The Lesson of No...

So, I learned this really important lesson last week, the question is whether or not it takes.

The lesson was The Lesson of No.

See, I've always been pretty much of a whore when it comes to work (there I’ve said it). This means as much as I hustle, I would be hard pressed to turn down work if it made itself available. So, last week I found myself in a position where it would’ve been best to refuse to be involved with a project, hence the lesson of no.

The client I had worked with in the past had shown a tendency to squeeze me when it came to the amount of time it took to get the job done. They had a habit of underestimating the amount of effort in tightening up a project. It never occurred to them that the projects I had been involved with in the past had generally gone off without a hitch and a lot of that was due to spending quite a bit of time in getting the answers necessary so problems wouldn’t occur later in the process (usually at the printer), being thorough and going through things with a fine tooth comb. Maybe it did occur to them and perhaps they thought somehow they were being overcharged or it could just be as simple as wanting to keep costs down as much as possible - a consequence of the times we live in.

In any case, they came to me with materials on a Tuesday afternoon for a Thursday morning delivery. I didn’t think it was a real deadline (in cases like this, it usually isn’t), and since the materials they were handing off to me were far from complete (no live copy and several layouts still not finalized design wise) I imagined the hard and fast deadline they had was more wishful thinking than reality. Also, since they hadn’t kept to the schedule they originally supplied me, I figured there would be movement on their end.

My mistake.

Their deadline was pretty hard and fast and when they did supply me with the live copy early the following afternoon, they were already clamoring to find out how far I had gotten into the work. I spoke with the production manager after getting the email from her and tried to gauge just how painstaking they wanted me to be. I got the sense she felt I was just being difficult but, after my earlier experience with this client, being squeezed on billable hours and time (and seeing how they were getting billed a straight rate and not a rush rate) I thought it would be good to clarify certain issues going in.

So, I was supplied materials late on a Wednesday for a Thursday morning delivery but, I didn’t say no. They bought another day (so, now the deadline was Friday morning) but, as usual the way things work, the job wasn’t as simple as the client would’ve liked. As I worked my way through it, things didn’t line up, were positioned differently from page to page, leaded differently from page to page (you get the idea).

Now, I find myself in a situation which I dread. I can let things go (even though I know they should be fixed) or I can fix them (which will take more time). If I let them go, since this whole process is like a game of hot potato and since I’m the last person to work with this file, if I let it go, I'll probably wind up getting the lion’s share of the blame if someone’s not happy with the finished product. If I fix it, my client is going to think somehow they are getting jerked around and I’m drawing things out longer than need be.

All of which I could have prevented if I had heeded the lesson of no.

So, I stay up and work my way through the file trying to make the best of the situation and deliver a good finished product. The consequence of this is the deadline I had agreed to with my client passes by like a road sign on a highway when you're doing 80.

I have a heated discussion with the client late in the day. They’re not happy (their deadline is blown), I’m not happy (I’ve pissed them off and haven’t delivered when I agreed to), everything gets kicked back to them.

All of this could have been prevented if I had heeded the lesson of no.

So, I’ve come to realize the next time this happens (and lord I hope that it won’t happen again but, being somewhat thick-headed, you never know), I’ll stop the whole process before it runs down the track derailing like a wildly out of control train. To put it simply, I’ll say no.

No, I'm very sorry but, I can’t help you.

Yeah, the client was late supplying materials. Yeah, the job was more involved than what the client estimated. Yeah, the deadline was tight. I should’ve just said no.

I wouldn’t have alienated the client and I probably would have maintained that relationship (although I don't think it was going in such a great direction anyway). I got an email later from the person I had the heated discussion with apologizing and frankly, I couldn’t hold it against the person for I felt they had every right to be upset. Also, I made certain assumptions about the people in the office communicating with one and I should realize by now doesn’t happen as much as it should or as much as I think it does.

Well, live and learn as they say and hopefully at some point down the road, I’ll get a chance to work with the client again (though I can see where I wouldn’t) and we’ll both do a better job of working together.

Maybe next time, I’ll do a better job of heeding the Lesson of No.