Being a team player
China, 7th December 2009
I don’t know much about other consultants and how they view their lighting design job, but to me (in my work at least) the lighting designer very much needs to be a team player. On all levels, whether with his own staff and colleagues, with the project consultants team, with the contractor or with the client. It is virtually impossible to have a successful end result without working together and coordinating with all other “players”. If one player fails it affects the end result for all!
As always on Monday mornings, whenever I can, I will have my “team” meeting. We discuss ongoing projects, the week ahead or just simply bring up any issues that are of general importance. It gives all staff a platform to share their thoughts, ideas or grievances and binds us together in finding direction and move forward. We are all in this journey together. Inherently we all want to be successful.
Unfortunately life is not always beautiful :). Our design targets and wishes are not always the same as what the interior designer, architect or client had in mind. So we need to throw in a few ingredients to make it work, which I would say are…listening, understanding and willingness to compromise or adapt (of course within reason) to find a solution.
Though at times there is a need for an authoritative or executive decision, a good end result is nearly always the result of playing as a team…
The long awaited book compilation of Martin's first year of blogging is available. Order now.
Feedspot Top 100 Lighting Blogs