I am a bit scared of my client. Am I overthinking, or should I be careful?
I work in a company where I report directly to the client regarding work. All the Sprint User stories are created collaboratively in his presence. The team faces some challenges with communication and transparency. At times, there are lapses in professionalism. However, they are very supportive and helpful. I also appreciate the good work-life balance here. I understand that no one is perfect, and I don’t expect my team to be flawless. I acknowledge my own shortcomings as well. Once, I received constructive feedback from a client, which was a learning moment for me. Since that feedback, I’ve felt uneasy about the client. Because, during calls, the client appeared happy and showed no disappointment. However, later, feedback was communicated to the team lead, which created an impression of inconsistency in behavior. In my interview with the client, I had mentioned that I appreciate constructive criticism, and I genuinely meant it. However, since the feedback I feel somewhat unsafe. My manager, who was informed by the team lead, thankfully, handled the situation very well. He is the reason, I have some positive hope in this project. Since then, I’ve noticed that my manager rarely praises my work openly, regardless of the scale of the task. While he frequently praises other team members, I’ve only received praise a few times. Every time my team lead requests a one-on-one call, I can’t help but feel anxious, assuming it’s related to feedback from the client (even though that’s not always the case). If I make a mistake in communication, during our Standup calls, I worry about how the client might perceive it—whether they would think I lack understanding and am working with limited knowledge—and then report it to the team lead. Am I overthinking, or should I be careful?
I work in a company where I report directly to the client regarding work. All the Sprint User stories are created collaboratively in his presence.
The team faces some challenges with communication and transparency. At times, there are lapses in professionalism. However, they are very supportive and helpful. I also appreciate the good work-life balance here. I understand that no one is perfect, and I don’t expect my team to be flawless. I acknowledge my own shortcomings as well. Once, I received constructive feedback from a client, which was a learning moment for me.
Since that feedback, I’ve felt uneasy about the client. Because, during calls, the client appeared happy and showed no disappointment. However, later, feedback was communicated to the team lead, which created an impression of inconsistency in behavior.
In my interview with the client, I had mentioned that I appreciate constructive criticism, and I genuinely meant it. However, since the feedback I feel somewhat unsafe. My manager, who was informed by the team lead, thankfully, handled the situation very well. He is the reason, I have some positive hope in this project.
Since then, I’ve noticed that my manager rarely praises my work openly, regardless of the scale of the task. While he frequently praises other team members, I’ve only received praise a few times.
Every time my team lead requests a one-on-one call, I can’t help but feel anxious, assuming it’s related to feedback from the client (even though that’s not always the case). If I make a mistake in communication, during our Standup calls, I worry about how the client might perceive it—whether they would think I lack understanding and am working with limited knowledge—and then report it to the team lead.
Am I overthinking, or should I be careful?
