They come up in both perspectives of your design project: Client and Contractor. Large or small (real or imagined!) all are important because they have an effect on your project path.
Again, good communication tools and comfortable, open, comfortable relationships are the key to managing your concerns. There is no concern too small to bring to the attention of your professional design team. And, likewise, your designer will not hesitate to bring clarifications, questions and "mysteries" to your attention.
Large concerns are usually obvious to all the players and probably will quickly bring cooperative attention to bear for solutions. Very small concerns (questions or momentary mysteries) might just be handled as they arise, where they occur, and not even cause a blip.
While the terminology "concerns" may seem vague or obtuse, most of us could quickly come up with examples! In the course of a project there is often sudden concern for something all assumed was handled – usually by someone else! And assumption is a concern in itself!
Any design project could be compared to a huge, complex tapestry consisting of hundreds of threads, colors, textures and techniques that must be woven with precision to result in the desired finished product. When viewed in that way, it is easy to see why addressing a perceived irregularity or investigating an inconsistency (or departure from an agreed plan or decision) is important enough for a pause. That moment taken to re-check, consult, make a phone call or temporarily stop an activity is worth the temporary inconvenience. It is a part of the insurance that keeps the "weave" true.
Sometimes a client may not mention a concern that is troubling them because they may think it is just not important enough. Sometimes a client "doesn't want to rock the boat!" They may even feel reluctant to question or challenge the professional they have hired. They may not want to seem like a pest! Conclusions and hesitations like those could throw your project off track! Your team can't remedy what they don't know may be bothering you.
Your design team wants to know what's on your mind and needs to hear about your concerns. One mark of a professional is their ability to hear and understand the concerns and criticisms of their clients, without taking offense. The very concept of teamwork implies that all issues must be laid on the table and solutions found for problems and challenges; it is about the project, after all!
Compromise, consensus, substitution, re-consideration and re-calculation are just a few of the communication and "reasoning" tools that successfully address most concerns that may surface in the course of a project. In many ways, a project's "critical path" is a challenge in motion; it is almost inevitable that this-or-that might need a tweak. It doesn't mean that something is wrong!
Many professional services have tools in place for addressing concerns in an ongoing manner. Micro-meetings with the crew on a daily basis help keep everyone on the same page in their particular aspect. Distribution of notes following regular team meetings gives all a chance to review what was discussed as well as the actions decided. It is an excellent fail-safe. It gives all attendees the opportunity to re-clarify or correct.
Your "team" may consist of one client (you) and one designer, and your project may be way smaller than the Taj Mahal; but the same importance applies. Bring your concerns to your designer – they are all worthwhile!
Robert Boccabella, B.F.A. is principal and founder of Business Design Services and a certified interior designer in private practice for over 30 years. Boccabella provides Designing to Fit the Vision© in collaboration with writingservice@earthlink.net. To contact him call 707-263-7073; email him at rb@BusinessDesignServices.com or visit www.BusinessDesignServices.com or on Face Book and Instagram at Business Design Services.
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