Sarah Morgan
If you’re new to being an independent comms consultant, here are a few lessons I’ve learned since I moved from corporate and agency life to work for myself in 2013. First, three little things – then, three big ones.
(And if you, too, have Montell Jordan in your head now, just know that you’re my type of person.)
1. Resources. You’re on the hook now for all those things you used to take for granted: accounting, billing, proofreading, office supplies, IT support, graphic design, research, subscriptions, travel arrangements… oh, and office snacks!
2. Systems. It can be hard to get deep-focus work done, while you’re bouncing between Slack, Teams, iMessage, WhatsApp, Exchange, Gmail, Sharepoint, Google Drive, Dropbox – maybe even on multiple company-issued computers or phones – but this is your world now. Boundaries are your best friend.
3. Dialects. Every organization has a different vocabulary of acronyms, org structures, jargon, office politics and norms. You’re going to need to be as fluent as a native, and to switch without missing a beat.
Those three are how you’ll learn to navigate your day-to-day life – but really, they’re just details. Here’s what really matters.
1. Anticipation. To see coming what they don’t.
2. Context. To see the bigger picture they can’t.
3. Courage. To call them out on it.
Clients like you for doing your job well. But they *love* you when you make them better at *their* jobs.
Not easy. But so good.
