Overcoming your Biggest Fears about a Strategy Workshop
By Levina Kusumadjaja
What if the client thinks that you don’t know what you’re doing?
What if you ask the wrong questions and make your client upset?
What if you spend 12 hours in a strategy workshop, and realize after that the information is still not enough?
Or what if you didn’t know you had food poisoning just a few hours before your strategy workshop, and then you have push through the first half of your workshop feeling extremely uncomfortable about everything, run to the bathroom in the middle of your workshop to throw up, and come back to finish the rest of the workshop?
Okay, maybe the last one isn’t something you would imagine as something that could go wrong. But... that’s exactly what happened to me in my first ever strategy workshop. It wasn’t even in my scenario of what could go wrong, but it happened. And guess what? It actually went great! It wasn’t an ideal circumstance, but it accomplished what the workshop was set out to do.
Often times you fix your thoughts on fears that mostly won’t come true. And even when the fears do come true, you don’t realize that you actually have it in you to respond wisely to the situation.
The questions above are real and honest. The fears are there, but that doesn’t mean you cannot do a good job even when the fears do come true. There are principles that you can hold on to and you can implement to help you ensure that you are still on the right track, regardless of how ideal the circumstance really is. Here are three common fears that we feel as brand strategists, and ways that we can overcome them.
The fear of asking dumb questions
How to overcome: just be curious and honest, and ask genuine questions
Many of us feel scared to confirm with the clients, scared to ask simple questions like “Why do you think so?”, “What do you mean by that?”, and “How did you accomplish that?”. In our heads, we are wondering, “What if my client thinks I’m dumb and slow and not qualified enough to do the strategy workshop?”. Even though we have been told that it’s okay to ask questions, we still wonder which questions are allowed and which questions are not.
My early workshop was a mini strategy workshop with a client for his case studies. In the workshop, he talked about the people who have inspired his vision for his business. I have never heard of these people. So I asked him who these people were and why they had such a big influence on him. I told him honestly that I didn’t know who they were and I wanted to learn more. And guess what? My client was more than happy to share all about them! I learned from my this experience that you don’t have to be afraid of asking dumb questions. You just have to stay curious and genuine because honest questions are not dumb questions, honest questions show that you care.
The fear of not being seen as an expert
How to overcome: know that your client is the expert of their business, not you
The self-imposed pressure we put on ourselves to perform and to showcase expertise to our clients. Is this the right mindset? No, absolutely not. Your main assignment as a brand strategist in a strategy workshop is to understand your client and your client’s business. The person who can tell you all about that is your client, not you. You’re not supposed to come in knowing everything about them. You are supposed to help them uncover golden nuggets about their business, their journey, and their vision. So you are right, the goal isn’t for you to be seen as an expert, but to be seen as someone who gets or understands your client. Your expertise is in your curiosity and your focus on serving them and helping them get to where they want to be.
The fear of not finding out enough information
How to overcome: go back to the goals and adapt as you go
You don’t have to know everything, you just have to know enough to accomplish the goals you set out to do. Whenever you feel overwhelmed or stuck, go back to the goal. Refer back to what you and your client agreed you want to accomplish through this strategy workshop. The goal of the workshop isn’t to solve all your client’s problems, but to help solve certain problems. You can keep going back to these goals and stick to them. Refocus yourself and invite your client to refocus themselves to these goals as well.
If questions that you have prepared don’t seem to help you get to those goals, don’t be afraid to switch things up. Use different questions, talk about a different topic first before coming back to a previous topic. Add answers to previous questions and topics as golden nuggets come up in the later parts of your conversation. Don’t be afraid to adapt and adjust as you go, as long as you stick to the goals. And if at the end of the strategy workshop you still feel like you need some additional information, you can just have a follow up conversation with your client.
Cheers!
Levina
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About the author:
Levina is a writer based in Indonesia. Because of Melinda Livsey, she recognized the power of brand strategy for every creative. She is sharing about her learnings as she goes to help creatives have fun in their growth and journey of building brands. Connect with her on LinkedIn and say hi!