However, since The Phuse has grown from a one-man shop into a team of six people spread across the globe, my job here at it has also changed.

I’m not just a designer anymore. In addition to the creative direction and business matters, my job is to create an environment that every member of our team is happy to work in.

How our team was made

I decided early on to value skills and work ethic over proximity, because I know there is a benefit to hiring good workers regardless of their geography. Good people do good work consistently and have the attitude to kick it, and they don’t need an office to do the awesome things they do.

So then, how the hell do I give my team a healthy environment to work in without the brick and mortar office that local teams benefit from? More specifically, how do I take their passion and love for design (or development, or writing), and stretch it across 5 different timezones so that we maintain consistency and everyone is excited to get out of bed every morning to get to “work” (e.g. the desk a few feet away from their beds)?

No, seriously. I’m asking you because I’m not sure.

What I do know is that there are a few things we do that help give our team the structure we need to work together, to stay on the same page, and to be happy working where we want, when we want. I didn’t take these ideas from books or some course I took in college, they were collaborated on with my team and people I’m privileged to call my friends (seriously, it’s Facebook-official).

1. Find structure

Despite our not having walls or “hours of operation” (I’m up at nearly 2AM writing this because that’s when I felt like writing it), having structure in certain places is important. For example, with deadlines and communication with clients. Within The Phuse we use a set of apps and tools to get things done and make sure everyone is on track.

We use Basecamp for interacting with clients, Flow for keeping up with personal tasks, Harvest for time tracking, HipChat for staying in touch with one another throughout the day, and Dropbox/GitHub for collaborating and backing up files. This might seem like a lot to grasp (especially all at once), but this invaluable set of tools ensures that there is order and method to the madness that is creative services.

2. Be transparent and open to differences

I’m very open with the team as to project budget, and the team has as much access to client documents to see how much is being made on the project as I do. How can you expect your team to understand how important it is to stay within budget for a project if they don’t know what the budget is?

Last year we tried using Campfire as a tool for us to stay in touch with one another  because Skype lacks well-searchable transcripts. What we found was that half of the team wanted to joke around with the bot we’d set up for it, while the other half needed questions answered about their projects.

It was clear after the first week that it wasn’t going to work out how we’d hoped, and when I asked the team what they thought, it was obvious that the solution we were looking for wasn’t in Campfire. One of our team members suggested we try out HipChat, which allows us to have private chats, easily open different “Rooms”, and more.

This wasn’t the first time this sort of thing has happened with items in our workflow, and I know it won’t be the last. While it’s good to say “alright, we’re using Basecamp for this, Harvest for this, and Dropbox for this”, be ready for others to come to the team having done things other ways and have better suggestions with how things could be done.

3. We’re a team

I always refer to people who work with The Phuse as our team. They’re not “employees”, or “people who work for me”, because I’m not a “CEO”. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t any order to what we do, or leadership and management, but the more labels you apply to people that make them feel less than someone else (e.g. “junior” designer), the less they’ll feel interested in working.

I’m not excited to be working with a client, we’re excited to be working with them – if you’re a team, act like it. Team morale will follow, and your clients will appreciate the unity.

4. Make sure your team feels appreciated

Photo of 4/6 of the team at our 2011 Team Christmas Party!

The two biggest comments I get from new hires about what they didn’t like about their old jobs are that their talents were underutilized, and they didn’t feel appreciated. It’s not that they want to be given huge awards or have statues made in their honour, but they want to know when they’re doing a good job.

I’ve been known to overuse the words “awesome”, “you’re the best”, and “<3” in messages to team members. As well, I’m a chronic “thank you” person, and I’m not afraid to use more than one exclamation point. When I’m commenting on the work of a team member, I more than often start with something positive, move on to constructive criticism (e.g. things that could be tweaked), and then move back to positives.

By padding the constructive criticism, which can sometimes be misconstrued as being a douche boss, the team member knows that I see the value of the work they put forward, and have actionable items they can tweak to take it to that next level.

We also try to send out swag to our team every couple of months albeit in the form of presents like shirts or books, or business cards so they remember who loves them. This past Christmas before a good chunk of the team went on break, we had an online potluck of sorts that celebrated 2011 where everyone jumped on video chat to talk shop, eat whatever they bought (or cooked), and play a pretty intense game of Scrabble.

It was a weird experiment that spurred from my jealousy of local teams’ ability to have Christmas parties. I think it worked pretty well, and we’ll definitely do it again.

5. Have kickoffs instead of reviews

A month or two ago we were conducting individual week-in-review meetings with team members to assess progress through the week and to figure out what would be getting done the following week. What I found is that either things would be forgotten over the weekend, or people were a little more tired at these meetings, and their mind was on the weekend ahead instead of the work at hand.

Knowing that weekends are sometimes tough to bounce out of (who likes Mondays, really?), we decided to change our week-in-review meetings to kickoff meetings for the week. This way, right off the bat of the week, expectations were set and everyone was excited to work. But we took things to the next level a bit, and decided to opt-out of our general “keep meetings away from us with a 20ft pole”-attitude (although this meeting is 100% opt-in), and made it a team meeting.

Now team members were not only making their responsibilities accountable to themselves and the client, but to the entire team. Also, the team got to hear what exciting projects others were helping on, hear about problems others might be facing, and find solutions to their problems.

Right away I noticed a big improvement in productivity after the meeting. Talking about their work and hearing what others were doing made them excited to be a part of it.

6. Give people responsibility

If you feel like your job is to babysit your team, you’re hiring the wrong people. The reason you’re likely hiring is because you want to reduce your workload. You’re bringing on people who are better versions of yourself so you can rest easier. For us, that’s interacting with the client to schedule and take calls, assigning your own schedule, and making sure you keep to that schedule.

Sure, projects will have milestones you’ll want them to reach and you’ll have been transparent with major goals of the project, but after you’ve set down the blueprint and framework, let them do what they do best. Let them decide when they work and when the design will be ready for review from the client. Often times I pull a Benjamin Linus and will suggest (read: brainwash) alternate milestones if the ones suggested aren’t feasible or don’t work in the grand scheme of things.

I don’t believe in having a middle-man delivering things to clients for feedback. They’re useful to help encourage feedback by adding their own, but the explanation of a design is better explained by no one than the designer who created it. It’s important to explain to clients why the designer made the decisions he or she made, otherwise the client might not notice the extra detail they put into the element and the experience they’ve carefully crafted for the user.

Walls are overrated

Despite our distance, The Phuse has managed to create a healthy workspace without walls.

It took a lot of experimentation, but I think our team has finally reached a place where we are all happy with the environment we work in. Sometimes two or three different approaches were tested before we found the right one. That happens. If something doesn’t work, trash it and move on!

Never become complacent, either. I have no illusions, I know I’m still not 100% satisfied with our workflow. There is always room for improvement.

How does your team work together? Do you have any other tips to keep people in different locations on the same page? How do you create morale for team members that might never meet each other in person? We’d love it if you shared your thoughts with us below!

We’re looking for a designer with lots of past experience building web applications. We’re looking for someone who…

• is comfortable talking to clients about their projects
• works well with a team (our team is stretched across 4 countries!)
• can manage his or her own responsibilities and deadlines
• is a UX/IA geek, especially with designing wireframes, site maps, and personas
• has clean, easy to navigate PSDs
• believes in strong, user-driven design

You’ll be responsible for…

• keeping on top of all your deadlines.
• maintaining a 25-30 hour/week work schedule.
• presenting your work to clients (so make sure you know it’s grammar, not grammer, and your z’s don’t replace your s’s!).
• working on an internal project of your choosing.

Bonus points if you…

• can code.
• have experience working with brand and content strategists and front end developers.
• are proficient in InDesign and Illustrator.
• are an Apple fanatic, and own 3 or more Apple products.
• live in Toronto, or live in the EST timezone.

If you work for us, you’ll get…

• base salary pay at $42,000-$48,000/year, negotiable.
• unlimited vacation days.
• a yearly company trip (we’re looking at the Caribbean this year!).
• to work on your own internal projects.
• be able to work from wherever you’d like, and keep doing the things you enjoy doing with a very flexible schedule.

If we think you’re a good fit, you’ll be put on a (paid) 30-day trial to see if we were right and will bring you on board from there! If you think you’re a good fit for the team and are excited to get working, all you have to do is fill out this questionnaire, and you’ll hear from us soon!

It’s that time of year again. We’re all home for the holidays spending time with our loved ones and family, and we hope that when we take 5 minutes after dinner to check our email that there’s not a backlog of tasks longer than the chimneys Santa has to climb down and back up again.

It’s also the time of year that clients are pushing to get their projects completed. So how can you take what little time you have and be productive with it?

1. Turn off all Social Media. I often leave Twitter on in the background, and Facebook stays open in a tab somewhere. For me this is not usually a problem. But if you’ve gone home there is likely a large amount of children around (my home currently has a head count of 10). Between them and your Uncle Gerry (who really likes his Rum and Eggnog), you don’t need anything else to pull you away from work.

2. Work Late. Don’t work longer, just later. For some this is normal, but after 9:30 when people are starting to doze off you can try to catch up on missed emails, push commits and get any pesky bugs out of your code. It’ll likely be quiet, and you won’t look like that person who has to work during the holidays.

3. Work In Short Bursts. I’ve found that working for an hour or two here and there throughout my day is often better then trying to work for 5-8 hours straight in a busy home at holiday time. Grab an hour to sit down and work when people are out shopping for last minute gifts or beating up grandmas for that $25 blender that they really don’t need. You’ll surprise yourself how much work you can get done in brief periods.

4. Prioritize. Work smart and not hard. If you need to work on a project pick things that are critical. By doing this you’ll find you have less to do. Your client/boss will also be happy.

5. Stay Mobile. Leave the laptop closed and try and do as much work as you can from your iPhone or iPad. If you don’t own one yet, it’s the right time of year to ask for it, or gift it to yourself. At the very least, you can stay on top of emails and Basecamp messages.

Every Second Counts

The holidays are a busy time of year for everyone. Every second counts when you’ve got so little time to spare. But don’t worry: if you can stay focused during the free moments you find to work, and avoid distractions, you’ll be able to keep up without giving in to that overwhelmed, full-stomached holiday laziness.

Making connections is vital for networking... no, the other kind of networking! Photo by Lars Plougmann

Why is building a network vital for business success? Because you can’t do it on your own.

Every successful freelancer, entrepreneur, or all-around business man or woman needs a useful network of contacts to be successful. This is as true in web design as it is in journalism, as true in the business of web start-ups as it is if you’re trying to start your own organic coffee shop.

Building a Network

Your network has to be built. What does that mean, to build a network?

It means you have to contact real people and establish working relationships with them.

This process can be difficult because it involves a lot of time and persistence on your part. It involves tons of emails, phone calls, and meetings, making deals and seeing those deals through to the end. It involves rejected proposals and pitches. People are going to judge you and try to use you. They’re going to respond to you late or ignore you altogether. They might even belittle your ideas—or worse: steal them.

In the end, you’ll have contacted ten times as many people as responded to you. Don’t be discouraged, that’s part of the game.

Ideally, you’ll have found a group of people with needs similar to your own; you can help them as much as they can help you, and in different ways. Some of them might be competitors, which is good because it keeps you on your toes. Others might be editors or project managers that help you find work. Others still might become friends.

Everyone builds their own network in their own way. However, here are a couple tips that will help you along.

1. Don’t Be Shy

   So what if the person you’re trying to contact is famous and you’ve never met them? So what if their website says they’re busy and they don’t respond to most of the emails they receive? If you’ve got a good idea, I guarantee they’ll want to hear it. If you never ask, you’ll never know what the answer is. And even if the answer is “no”, that’s better than not asking at all.

2. Start with Emails

   You don’t necessarily have to meet someone in person or talk to them over the phone to make a good contact out of them. Often, especially in the business of web design and development and other technology-related industries, they prefer to be contacted by email.

   In your email, be friendly and get right to the point. No one likes to have their time wasted. If you want to land a meeting with someone, be persistent. Here is one technique that helped an author land an interview with Dennis Crowley, co-founder and CEO of Foursquare.

3. Have an Idea

   Which leads us into another point: don’t email someone just to say hello. That’s a waste of their time and yours.

   Your emails should be pitches and proposals, which are essentially ideas in actionable form. Some examples: I have a guest post for your blog; you should hire me for a specific project because I have a special skill to offer; I want to interview you for a book I’m writing; Your website is outdated and could use an update and my team has the fastest turn-around time and the best prices on the market.

   Don’t forget to have a resume, references, and samples on hand if they’re requested. People love quick responses!

4. Keep in Touch

   Once you establish a working relationship with a person, remember that upkeep is important. Contact them right away if you have a new idea. If you don’t, update them on the success of a different project they may be interested in. Even ask them to promote a product if it’s related to their business. Maybe people keep twitter accounts for just that purpose. If they know you and your work has spoken for itself, they might be willing to do you a favor, but don’t forget to offer a favor in return!

You never know what will happen with good network of contacts. It’s no secret that 90% of our work at The Phuse comes from client referrals.

Whatever happens, don’t let good contacts get stale, and always be on the lookout for new ones. It’s worth the effort.

Wait, what?

This year I had the pleasure of being invited by Pictage to attend PartnerCon 2011  as a vendor. Our goal was to help get people excited about the service we’ve been theming for Pictage for the last year. The product? Nimbus

What’s Nimbus?

Nimbus is a service of Pictage’s ShootQ product that allows photographers to have an all-in-one solution for their website. Nimbus incorporates portfolio, blog, and client login all under one roof… and without Flash! We got to work with their amazing team of developers to build five free themes for the platform, and have the good fortune to call some of their amazing customers our clients while we build custom themes for them on the Nimbus platform.

In fact, “custom themes” was the buzzword at The Phuse’s PartnerCon booth this year.

While I manned the booth, I had the opportunity to meet dozens of people we’ve been speaking to for ages over email, but never met in person. I also met hundreds of inspiring photographers that made me embarrassed to be caught using my iPhone to snap a photo (and using the term “snap a photo” was looked upon with distaste, but—old habits, eh?).

Having a booth was a different sort of experience. At The Phuse, 99% of our marketing is based on referrals from others, so we don’t take much time to attend conferences. But we couldn’t help hopping on a plane to California when we recieved the invite. Though we didn’t have as flashy a booth as some of our other booth neighbours, we had plenty of shirts (and candy) to give out, and got some good traffic from interested conference-goers.

We also had the distinct pleasure of having one of our clients, Josh, in attendance. He took every opportunity he had to answer questions at our booth, and brag about working with us as much as we usually brag about working with him!

PartnerCon 2012?

Our work on the Nimbus platform continues. More free themes are in the works.

If you want a custom theme for your Nimbus account, we’d be happy to oblige. Be sure to contact us directly. We’re always happy to hear from photographers looking to get their work out there!

As for 2012? It’s probably too soon to tell. We had a great time this year, and even if we aren’t there the next time PartnerCon rolls around, we hope you enjoy the themes we’ve made for the Nimbus platform.

I attended Saskatoon’s 7th BarCamp on November 5th 2011. It was the 3rd one I’ve been to and the best one so far.

Does BarCamp take place at a bar?

Contrary to what you might infer from the name, BarCamp does not have to take place inside a bar (the name comes from foobar), nor does alcohol need to be involved. But it doesn’t hurt.

In fact, by a strange series of events, The Phuse became this year’s Saskatoon BarCamp beer sponsor! I had announced my official first day at The Phuse on Twitter, and @iChris replied that that meant I had to buy drinks for everyone at BarCamp! Oh, what had I gotten myself into? Thankfully, @thePhuse noticed this exchange and offered to become the beer sponsor, which made everyone happy. And since Barcamp is non-profit, the $200 leftover from selling beer tickets was donated to Movember!

So what is BarCamp?

For those who may not have heard about BarCamp before, it is basically a free yearly un-conference organized by volunteers to bring together local people in the tech fields. Anyone can talk, the schedule is put together on the fly at the beginning of the event, and everyone is encouraged to participate by asking questions and discussing their views. More information can be found on the BarCamp wiki [http://www.barcamp.org]. If you’re inspired by open events like this, maybe you’ll be inspired to attend your local BarCamp, or even to organize your own!

BarCamp re-cap

The best thing about BarCamp for me is that “like begets like” – It is motivational just being around many positive people who are actually doing things and are successful in the local tech scene. After the conference, I felt inspired to revisit my own side projects and bring new energy into my everyday work.

Throughout the day, I attended talks on managing non-functional requirements, Building Technology vs Solving Problems, Apple App Store tips and strategies, hackerspaces, including our local hackerspace, Expression Engine, and a blogging seminar called How to Create an Award-Winning Blog in 6 Months – even the title reads like a blog post.

More than one talk goes on at a time, so I missed out on some about Android and iOS development, unit testing JavaScript and other good geeky stuff. It was great to chat with others in the lobby and hear about the talks they sat in on. Good things happen when we take a break from our busy work lives to get together and party.

Dale Zak talks about technology and innovation

Some highlights for me included Dale Zak’s inspirational speech about technology and innovation. It sounds like a pretty broad topic, but Zak’s message was clear and simple: first, find a real problem to solve. Once you find the problem, then you create a solution and implement it with the proper technology. That’s what leads to profit.

A lot of start-ups do it backwards. They start with the technology and try to create a problem for the tech to solve. Since the problem was invented to suit the technology, people might not really have this problem, so no one buys the solution.

Solving real problems leads to innovation, which usually leads to profit. We looked at examples of mobile innovations in Africa, and asked ourselves, why in Saskatchewan are we not innovators in agricultural technology? There was some discussion in the room about how we have world class agricultural and computer science departments next to each other in the university, but there needs to be some kind of bridge to get them working together. It is important for us to communicate with the other industries around us. In my own work, this relates to a successful design discovery process: you need people on both sides willing to work together to define real problems in the project.

Hackerspaces with Paul Chavady

I also learned more about what hackerspaces are from Paul Chavady’s presentation, and what people are doing at our very own hackerspace in the city. From the name, I thought hackerspaces would be all about building (or hacking) software together with others. Instead, it’s a collaborative environment for all sorts of projects, and they occasionally put on classes where you can pick up new skills. Currently, they have a 3D printer that was designed to print most of the components needed to make a copy of itself. That’s just neat.

They also have someone working on their own pinball machine, there’s lots of woodworking equipment, a few robots, someone made an arcade simulator, and there’s even a sewing corner. To me it seems the best thing about hackerspaces is that they provide the tools and environment to actually finish projects that you might otherwise procrastinate on. It’s like a support system for actually getting things done.

Arlin Schaffel on getting your app out there

Arlin Schaffel from zu explained to us some of the mysteries of the App Store and “everything but the code” involved in getting your app out there. Although the talk wasn’t about making an actual app, it got me thinking about apps again. Like most people with smartphones, I think I have some great ideas for apps. That’s as far as it goes, mainly because I “don’t have the time” or won’t make gobs of money off it, so what’s the point? But Arlin and his friends have meetings where they get together over beers to work on apps. The point isn’t to make gobs of money, although that would be nice. So far the app sales have bought a few beers. For someone with a bit of programming knowledge (or programming friends) this talk and others I’ve attended in the past tell me that it is possible to get an app out there – it can be done in evenings and weekends, and it doesn’t need to be a lonely venture.

Moving beyond

BarCamp creates the type of environment that inspires like-minded people. But that’s not the only way to get inspired. It’s important to look beyond, and seek out your inspiration more than once a year. Perhaps by attending a local hackerspace, or organizing small get-togethers with friends for a purpose. Maybe you want to make a mobile app. Find some friends and toss ideas around over a drink. Maybe you can even organize your own BarCamp, if your area doesn’t have one yet, to get the ball rolling.

Remember, inspiration is contagious. Go catch it!

(More pictures here.)

We’re looking for a talented front end developer who can help us bring everything from web app designs to brochure sites to their functional form. The ideal candidate…

• has an awesome attitude, and can talk to clients
• works well with a team (located all over the world!)
• can manage his or her own responsibilities and deadlines
• has immaculately clean and obsessively semantic HTML/CSS
• is experienced in Javascript/jQuery
• can keep up with a fast-paced environment
• isn’t afraid to learn new things

Are you someone who is…

• a lover of good things, and hates cutting corners? (Unless you’re rounding them with CSS3)
• always looking to take things to the next level with their work? Willing to challenge others on their ways of doing things to bring everyone else to the next level as well?
• excited to take initiative in projects?

You’ll be responsible for…

• keeping on top of all your deadlines.
• maintaining a 25-30 hour week work schedule.
• interacting with development teams to make sure their, and their client’s, needs are met.
• presenting your work to clients (so make sure you know it’s grammar, not grammer, and your z’s don’t replace your s’s!).
• working on an internal project of your choosing.

Bonus points if you…

• have built a WordPress or CMS-based theme before.
• have some knowledge or experience with JSON.
• have experience using Git(Hub) and/or Pivotal Tracker.
• have worked with Ruby on Rails developers before.
• are a kickass designer.
• are an Apple fanatic, and own 3 or more Apple products.
• use Basecamp, Dropbox, Flow, and/or Harvest.
• live in Toronto, or in the EST timezone.

If you work for us, you’ll get…

• salary pay at $42,000-$48,000/year, negotiable based on experience.
• unlimited vacation days (just give us some notice, bub).
• 1 yearly company trip.
• to work on your own internal projects.
• a 10% referral bonus on any projects you bring into the team.
• be able to work from wherever you’d like, and keep doing the things you enjoy doing with a very flexible schedule.

If you think you’re a good fit for the team and are excited to get working, all you have to do is fill out this questionnaire, and you’ll hear from us soon!

It used to be that a single person could take a design from concept to completion with nothing more than a mediocre knowledge of Photoshop and a text editor. Now, design firms have roles for information architects, content strategists, user experience experts, brand designers, illustrators, front-end developers — and that’s not even the half of it. There are a dozen more roles on the development side of things, and more seem to pop up all the time.

But I question this pattern of growth because when segments of the design industry separate and specialize, the project as a whole is in danger of becoming disjointed. Specialists focus intently on their own role while its in front of them and fail to follow through after they hand it off, so that the project as a whole suffers.

Teamwork and Versatility

At The Phuse, we look for versatile individuals that are able to put on different hats during the design process and work together to maintain cohesion. When everyone works together there is no disconnect in the design process between roles. Their work seamlessly becomes our work.

That doesn’t mean that everyone on our team has abilities that run the gamut from brand designer to content strategy to web/print development, but it is vital to our work as a team that everyone understands how their work affects the entire process—not just their part of it.

When Erik designs a brand, he not only thinks about what will fit the image that the client is trying to project, but also how the logo can be modified for print and screen devices without sacrificing quality. When Jenna writes line after line of gorgeous HTML5 and CSS3 code, she not only thinks about how to code more semantically, but how developers will be using that code to display specific functions, whether the site ends up as a WordPress theme or a Rails app.

Part of that versatility comes with experience, both in how to create a product and how to work as a team. It’s vital that each member of the team understands how their actions have consequences, positive or negative, throughout the rest of the project.

The Disconnected Reality of the Design Industry

The way our team works can be interpreted as a microcosm of the ideal design industry. Each segment understands how their work affects the whole, and they all work together with the big picture firmly in sight.

At the end of the project, the website or mobile app, having been passed from one capable set of hands to another so that each member can apply their special skill set, should come together seamlessly, without any disconnect between the visions of each specialist.

In theory it works. Everyone is on the same page and the project doesn’t suffer because it is passed off. But theory and reality are often as disconnected as the segments of the design industry seem to be.

The Hazards of Handoffs

In a running play in American football, the handoff is a clutch move. Without a successful handoff, the play is a flop. If the runningback fumbles and drops the ball, the play is a waste of a down. If the runner doesn’t know where he’s supposed to run, the team could lose yards, lose the ball, or lose the game.

Fortunately, on a good professional football team that rarely happens. Each player knows his role, the whole team has the same goal, and the quarterback and the runningback have done that handoff so many times in practice that it’s completely natural, expected, and easy. The errors are more frequently encountered later, when the defense closes on him too fast, or his blockers let an opponent through the line.

There are handoffs in the design industry, too. For example, at The Phuse, Erik hands the logo off to Mike, who puts it into a web design, then Mike hands the design off to Jenna, who codes it in HTML and CSS. With applications, we then hand the entire thing off to a development team, like Highgroove, who builds a customized back end for the client. The difference between a successful handoff and an unsuccessful one is that we don’t forget about the work after we hand it off. We continue to work together until the project is completed. And we always follow through.

But that microcosm doesn’t always translate in the design industry as a whole. For a company that spends so much time following through and smoothing out the seams in our own projects, it’s repulsive to hear of other companies that don’t follow through after the handoff. Too often we hear of development teams getting handed static HTML/CSS files for five main pages of the application without any explanation regarding the details of the remaining pages. What if development necessitates a crucial design alteration? What if there are additional pages or content that need to be created later?

The development firm is hung out to dry in much the same way as if a runningback completed a perfect handoff only to turn down field and discover that his blockers were nowhere to be found. Are they having a waterbreak? Or are they playing another game altogether?

To take the analogy a step farther, pretend that your client is the owner of the football team. He invested a boatload of money in his team only to watch his blockers wander off in the middle of the game.

Imagine his fury.

No Excuses

If you’ve experienced the hazard of handoffs first-hand, you’ve no need to imagine his fury. In fact, you may have felt it yourself, on the hot breath of your client or in your disgust for design firms that have no conception of the big picture or the importance of following through.

A “specialist studio” has no excuse, either. We’ve got to get out of the mentality of handing things off and moving on to the next project. With no follow through, the big picture suffers. The design becomes disjointed, development lacks cohesion, and, worst of all, the project falls short of the client’s vision. Isn’t that what the big picture is? To create a product that realizes a client’s vision in every sense of the word?

The design industry is expanding rapidly. Segments are separating and specializing, but we can’t let that keep us from creating good work. Teamwork and follow through are the keys. Look to older industries or professional sports for role models if you have to, but don’t let your clients or your work fall short because you can’t figure out how to work as a team.

Additional Advice

1. Budget for follow through. Explain to clients that some changes may need to be made post-development to smooth out the seams and ensure that everything is up to your impeccable standards.

2. Sync up. Don’t do this after you’re done, do it before you start. What does the next person need? Do you need to use SASS or Compass, or can you get away with using plain ol’ HTML and CSS? Find out what will make everyone else’s life easier, and make sure you do it. Sometimes it means learning something new. That can be a challenge, but that’s how we grow.

3. Sync up again. I don’t like handoff documents. Put simply, they suck to read and 90% of the time you’re not going to remember even a fraction of what was on it while you’re working on your part. Make sure you talk to the person you’re handing off to, whether it be a kickoff meeting or a continual process as they hit milestones.

It’s true. Nothing written is accidental. Every unfortunate phrase, every wrong word, every improperly used semi-colon was placed deliberately.

Accidents exist in life. Shit happens and we can’t go backwards in time. We can only move forward. Except that donkey. He’s not moving anywhere.

But writing is not like life because we have control over every last piece of the action. We can go back and change words and phrasing. We can fix grammar. We can play god and rewrite the world (or just that crap second draft). We can destroy. We can create.

Accidents don’t exist in writing. OK, maybe we’ll make a mistake in the first draft. Or the second or the third. But we can fix them! There is no excuse for letting mistakes live. Or worse, for letting them breed.

So how do we kill the mistakes?

We become more aware of the little things. Like phrasing and word choice and how to properly use semicolons. We learn the rules. We pay attention to our tone and voice. Active or passive? Angry? Righteous? Casual? Witty?

And we do it over and over and over and over again until there are no more accidents and all the mistakes are dead.

Positive vs. negative phrasing

Take the difference between positive and negative phrasing, for example. I would not be wrong if I wrote, “Good design isn’t just about color choices.” Alternatively, I could say, “Good design is about more than just color choices.”

What’s the difference? The Translation Bureau of Canada has a webpage dedicated to clear and effective communication. On the topic of positive vs. negative phrasing, they have this to say:

Positive phrasing is easier to understand than negative. You can be more assertive and straightforward when you say what something is than when you try to express it by saying what it isn’t.

Be aware of your phrasing. If clear communication is your intention, positive phrasing is almost always better.

Don’t abuse your tools

Another common mistake in writing made by those unaware of their choices is repetition. Repetition is a tool and, like any tool, it can be abused.

Think of repetition like a hammer. You can use it to nail the point home, one stroke at a time (see third paragraph of this article). But there comes a time when the nail has been hammered all the way in and you’re just slamming that flat metal piece against the wall, doing damage to the stucco. The wall is your reader. Poor reader. That must hurt.

There are many good words in the English language. Try not to get stuck on any of them. Switch it up.

One writer recommends elegant variation to avoid repetition.

“Elegant variations” means avoiding the repetition of words that catch the reader’s attention—that hang in the mind long enough that the reader realizes you’ve repeated yourself.

On the other hand, if used properly, repetition can be powerful. Take this example of parallel structures used to emphasize emotion in dialogue (same link as above).

Sarah glared at him coldly. “I hate you. I have always hated you. I hate your constant whining and your petty, petty ways. I hate every second I have to look at your face, every hour I have to listen to your boorish voice. If hate was a tangible thing, all the ships in your fleet would sink under the weight of a single day of my loathing…and I have endured it for twenty-six years.” She got up and straightened her dress. “Shall I bring in the tea now?”

Writer’s have many tools at their disposal. The above explanation merely highlights some problems with one of them. Don’t stop there.

Nothing written is accidental

I can’t teach you how to write. I can only give you some writing tips and try to show you what you’re doing wrong.

Write with purpose. Write deliberately. Always be aware of your choices.

And kill the mistakes. Accidents don’t exist in writing and mistakes don’t deserve to live.

You see, at The Phuse we have a not-so-traditional working schedule. Instead of employees coming into our company and wrapping their lives around the jobs we give them, our team members have jobs that work around their schedules and give them the flexibility traditional places of work are scared to give their workers.

As Easy As 1, 2, 3

A week has 168 hours in it (7 x 24 = 168).

Now, bear with me as I run some numbers…

According to A List Apart’s 2010 Survey, nearly 70% of workers in our industry tend to work anywhere from 40 to 60 of the hours in their week. Let’s average this and say most people work about 50 hours a week.

Now, I’d say the majority of us also take 2 hours a day to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner (if we even get 3 meals in on the average day). That makes 14 hours a week set aside for eating.

Let’s also suppose that we get the 8 to 10 hours of sleep that we’re suggested to get. If we take the middle road again and say we sleep 9 hours a night, that’s another 63 hours set aside for an activity other than work.

That’s brings us to 127 hours spent eating and sleeping. We’re left with 41 hours in our week to work. Seems like a lot, right? Well, this time is highly divided into getting other things done like spending time with friends and family, running errands, and brushing up on what we do to make sure we’re masters at our craft.

That’s a lot to get done in 41 hours, and I haven’t even taken into account other things that may distract us from our work, like StumbleUpon and video games.

In the average work force, you’re looking at 40-50 hour work weeks with all the overtime you eventually put into your job (whether it be commuting, planning, attending staff meetings, or stressing over seemingly impossible deadlines).

And yet, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development we only really work around 32 of those hours.

Whatchu talkin’ about, boy?

You see, no matter how many hours employers tack on to employees to get things done, employees will always find their own flexibility in their work weeks to slack off.

People are going to take their time to do things whether we like it or not – as business leaders we just have to determine if we want that wasted time to be paid for by us. Not to mention that the workers slacking off have a negative effect on the rest of the people who are trying to work. Laziness is contagious.

Instead, at The Phuse, we top out our week at 30 hours. This gives at least 10 more hours in the week for spending time with friends and family, learning, studying and improving, and, most importantly, taking well-deserved midday naps.

In turn, we end up with employees that are well-rested, waste less time while they work, and are continually improving their skills in their free time.

The Future of Working

Now, nothing we’re doing is very new. In the 1920s, it was Henry Ford’s novel idea to shorten the work week to five days totalling fourty hours (down from six days, sixty hours) — and nearly double his workers pay at the same time. This brought workers from all over the country clamoring for jobs at his factories. If they worked for Ford, they would get weekends off and have more money to spend consuming the very products they were building. Ford understood that his workers were also his consumers, and that by giving them more they would turn around and put it right back into the economy.

Other companies, like Google and our favourite accounting system, Harvest, give employees time to work on things that aren’t… well, work. Not only does this make room for people to experiment with new things they’ve learned without fear of going over-budget on a project or running into unexpected problems, but it gives employees time to re-energize and remind themselves why they love the work they do.

30 is the new 40

Henry Ford’s 40 hour work week was such a great idea that it has become the standard today. But we think we can do better. Our employees love their flexible schedules and so does our accountant.