th, 2004
This happens a LOT. I’ve had it myself several times. Frequently, though, a client has an idea of what they think their users want. If I think they are wrong, I’ll tell them. But at the end of the day, if the job I do is what the client wanted, then it’s a Good Job. If I’ve failed to educate them as to why they’ve wanted the wrong thing along the way, then I try to remember why it happened so next time I don’t let one of my clients make the same mistake again …
June 28th, 2004
Anger is a normal human emotion. It may be a problem when is too intense, lasts too long, is harmful to self or others or when it leads to aggression. The key is manage your anger so that none of the above occur. Prevention is generally the best thing to do and is less expensive. To find a legitimate provider, type in anger management providers in any such engine or contact the American Association of Anger Management Providers.
July 3rd, 2005