A few years ago, my former boss and I were in a meeting with a potential client. We were a small company and they weren’t so we needed to make sure we got them as a client, although, we had no idea what they wanted. We heard something about a website, maybe rebranding … we were in the dark. While in the meeting, our strategy was to just learn about them and listen to what they want. I don’t remember how long the meeting went, but the two of us sat there and listened as the president of this relatively large company spoke. He spoke about his business, his hobbies, his building and went off on awry tangents that strained all will power to stay focused. We peppered in some comments and questions and at the conclusion of the meeting, he says to us, “ya know what, I like you guys … because you just listened to what I had to say. We’ve been in meetings with a few other creative companies where they pitched and pitched and didn’t listen to what we wanted” (loosely quoted)

We wound up getting the job simply because we listened. A large part of the delicate client relationship is based on trust, which is fortified on the notion that ‘this person/company understands my needs and goals and is willing to work to that’. Listening also allows you to get a better understanding of the person’s personality which will aid in developing successful material. Now to some people, listening might seem practical, but its mind boggling how many people simply wait to talk.

In the creative world, listening is pinnacle. Ideas can be taken in infinite directions, therefore, it’s the responsibility of the creator to ask and listen to establish the best route. Not listening to what the client wants or what ideas your team have will result in work that doesn’t focus in on the desire of the client and eventually a terrible reputation.

But along with listening, comes questioning. Conversations are a two way street with both parties expressing their opinions, interests and goals. Questioning helps you fine tune the parameters of end product. I often find that with a few thought out questions, the answers become more visible and the solution readies itself quicker.

HBR recently published an article on how to ask better questions and I’m tempted to get these put on cards to hand out to people … here are the four main points:

-Be curious
-Be Open-ended
-Be Engaged
-Dig Deeper

Jan Chipchase’s Future Perfect blog is a great site to check out for examples of listening and questioning. Jan is design researcher for Nokia and as he puts it “… [I] split my time between running user studies and developing new applications, services and products that, if I do my job right, you’ll be using 3 to 15 years from now” He has an ability to question the circumstances around ordinary processes and/or objects … how they came to be taken for granted, their influence on cultures, how cultures influence them etc.

What I really like about his articles is the use of very open ended questions, which allow you to initiate your own internal questioning (should you be interested to do so).

Any other thoughts, questions or resources? Post them in the comments.