The next day, panic struck. I found out through a third party that I "wasn't hitting my deadlines." I was a bit dumbfounded, since I really hadn't been given a specific deadline in the first place. How can you miss a deadline that you didn't know about? (I'm coining it a Schrödinger's Deadline™, in tribute to the famous thought experiment with the cat in a box that might be dead or alive depending on whether a radioactive source had broken open a flask of poison. It's a quantum physics thang.)
Anyway, I puzzled for a while before coming to the explanation: He had expected to have the piece in his hands 60 minutes after our initial conversation.
I sent this knowledge back up the chain of command, and as far as I can tell, everything was effectively patched up. What I do know for certain, even if I'm still unaware of a deadline, I know in the future to cite not only the duration, but the projected time of arrival.
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I hate chat. I'm not sure I could deal with a client that required it.
ReplyDeleteWhen they ask such a question, especially when it pertains to money/budget, give a rather broad range. Invariably, it'll always take longer or more. But in your case here, I see how it happened. DOn't get a lot of non-English clients here! :)
ReplyDelete@Anon: I'll be honest, whenever I chat, I feel like I'm a 14-year-old girl.
ReplyDelete@Ad Chick: Yeah, I don't get myself into pickles like that very often...but every once in a while, it's a doozy. (And let's consider that there are plenty of English speakers that would interpret it the same way.)
Bottom line: I gave a very direct answer to a question that I completely misinterpreted. Doh!
The planets must have been preventing good freelancer/client communication last week. I had problems in that area, too, which is pretty unusual. Glad you got it all patched up.
ReplyDeleteI love chat, and wish so much that more of my clients were comfortable with it - it's such an easy way to ask or answer a quick question.
@STW, funny you mention the planets--I actually looked up what phase the moon was in! (Apr 28 is the next full moon, so that didn't explain anything.)
ReplyDeleteI think you're correct about chat expediting a quick Q&A...but it's agonizing for me to carry on a 30-minute conversation that way. It underscores that, ultimately, you need to communicate with each client in their own preferred form...hmm, maybe there's a future post in there somewhere :)