Have you ever helped a 3-year-old solve a problem? Maybe you helped them color, clean a room or put a puzzle together. When interacting with children in almost any situation, we talk to them differently than we talk to adults. For obvious reasons, we need to "dumb it down" a bit so they can understand why we reach the solutions we do. We hope they can figure it out on their own next time. A handful of my friends have kids around this age and it's always astonishing to see what they are capable of learning. Funny thing is, kids are often teaching us just as much as we’re teaching them. We learn to communicate with them in a way that maximizes their learning. I've found this art of communication translating to my job in an interesting way. Clients, I'm not calling you a 3-year-old, I promise. Read on.
The web changes so fast. It's difficult to stay informed even if you do it for a living. Often, I know without a doubt I understand something about the web and meanwhile, things have already changed. Because I’m interested and immersed in it, I naturally have a better understanding about how the web works than someone who doesn't work in this field. This is where learning to talk with 3-year-olds helped me with my job.
Communicating is easy enough: just get all the major details to the other party in a way they can understand it. Cake-walk. Have you ever brought your car to a mechanic to get news that something different was wrong, too? The mechanic explains it, you get it well enough, but when you recount it to someone you can't exactly explain it, right? You don't understand what the issue involves, why it occurred or where to even begin thinking about a solution. Of course, that's why you pay a mechanic. Creating a website or media plan, however, requires collaborative decision making. In that environment, every party needs to be fully informed. Otherwise, you get shoddy decisions and an unhappy client.
To a client, it's not just communication. It's education. A large part of my Account Management role is educating clients as information changes - especially when it directly affects my strategy with that client.
What has helped you stay on top of the ever changing world wide web? What do you do to stay in touch with the latest news? Or even better, what are your favorite blogs or publications about the subject?
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