When “being proactive” turns into doing free work (A TVA PTBO love story)

You ever get that sixth sense that tells you what your client might need next… so you just, you know, do it?

You reorganize their folders. You prep the spreadsheet. You mock up the new graphic. You rewrite the SOP. You tweak the automation so it’s even smoother.

And then…

They change their mind. Or they weren’t even thinking about that thing. Or worse, they were, but now they want to “go in a different direction.”

Cool cool cool. So, basically, you just spent your day building a digital shrine to the wrong idea.

Here’s the thing, anticipating client needs is part of what makes us great at what we do. It’s proactive and it’s how we make our client’s lives easier.

BUT if you’re not careful, it can turn into unpaid mind-reading.

Most of us want to stay ahead, avoid chaos, and make things easy for everyone (including ourselves). But there’s a fine line between “prepared” and “doing the most for no reason.”

At TVA PTBO, we’ve learned to dance that line pretty carefully.

If something small pops up and we can fix it in a few minutes? We just do it. No drama, but if it’s something time-consuming, or may lead to a 6-hour rabbit hole, we hit pause. 

We check in with the client.

We confirm the goal.

We give an estimate of the time it’ll take before we dive in.

That one little step keeps us efficient and in sync, instead of wasting a perfectly good afternoon building something that’s going to get deleted tomorrow.

REMINDER: efficiency isn’t just about doing things faster it’s about knowing when something’s worth doing at all.

And trust me, assuming rarely works out in anybody’s favour…

• You assume the client will love the layout you spent two hours designing… then they say they “weren’t really picturing it that way.”

• You assume they’ll want the blog written in their brand voice… and find out halfway through they’ve hired a copywriter and want you to “hold off for now.”

• You assume they’ll be thrilled that you colour-coded their folders and labelled every file perfectly… and they tell you they “can’t find anything now.”

• You assume they’re going to need a workflow built out for their new offer, and then realize the offer got shelved two weeks ago.

It’s like playing whack-a-mole blindfolded.

Every time you try to stay ahead, something new pops up, and suddenly your brilliant pre-emptive strike has turned into busywork.

The problem isn’t caring too much. The problem is acting too soon or not considering all the factors.

Anticipating needs is a skill. But without communication, it’s a guessing game.

Here’s some quick tips

1. Ask better questions (to get clarity)

Skip the generic “What do you think?” and go for something specific like, “Do you want this process adjusted now, or should we wait until the next phase?” It gives you a clear yes or no without a guessing game.

Then, clarify what they actually meant by their response. Because when a client says “let’s update the dashboard,” that could mean anything from “change the logo” to “start an entirely new system.”

Hint: you can also ask them “how long would you like me to spend on this” 

2. Keep a shared task list/document

We’re big on a shared Google doc for meeting notes. That way we always know what’s on each other’s list. Any big ideas I have, I pop into this document so the next time we’re talking, I can bring it up.

It’s not worth emailing to ask so I just want to remember when I speak to them next. Often the client will also add their thoughts to the document so we can get a sneak peek into their thoughts.

3. Understand your client (and adapt)

This is the most important step. Every client works differently. Some change their mind between calls, others need time to process before giving a clear answer, and some will always want to see a draft first. Pay attention to those patterns.

As you learn more about how they operate, you’ll start to understand their preferences and their real needs. You’ll know when to move ahead and when to hold back. The better you understand their style, the easier it becomes to start reading their mind!

4. Gauge the time commitment

Less than 10 minutes? Sure. Do it. More than 10 minutes? Pause and confirm. This depends on your time commitment to them every month. Only do 3 hours a month? 10 minutes might be too much. You do 15 hours? 30 minutes is probably fine. 

5. Consider impact

Is what you want to do going to make a significant difference in their day or week immediately? If yes, you can probably go for it. If not, probably something to confirm. 

6. Do the work in steps

For any big project, even if they’ve given the thumbs up - it’s important to check in frequently. There’s no point in building the entire website if they didn’t like the theme you chose. Make sure that at each milestone you check in with them. 

Confirm that they like it, nothing has changed and it’s safe to go ahead. 

These tiny steps save hours of wasted effort. 

It took me years of experience to learn just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do it right now.

Sometimes the smartest move is to wait, ask and confirm.

And yes, it’s annoying!

Especially if you’re a fixer by nature.

You see inefficiency, and you just want to clean it up.

But I PROMISE you, a lot of times what you thought was a mess, was what they wanted and your version of “cleaning it up” just created a whole bunch of chaos.

That’s where skill comes in.

Efficiency doesn’t come from guessing right. It comes from systems that make it safe to ask questions, wait for answers, and give you the insight you need to anticipate your client’s needs based on how they actually work, not how you think they do.

When you assume, you don’t just waste time…

• You burn energy, and that adds up fast

• You lose the motivation to keep showing up with ideas because half of them end up in the digital trash bin 

ANNNNNND that’s how burnout sneaks in.

So yes, at TVA PTBO, we read our clients' minds.

But to do that, we anticipate, we prepare, we think ahead, we ask questions, we learn and we communicate until we know them so well, we can read their minds.

And spoiler alert, a large part of mind reading is knowing that even though they said they wanted that thing done, they will probably change their mind so NOT doing it is actually the smartest call. 

BONUS Examples of good assumptions

Seasonal habits: Your client always sends Christmas cards, Mother’s Day gifts, or year-end thank-yous. They almost always ask you to pull their contact list or do something to prepare. Set a reminder for yourself to pull last year’s list, confirm the names, and ask if they want to use the same format.

Quarterly updates: They post quarterly financials or newsletters. Near the end of the quarter start a draft and send them the started document. 

Content cycles: They tend to post end-of-month recaps or new-month announcements. Draft a skeleton version ahead of time and confirm details closer to the date.

Deadline tendencies: If they always ask for last minute systems right before a launch. Look at the last launch and make a list of all items that will be needed. Start the things you usually get tasked with. 

Quarterly check-ins: If they hold regular quarterly planning calls. Before the call they usually want a prep email sent out and after the meeting they want a summary sent. Ask them what day and time they want the prep email to go out. After the call, ask them what format they want the summary in.