On feedback.

It seems that we don't really get feedback anymore. We get changes. We get revisions. We get direction. But not feedback. Rather than, "Here are the client's thoughts on the work we sent over. Let's give them a call and discuss," we get marked-up layouts or emailed revision work orders with six bullet-pointed changes and a deadline of EOD or COB (please stop using COB, by the way. stop now). When you send that RWO, it makes you nothing more than an ambiguous set of hands at the dinner table, passing the mashed potatoes from your kid sister to your dad. When the client calls you to comment on the work, don't do an RWO. Take notes. Ask questions. If the comments are complicated or will cause a significant change to the work, see if you can get a creative to join you on the call. Or ask the client if you can call back in a bit with the team or the CD. If all you do is pass the RWO, you are completely dispensable. But if you facilitate a conversation about feedback, you'll be invaluable.