Photo by Breather on Unsplash

10 commandments for working client-side

Beatrix Holland
Aug 22, 2017 · 2 min read

Moving across to working client-side? Congratulations! Here’s what you need to know to make a smooth transition.

  1. Seek out the perks. There will not be a beer fridge. But if you’re really lucky, one of the coffee machines might have a hot chocolate button. At minimum, there should be a tap that dispenses boiling water. No need to boil a jug!
  2. Create your own ‘campaigns’ when you need them. Endless ‘business as usual’ or BAU can feel a little, well, endless. If this is the case, chunk it into projects and make sure you acknowledge the milestones. Love the structure that endless BAU presents? You’ve made a good career move.
  3. Meeting fatigue is an actual thing. (Politely) question the need for every meeting and reap the congratulations from everyone else who wanted to. If you’re setting a meeting, provide an agenda. If you can’t pull an agenda together, cancel the meeting.
  4. Stakeholder management now represents a good portion of your role, no matter what your actual job is. Some stakeholders have more sway than others. The more you can learn about this food-chain, the better you’ll understand business priorities.
  5. Whether explicitly stated or not, part of your role is to advise and educate about the area that you’re passionate about. Embrace this, because the more the people understand what you do and why it’s important, the more your work will be supported.
  6. Now that you’re client-side, chances are you have an agency (or two) supporting your business. It’s important to understand that just as you have stakeholders to manage and to answer to, your agency counterpart has constraints in the form of limited resourcing, timelines and approvals.
  7. It’s really easy to immerse yourself in the company you’re working for and stop watching what other companies are doing- actively engage with your industry and with your profession.
  8. On this note, you’re working for a company now! Figure out what professional development is on offer and get on it. Are there clubs? Committees? Social sport teams? Join them all and get the most out of your time in the client’s den.
  9. There are already too many PowerPoint presentations in the world. I have never quite understood why so much time needs to be spent on internal presentations. Maybe together we can change this? New rule: only deploy when absolutely necessary.
  10. Unlike agencies, work isn’t always celebrated. Make sure that you and your team take the time to examine the wins and the losses and give credit where credit is due. Boiled water all round!

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Beatrix Holland

Written by

Content strategist. Coffee enthusiast. Japan fan. Slow learner of 日本語.

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