I met with my client as scheduled but we didn’t get chance to talk about our working relationship. So I emailed him a day or so later to say that things needed to change and why. I was careful not to lay any blame on anyone, be very positive, and stress that it would improve things. The other person that was copied into the email, who feels the same as me, said it was well worded and clear.
My client disagreed with me and said there was nothing wrong with the way we worked and that he just wanted me to ‘take ownership of the project’. So at this point I’m tearing my hair out because that is exactly what I was trying to do.
In the end I thought ‘f*ck it!’ and put together a plan for the next few weeks running the project the way I see fit. I emailed this plan to my client and he was really pleased.
I’m completely confused as to what happened (maybe the wind just changed direction), but things should progress better now that everyone knows whats going on.
The joys of client relationships.