Week 03
Studio Etiquette
Basic Rules
- Be pleasant and enthusiastic
- Be on time
- Dress appropriately
- Use headphones for music (at a volume you can still hear people)
- Keep your own volume down
- Don’t gossip
- Keep areas clean (and help out)
- Don’t bring smelly food in
- Offer tea/coffee if you drink it
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions (even dumb ones)
- Remember your colleagues are just people too
Make sure you are organised and file your work properly, saving iterations and clearly labelling work. Chances are you will be saving to a server and others will need to access your work as well.
Respect your co-workers’ space. When entering someone’s space, acknowledge that person by using their name when speaking to them. Making eye contact is also important. Always ask before borrowing something.
Meetings
Greet them at the door and introduce yourself. If it’s not your meeting, you can get them set up for whoever is running late.
Be welcoming, offer tea/coffee etc. and get them settled into the meeting space.
How these are conducted will change from firm to firm. Some may not even have designers in them and It’s unlikely as a junior that you will be conducting a meeting. But being helpful for those that do will be appreciated by the team. However, you should pay attention during these to gain confidence for when it’s your turn.
- Be on time for meetings
- Come prepared
- Take notes so you don’t forget vital info
- Be mindful of your body language
- Don’t zone out – always focus
- Don’t be afraid to contribute an idea
- Choose the appropriate time though
- Be natural but also professional and respectful
Meetings can be great for delaying with a complex issue or covering a lot of ground. They are also good for getting to know people in a team or third party. They can be a nuisance though, so don’t suggest unnecessary ones
The Phone
If phone keeps ringing, pick up say ‘hello’ ‘good morning’ or ‘good afternoon’
State the company name
Say your name followed by ‘speaking’
If it’s not for you, then they will tell you naturally who they want to speak to
Say ‘Can I tell them who’s calling?’ or something to that effect.
Transfer the call and speak to your team member, tell them who it is and ask if they want to take it.
If not, go back on the line and tell them that your team member is unfortunately in a meeting / not at their desk etc. (lie) and ask if you can take a message.
Take a message and number. Leave it on their desk.
Write a good subject line (make it about the email content, nothing generic)
Choose the right tone. Who is it that you are emailing, someone you know well or someone you’ve never spoken to before?
Don’t hit send prematurely, if in doubt draft it first
Spell check
Address people by name. Say ‘Hi _____ ‘before starting
Never say ‘hey’ on anything more informal.
If it’s a first-time email, establish a connection. How do you know them?
If it’s a repeat email, ask them how they are or say that you hope they are keeping well.
Get to the point quickly
Only one topic/point per email
Be concise. Nobody likes lengthy emails but no one liners either
Uses words like ‘glad’ ‘excited’ ‘intrigued’ – show some positivity and emotion
Use paragraphs to break up length content, or put headings in if necessary
Clarify why you are asking for something or making a request
Sign off with something appropriate
Such as:
‘Many thanks’
‘Thanks’
‘Best’
‘Regards’
‘Best wishes’
‘Thanks again’ – if you’ve thanked them previously in the body of the email
Have your details in your email signature. Maybe they want to follow up with a call, it never hurts to have your info easy to reference.
Add any attachments. Make sure they are a reasonable file size
Leave it an appropriate amount of time to hear back before following up
Email Design
Don’t use crazy fonts. Just the basics, system fonts will display best.
Your footer can be designed but it can create attachments, so a simple test version is best.
Some advice
Watch and learn. Pay attention to what everyone is doing, not just the designers, and why they do what they do.
Get comfortable being uncomfortable
Today’s Task
In breakout groups
Conduct a meeting about the topics discussed today. You will each assume a role listed below:
Notetaker
- Meeting leader (raises points for discussion)
- Dumb question asker (asks dumb questions)
- Contributors (field questions/discuss points)
My role – Notetaker
What I wrote down
Talked about their breakfast
Talked about if they’ve ever walked into an environment where strict rules are in place
How to make it a happy environment, to not gossip, this is a discipline thing
Anything they found shocking
- Phone calls
- How you represent the company answering calls
Talking in your clearest tone and thinking about what you say
Emails – different tones they use to email tutors vs clients
Tone to clients – messaging through Facebook not an official channel. How you come across in text. ‘they’re too familiar with me I don’t like that’ be careful with how you come across
Meetings – feeling like you’re in the way
Asking what age everyone is
Talked about being creatives and how they hope to get out of a workplace.
Talked about how you must be uncomfortable before you become comfortable
Confidence is key, it will never do you no harm in trying or asking
Who is the current president of USA?
Summary/Reflection
I found this week’s lecture to be useful as their is a lot of rules and points in regards to how you act and treat a workplace and your colleagues. A lot of which can go forgotten. The parts on how to address emails and meetings I found the most useful as I never know how to properly write/address an email that needs to be sent in a more professional work manner than what you send to a peer. Found this week’s workshop to be quite useful as well as it helps with how I’m supposed to act in a meeting, how to start a conversation and overall perform my role to a high standard.
This week’s task
Write a mock email in any of these subject areas (you could do this in pairs for exchange)
- To manager keeping them up to date on a project progression (use 301 work)
- To client requesting content that is a past due and necessary to progress
- To a client who has requested information or files from you months/years after the job
- Sending a link over to a manager/client to review work in progress
- Asking for clarification on something you didn’t understand from a team member
- To request and arrange a meeting
Mock Email
Typed Out First
Subject Line; Project Meeting Request
Dear (leading project designer),
As we come closer to the final stages of our current running project, I think it will be beneficial to arrange a meeting discussing final designs/prototypes, and the project’s progress to date.
Each team member involved should come prepared with their designs/prototypes to date. As well to be prepared to discuss and receive feedback during the meeting. I understand how busy the schedule can be coming up to the final stage of the project, but would appreciate your time to authorize this meeting for the end of the week. I will pass any and all information regarding the meeting to all team members once authorized.
Sincerely
Leonie Smyth
Get in Touch
07864317858
Smyth-l45@ulster.ac.uk
Subject Line; Clarification on Project Brief
Hello,
Hope you are keeping well.
After today’s briefing, I found myself unsure on what specific research we need to complete before we start our work on paper. Could you send me a quick guide on the research if you’re not busy.
Many thanks,
Leonie Smyth
Get in Touch
07864317858
Smyth-l45@ulster.ac.uk
Put in Email Format
I found doing this to be more difficult than I thought it would be. Once I started writing I found myself looking over the language constantly questioning if the email sounded rude, if it came of professional etc. This task was definitely useful to know how my tone comes across in emails.