It takes a rare breed and individual to survive the mundane corporate blues.  With each position and company having variations that are out of our control, you have to develop a specific set of work ethics to fit for every organization.

The best way to survive in the corporate world of viscous game players, gossiping herds and micro managers all starts with analysis.  The process of data collection can be stressful but it will help you to avoid certain situations and protect you from others that have nothing better in life to do but cause problems.

When you identify certain key players in your office you can classify them into several categories:

1. Gossiping Herds – these co-workers  main goal inside the office is to create, spread and exacerbate gossip.  These dangerous and well protected individuals will cause more problems than they solve.  Take note in who they talk about and why and remember there is always some truth to every rumor.
2. Game Players – these are the co-workers and supervisors that like to play both sides of every coin.  You can never tell whether they are coming or going, telling the truth or lying.  It is obvious that these individuals have dysfunctional home lives or rarely make lasting friendships.  These people aggravate everyone  in the office and are more common among a group of men or a group of women.  It is rare that mixed sex groups of this kind would be game players.
3. Superficial Supervisors – this type of individual is the most destructive to any organization and can never be trusted.  They tell you what you want to hear and always boost your ego to win your trust.  These people are usually over compensating for lack of skills or are themselves worried that someone will someday take their job.

It is hard to avoid any of these type inside the corporate arena.  I often wonder what eer happened to going to work doing your job and going home?  The person that can successfully do this is the best employee on the planet.  It can be done but you have to separate yourself from making friends, going to lunch with co-workers and doing favors for your boss.

I am offer helpful articles appropriate for anyone in the design field – if you are just starting out as a graphic designer, newly forced into a freelance situation or changing careers to join the visual communication work force.

I have survived and prospered in the realm of digital media thru years of hard work, sound ethics and motivation to succeed.  As a designer with over 16 years experience, I have seen a wide range of success and failures in my time.  Armed with the right tools and advice from designers around the world, I have survived that ever maddening games of office politics, client drama and supervisors that suck.  I am here to help arm you with the latest and greatest tools you will need to survive in this difficult and demanding world of design.

In business, being able to read people and quickly get a sense of who you’re dealing with is an invaluable skill. It turns your encounter with a client into an opportunity to catch a glimpse of the upcoming project and how it will need to be handled. It is one of the building blocks of a professional relationship.

In today’s digital age, the arena has shifted to the Web, and the online office space that most freelancers inhabit limits personal interaction. Though sussing out a client’s personality via online communication is difficult, it still remains an invaluable tool in your arsenal.

Passive Aggressive

In the freelancing field, you will encounter a range of client types. Being able to identify which you are dealing with allows you to develop the right strategy to maximize your interactions with them, and it could save your sanity. Below is a list of the most common personality types and the tell-tale signs that will tip you off.

This is the client who is very passive when you ask for initial input, but when you submit the finished product, they aggressively attack it, demanding a lot of detailed changes, both major and minor. They had an idea of what they wanted all along but kept it mostly to themselves. Even though they showed appreciation of certain ideas and elements throughout the development process, do not expect the passive-aggressive client to keep any of them as they send revisions your way.

Identifying Characteristics

• Communication is mostly one-sided and unhelpful during project development.
• Makes statements such as:
  • “I’m not really sure what we’re looking for.”
  • “Just do something that would appeal to us generally.”
  • “You totally missed the point of what we wanted.”

How to Deal

Patience is the key. Expecting the last-minute requests for revisions may soften the blow of the client’s aggressive behavior. Keep your original layered design intact so that you can easily refine and change it later (not that you wouldn’t, but it does happen). Also, make sure your contract specifies a limited number of revisions.

Family Friend

This is the client whom you have known for years either through personal or family interaction, and this connection has landed you the job. The relationship will be tested and perhaps marred forever by what could very well be a nightmare of a project. This family friend believes he deserves a “special” price and unbridled access to your work. They will sometimes unwittingly belittle your work or not take it seriously because of their personal connection to you.

Identifying Characteristics

• These clients are easy to identify because… well, you know them.
• Makes such statements as:
  • “Could you just throw something together for me?”
  • “I don’t want you to think that just because I know you I want you to cut me a deal.”
  • “You’re going to charge me what?! But we go way back!”

How to Deal

The way to deal with this client depends on how well you know them and how much you value your relationship with them. But remember that anyone who would take advantage of such a relationship is not truly a friend, so respond accordingly. An honest approach could end up saving the relationship. But start off with a professional, not personal, tone, and they may follow your lead. Of course, if you truly value the relationship, you may want to pass on the job altogether.

Under Valuer

Like the family friend described above, this client will devalue your creative contributions. But there is a difference: you do not actually know this person. There is no rationale for their behavior. They feel they should get a “friend’s” pricing rate not because they want to be friends with you, but because they do not see your work as being worth that much… even if they couldn’t do it themselves. Not coming from a creative background or even having had exposure to the arts can mar someone’s appreciation of the work that you do. After years in our field, we make it look easy, and that is what the under-valuer sees.

Identifying Characteristics

• Does not respond to questions in a timely fashion.
• Makes such statements as:
  • “It’s not like it takes much effort on your part.”
  • “Couldn’t you just throw something together for me?”
  • “How hard can this really be?”

How to Deal

Confidence is key here. You know what your work demands and how well you do your job. The under-valuer will recognize this confidence. Don’t back down or concede a point to the client when discussing your role in the project. Standing firm will establish the professional and respectful tone you deserve. If the client does not respond in kind, cut your losses and decline their project.

Nit Picker

This client is never fully satisfied with the work you do and will constantly pick on minor details here and there that they dislike and want changed. Do not be surprised if they ask you to change these same details over and over ad nauseam. It is not a sign of disrespect (as it is with the other clients), but simply the nature of the person. They may have been burned in some other project and are now unsatisfied with everything in their path, including your work.

Identifying Characteristics

• Complains almost consistently about unrelated things.
• Personal outlook comes with a scathing bite.
• Makes such statements as:
  • “How hard is it to [fill in the blank with any rant]?”
  • “I’m really not sure about this element here. It just doesn’t pop!”
  • “I don’t think you are really getting it.”

How to Deal

Once again, patience is important (especially if you have some sadistic reason for taking on nit-picking clients). Try to detach yourself from the project as much as possible, so that the constant nit-pickery does not affect you personally. It is easy to feel hurt or get defensive when your work is repeatedly questioned, and you may begin to doubt your skill. But understand that this is not about you or your talent; it is simply a personality trait of the person you are dealing with. And once again, protect yourself in the contract.

Scornful Saver

This client has similarities to the nit-picker and under-valuer but is actually impressed with your work and skill set. The criticize you merely to undermine your confidence in an attempt to lower your pricing rate. Unlike some other client types, the scornful saver understands creative people and their processes. But they are cheap and manipulative, and their scheme may have worked in their favor once or twice in the past. So, they continue to subtly abuse the people they hire in the hope of saving every last penny.

Identifying Characteristics

• Compliments always come with a less-than-flattering qualifier.
• Takes time to respond to questions, sometimes making you ask more than once.
• Makes such statements as:
  • “I really like what you’ve done overall, but I’m unsure about one or two things.”
  • “You may not have gotten exactly what we’re looking for, but you’re close.”

How to Deal

Once again, it is all about confidence. Having a solid understanding of your field and being confident in your knowledge and abilities will keep this client’s manipulation in check. Standing your ground and even calling the client on some of their tactics could shift the balance of power over to you. Be prepared to walk away from the project if the disrespect and manipulation continues. There will be other projects and other clients.

“I-Could-Do-This-Myself”-er

Where to begin… When this client farms a project out to you, they make clear to you that they know how to do what they’re hiring you to do but that just don’t have the time to actually do it. They may be working at a firm or an entrepreneur; either way, you are there to pick up their slack. If they’re at a firm, you could be in for an interesting situation; they were likely hired for their particular style and proposals, and now you will have to please two sets of people: the person who hired you and the people who hired him.

Identifying Characteristics

• Will generally be (or look) hectic and rushed.
• Communication from them often takes the form of short bursts of information.
• Makes such statements as:
  • “I could easily handle this if my schedule weren’t so full.”
  • “Really? Not sure that’s the direction I would’ve gone in, but whatever.”
  • “Remember, you are filling my shoes, and they’re pretty big.”

How to Deal

The “I-Could-Do-This-Myself”-er will likely have recognized your talent and skill right away, which is why they hired you. They merely want you to know that this project (and thus you) is not above their ability. And though these reminders will grate on you periodically, they will let you run with your ideas, perhaps offering suggestions or feedback on the final design.

Control Freak

This client desperately needs to micro-manage every little detail of the project, no matter their qualifications. No decision may be made without their explicit input and approval. This tiresome client forces himself into your workflow, heedless of either invitation or protest, and will demand access to you at whim. The concepts of boundaries and strict work processes are easily lost on the control freak, who constantly disrupts the flow. They may also believe you lack dedication or preparedness, further reinforcing their need to interfere.

Identifying Characteristics

• Initial contact is long, detailed and one-sided, with little input sought from you.
• Your input remains unsought as the project pushes forward.
• Makes such statements as:
  • “This way we can keep in contact 24/7 in case you have any questions, or I do.”
  • “I really know best what is right for the project and what is not.”
  • “What do you mean, I’m distracting you? I am the only thing keeping this project on track!”

How to Deal

If you absolutely must take on this client, for whatever reason, resign yourself to the fact that you will not be steering at any point. You will have to detach yourself from the work because you will have no control at all. You will merely be constructing, not designing, so just let go and let it happen. You may want to exclude this project from your portfolio.

Dream Client

This client, widely dismissed as a myth, does in fact exist and understands the full scope and artistry of your work. They value your role and creative contributions and want you in the driver’s seat as soon as the project gets underway. They are timely with responses and payments… payments that they did not “negotiate” but rather accepted for what they are. They reflect on your suggestions and have confidence in your capabilities.

Identifying Characteristics

• Is enthusiastic about the project and your involvement in it.
• Communication shows awareness of and respect for your role.
• Makes such statements as:
  • “Here’s the brief we prepared. The rest is pretty much up to you.”
  • “We like what we’ve seen and trust you’ll do great things for us.”

How to Deal

Don’t brag! Just enjoy the ride and hold on to them for as long as you possibly can!