“Make it your mission to openly understand why this is happening”

Creative Career Conundrums is a weekly advice column from If You Could Jobs. Each week their selected panel of professionals from the creative industry answers your burning career questions to help you navigate the creative journey.

This week’s question:

I work in a very collaborative business which is great on the surface, but I'm finding that on every project I am overruled on just about everything relating to my designs and those of my team.

We're a small business, and everyone at all levels in all departments seems to have thoughts on the designs, which would be fine, except more weight seems to be given to someone’s opinion who isn’t a designer than someone who has that design experience and knowledge. For example – why are we listening to a sales person about typography?! I don’t give my opinion about their sales strategies because it’s not my expertise, but everyone seems to think they should be able to weigh in on the design.

It’s really starting to grate on me that our design expertise is being overlooked and our opinions not valued.

How do I regain some creative control and also empower my team to do the same? How do I get my colleagues to value my design expertise?

Alex Bec, CEO of It’s Nice That, Creative Lives in Progress and If You Could Jobs:

I can hear creatives all over the internet reading this and thanking you for raising this! Thank You! Your frustrations are incredibly valid, and I think the path to a solution lies in some great communication and some fierce, candid conversations with those around you. My gut says that those around you may not even be aware of the effect their actions are having on you.

If not voiced and left unresolved, frustrations like the ones you’re experiencing usually grow into resentment, which is not a place to make great creative work from. The only way to stop that inevitable decline is to get your frustrations out in the open. You need to speak about them with the people directly involved, in a way that’s open, positive and most importantly honest. Your goal is to create an environment for sincere discussion.

So get curious! Make it your mission to openly understand why this is happening, directly from the people who are in the process. Prepare some beautiful, thoughtful questions and try to get some deeper understanding of the context.

What made us go for that outcome? What could I do next time to have my opinion heard a little clearer? How can my input in these conversations be more useful? Who is the final decision maker on these kinds of decisions?

Until you can get some more clarity on how your team (both above and below you) see your role in the process and what they need from you, my hunch is that it’ll keep happening. Get curious and you’ll be more equipped to influence the change you want to see, and make.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they may not even be aware of the effect their actions are having on you.

In answering your creative career conundrums we realise that some issues need expert support, so we’ve collated a list of additional resources that can support you across things that might arise at work.

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