Without throwing every cliche in the book at it, creative break-ups can be just as devastatingly-heartbreakingly-awful as the kind you might quietly utter, “it’s not you, it’s me,” or, “I really want to try and be on my own for a while.”
We spend most of our lives at work and those we chose to develop close relationships to do indeed matter. But what happens when it really isn’t working out and it’s time to end your partnership? Here’s the low-down on the amicable break-up.
1. Be Honest
If you feel like something’s wrong, be it the vibe isn’t right for your tribe or you don’t feel like they’re pulling their weight – be up front and honest about it. It can be fixed if a simple discussion takes place, however, if it’s come to the end of the road you’d rather go separate ways knowing you’ve given it all you’ve got and it’s now off your chest – but remember to be kind, always.
2. Talk Face-To-Face
If you’ve given the solum but unspoken vow of creative partnership to someone at least when you split do it face-to-face or Skype-to-Skype. No one wants to be dumped via text or ghosted out. This wasn’t a one project kind of thing, there were briefs involved and little placements of your own to have. You had a future, *sniffs* so yeah, meet up.
3. Get A Prenup
You went into this with a team name, Twitter accounts, you invested in URLs, hosting and businesses cards. Even with the best will in the world sometimes partnerships break down. This is a business after all and you do need to protect yourself, so get a creative prenup and write down who gets what including who pays for what and if you ever did go your separate ways. It’ll make things more straightforward if a break-up does happen.
4. Make A 3-Year Plan
That’s quite a hefty thing to do I know. But if you imagine your life in 3-year chunks it’ll be easier to charter the course of your professional life because, statistically speaking, this is around the average length of time an employee stays with an employer. Think about things like location, aspirations and where you see yourself going. You’ll know if you’re on the same path or on a chartered course to hit and iceberg if you have chats like this.
5. There’s Plenty More Creatives In The Sea
Whether you’re the one being dumped or dumpee there’s always more budding creatives flapping around in unchartered oceans. Take a look at singlecreatives.com, or our single mingles to find the next love of your creative life.
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