Let’s be real: Working in management, while rewarding, isn’t always a walk in the park. 

Human beings are wonderful. They also can be difficult to manage — and some are especially tricky. All of our quirks and idiosyncrasies can make it hard to work efficiently, confidently, and calmly together as a team. Most teams are less well-oiled machine, more cobbled-together, uncoordinated apparatus!

Across my years in management — first a project manager, then a COO — I learned that ruling with an iron fist works poorly when it comes to getting people to get things done. Pushing my  agenda on my team just wasn’t working. I had to learn to change the way I communicate to suit their style, not mine. And doing that made all the difference.

That’s how the Information Tax was born.

Wait, let me illustrate this for you:

Working alongside creatives, every day is fresh and exciting, but can also be frustrating. Loyal to their names, most creatives — graphic designers, art directors, copywriters, motion artists, videographers, you name it — are loathe to support their manager in anything that smells even slightly un-creative.

An example? Ask them a question about scheduling (like, “When do you think you’ll complete this project?” or “Can you log your hours for this branding project?”) and you’d think you just asked them to build a software program for scheduling for the company.

In another instance you might ask them to find the file that they saved and share it with you. You may as well have commissioned them to reorganize the entire file server and send out a memo to the rest of the team with a video on how to use their new and improved system.

I’m only mostly joking.

In the beginning, I’d probably argue. And wheedle. And beg. I thought I was pretty good at it, but honestly? I just ended up losing their trust. They would turn their headphones up and bury themselves in work — anything to avoid being asked about deadlines, client changes, or nitpicky details!

But very quickly, I realized that I was going to have to change how I approached things. I couldn’t change them. But I could change myself.

The Information Tax was my way of making their job as easy as possible by putting all the information on the table before asking for what I needed. I broke it down into 3 simple steps:

Step 1: Here is everything that I know about this subject/issue.

For example, if I needed a designer to speak to the client explaining why we did what we did on the project then I might say: “We showed the client the work we did for them yesterday, via zoom. They didn’t fully understand why we chose the color blue for the main brand color. I explained to them that blue is a trustworthy color and suitable for tech since it brings a sense of calmness to an otherwise messy product. They still aren’t sure about it and want to hear more from the designer who chose the color”

The key here is to include ALL the details that you know, try not to leave anything out even if it seems insignificant to you. It’s only unnecessary information to you because you already know it.

Step 2: Here is what I need to know from you.

“I need you (the designer) to get on the call I scheduled with them, for this afternoon at 2pm, and talk through your thought process in choosing the color.”

Who, what, where, when and how. Cover all of these in this step.

Step 3: Here is why I couldn’t get it from anyone else.

“The client feels that I, as a manager, am just selling the color to them so that we can close the project. They would feel much more secure with the answer we give them if it comes from the creative team who, in their eyes, has no other agenda.”

Show them that you respect their time and would not be asking them to do this unless it was truly necessary.

By putting effort into making my request clear, simple, and strong, I actually got what I needed! 

After seeing success with my team (they stopped turning up their music — a win!), I started implementing this with tricky, unresponsive clients as well. 

And I started looking at communication as a ball. Being in management, my whole job is the ball. I’m comfortable holding it, giving it, and receiving it.

But creatives, busy clients, and anyone else not in my position? They can’t afford to take ownership of the ball. So when I had lobbed it to them, they would simply drop it. And when I’d wheedle — that just felt like I was slamming the ball at their chest!

But by ensuring their hands are free, and that they know how important this ball is — by gently handing it to them in a way they could accept — they did start accepting it.

I just needed to learn how to get what I needed in a way that suited the people I was getting it from. 

Because as always, in life, the only thing you can control is yourself.