Working alongside your client

The thought of working alongside a client itself is daunting. Our entire team felt this way when we heard the news that our client from Australia will be working alongside us for two long weeks. We were all preparing ourselves to make a good first impression to the client.

On the first day, it was a bit of an uncomfortable feeling. The workplace was really silent. The situation was such that we used our local chat system to communicate with each other even though the person is sitting right next to us. But things started to get better as the days passed by and the work environment was soon back to normal. The client’s cool and calm nature also helped us in this aspect.

Many things became better due to his presence here. Decision making became faster. We didn’t have to wait for email replies or voice calls. If we needed an answer or an opinion about something, we just had to turn towards him and directly ask him our questions. Similarly, if the client needed to ask or tell us something, he could make that happen straight away and ensure the person understood exactly what he meant. This ultimately helps build trust between the client and team members. The client can see you are working hard on the project and he can have the feeling that the given work will be completed on time. This level of relationship is hard to achieve through email, phone calls, etc. So this might be the reason why the client had come here, all the way from Australia.

We also had a few team-bonding sessions while he was here. The whole team went out for a lunch, along with the client. Also, one of our team members was getting married, so we had a chance to attend his wedding together. During such meetings, we discussed non-work related stuff. Each one of us shared something or the other about ourselves and our lives. So this helped us to know each other personally.

Working alongside your clients can be hugely beneficial, but it is not without its challenges. We took the challenges well and hopefully convinced our client that our team is capable enough to complete the project within the given timeframe. Overall, it was a great experience working alongside our client.

Dattaraj Naik