The Client You Think You Know

A new project kicks off, and the team is eager to dive in. Designers start sketching, engineers map out logistics, and contractors review materials. They’ve done this before—many times. The process feels familiar, so the assumption is that everyone already understands what the client wants. Momentum takes over, and the work begins.

At first, everything seems to be running smoothly. But then, conversations with the client start to feel repetitive. Decisions that seemed settled reappear. Requests feel unclear or contradictory. Some assume the client is indecisive. Others think priorities have changed. Quietly, team members start making their own adjustments based on their interpretations—without clarifying expectations. The issue? The team never aligned on who the client really is.

The Challenge of Cross-Team Collaboration

When a project involves multiple vendors or firms, collaboration doesn’t happen on its own—it needs structure. Each group applies its own filters to the client’s requests, interpreting them through experience, expertise, or personal priorities. The result? The team is talking, but not necessarily understanding each other. Small misinterpretations build, and soon, the team is working toward slightly different versions of success.

It’s easy to assume alignment exists just because everyone is communicating, but without a structured process, gaps appear. One team optimizes for aesthetics, another for cost, and another for speed—each making the best decision they can based on their own assumptions rather than a shared understanding. Over time, these slight variations turn into real obstacles, leading to revisions, delays, and unnecessary friction.

The Power of a Shared Client Persona

The best teams don’t rely on assumptions—they build a shared image of the client together. This isn’t about receiving a brief or reviewing notes. It’s a structured exercise where the team debates and refines their understanding in real time. Done well, it creates more than alignment—it builds team culture for the project.

When the team works together to develop the client persona, they move beyond simply acknowledging client requests—they begin to understand the reasoning behind them. Instead of making isolated decisions, team members anticipate how their choices impact others. This shifts the project from a series of tasks into a collective effort where every decision supports the broader vision.

For this to work, someone needs to guide the process.

A strong facilitator ensures:

• Assumptions are challenged in real time – Teams don’t settle for surface-level preferences, ensuring deeper insights emerge.

• Every discipline actively participates – No single perspective dominates, and all expertise is integrated.

• The client persona remains a living guide – It adapts as new insights emerge, keeping decisions aligned throughout the project.

Leading the Client Persona Exercise

In these sessions, we guide the team to move beyond assumptions and uncover what truly drives the client’s decisions. We challenge the group with targeted questions, prompting them to consider not just what the client requests, but why. By pushing for deeper insights, we ensure the team refines its understanding in real time.

During this process, we don’t just collect input—we facilitate structured discussions where every voice is heard. We encourage the team to reflect on patterns in the client’s behavior and decision-making, ensuring the final persona is grounded in real observations rather than individual interpretations.

A well-run client persona exercise does more than clarify expectations—it creates a shared framework for decision-making, strengthens collaboration, and keeps the team aligned as the project evolves.

The Payoff: A Team That Moves in Sync

When teams commit to this process, everything changes. Conversations become more fluid. Decisions happen faster. The client feels understood, and the team operates as a cohesive unit. Misunderstandings decrease because the foundation is already in place, allowing the team to focus on execution rather than constant course correction.

Projects don’t succeed because of great individual effort—they succeed because the team is moving together.

That kind of alignment doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because someone knows how to create it.