Caught Between Your Manager and the Client Team

Updated September 2026: in 2020 I wrote about returning from a long vacation to an opportunity where my manager's suggestions kept being rejected by the onsite team, there was no offshore support, and the two sides argued over small things. I have rewritten it as a guide to working between a manager and a client-facing team who do not get along.

After my long vacation, my manager put me on an opportunity with the team I found hardest to work with. He shared inputs that did not match the client's requirements. I worked hard to collect the slides he asked for, and the onsite team rejected them all because they conflicted with what the client wanted. The onsite team then shared new direction, with one condition I found hard to accept: no offshore support at all. My manager tended to complicate simple things and suggest ideas the onsite team would throw out, and both sides had strong egos and argued over small points.

Why do you end up in the middle?

Because you do the work both sides review. Your manager directs you, the client-facing team judges the output, and when they disagree your effort is what gets thrown away.

How do you avoid wasted work?

• Confirm requirements with the client-facing team before building, in writing.
• Show your manager the confirmed brief, so their suggestions start from it.
• Build a small draft first, two or three slides, and get both sides to agree the direction.
• Keep a change log of who asked for what, and when.

What if there is no offshore support?

Adjust the scope. Tell both sides what you can deliver alone by the deadline and ask them to agree priorities. It is better to cut sections early than to deliver everything poorly.

Should you take sides?

No. Stay with the client's requirements. When your manager's idea does not fit them, say so privately and suggest how to adapt it. When the onsite team dismisses something useful, ask what the client would need to see for it to work.

When should you raise it higher?

If arguments start delaying the deliverable, ask for a short call with a senior sponsor to agree the direction once. Frame it around the deadline, not the personalities.

Keep reading

• After a Good Kickoff: Keeping Project Scope in Check
• Building Proposal Slides That Reviewers Choose
• Said Yes Too Fast at Work? How to Weigh a Request