Featured on this episode:

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What you will learn in this episode:

• How to address mistakes with clients in a way that preserves trust and confidence.
• The right way to respond when a contractor calls out an issue—especially in front of your client.
• Practical steps to resolve problems quickly while protecting your reputation.

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We are human, and humans make mistakes!

I hear from countless designers about all the problems that they have had on their projects, and many unfortunately were oversights or mistakes on their part. Well, that’s them being human. Now I also hear them beating themselves up, telling me they haven’t slept in days, they don’t know what to do, sick to their stomachs, and I get it. I have absolutely walked that path. Those same fears, panic attacks, they are awful.

Our jobs are filled with endless details. Whether that’s decorating or construction, and God forbid, combining the two, which a lot of us do.

So to say to yourself, I’m going to go into this project and there won’t be a single mistake, is setting yourself up to fail.

What I’d rather you say, and I tell myself, is that I’m going to go into this project and try to avoid as many mistakes as possible. That is based on reality and something that is achievable. 

Mistakes aren’t intentional

This is the important part to acknowledge. We have the best of intentions at every turn on our projects. But again, we’re also human, and things happen. 

We can’t control how people react to things either. Good, bad, or indifferent. What is under our control is how we handle it. 

And by the way, your client, they’re human too. 

I always say, try and work for really kind people, and this is when that comes into play. 

Don’t be defensive. Never lead with, well, it’s not my fault, blah, blah, blah. Or, I assumed… 

NO

No, you just take responsibility. You just explain what happened. But you always want to have a solution in hand, even two or three options, when you’re explaining the situation. 

Real life examples

I share in today’s episode about a designer who was on a group call in my course, The Designer’s Edge. And she shared how she was losing sleep, was stressed over this mistake. Fortunately, she had the luxury of her client being away and had time to come up with a solution to fix this. So we talked about solutions, and she was able to have a resolution with her client in one phone call and move on.  Her client was very kind and calm about the situation, because she was calm about it. 

I told her the biggest challenge of all post-call, is to give herself a break.

The fun part is she’ll never make that mistake again. That is how we learn! This is why I share my horror stories so that you can avoid the gaps in the tub or similar issues that happen on a project.  This is how we are going to learn through each other’s experiences to avoid them in our own. 

Trust me, there will be more that she will learn, as we all will. But it’s how we show up when shit hits the fan is how our clients will react.

Knowing that mistakes do happen, that we are human, it helps designers. Because when mistakes do happen, Renee said, mistakes are gonna happen, I guess this is mine, hopefully it’s the only one this quarter, week, day, whatever it is. 

But remind yourself that once it’s resolved, move on. 

What if a mistake is uncovered or pointed out by a contactor to you, and your client is standing right next to you?

Firstly, the contractor could be being an ass and throwing you under the bus. And when that happens, you’re on your own. You are the only one who can control how you react to this situation. And your next steps are important. 

Don’t go back at the contractor. That’s not going to win you anything. 

You could also turn to your client and say, ok, looks like we have a situation that I’m going to have to work out with John. I think it’d be better if he and I talked this through, and I’ll come find you in ten minutes. That client may be relieved not to be a part of it. 

Now, you’re always going to have clients want to stay, but that’s ok too. Educate your client as to why you designed it in the first place, and maybe that will help the contractor appreciate it is what you were trying to design, and they could have a logical solution for everyone. 

These are the kinds of problems that will come up. Remember, we’re human. It doesn’t always feel good to be human.

But sometimes the contractor can say it won’t work simply because they don’t understand how it’s going to work. 

If  I leave you with anything today, it’s that shit will happen, mark my words. I can’t tell you when, what or how bad it’s going to be. But what I can tell you is you are completely in control of how you manage your way through it, and there is always a way through it.

Like this Episode?

• Be sure to check out Episode #94: Hero Complex – Why We Have It and How to Avoid It
• Be sure to check out Episode #71: Disruptions on a Job Site – What They Are and How to Manage Them
• Be sure to check out Episode #155: Transformative Lessons from Designers’ Year-End Reviews