When most people hear “project management,” they get a bit anxious. I am going to take you through the basics of project management as it’s the cornerstone of most service-based businesses.
A new project has been assigned to you, now what?
Gather all the necessary information before you get started:
- Project goal
- Timeline
- Budget
- Contributors
- Editors
- Designers
- Copywriters
- Client/s that need to provide approvals
- Client mandatories (This is anything specifically requested by your client or part of their brand i.e. logo guidelines, colors, tone)
Once you have all the above details, it’s time to put together a timeline.
I like to create a workback schedule starting with the due date for the project. Depending on the scope of the project, you might want to put your due date a couple days before it’s due to your client just in case there are revisions or unexpected delays.
Next add in each milestone of the project and the date it should be accomplished by.
Let’s say your client would like a rebrand:
Below are some milestones you would want on your timeline:
- Research designers
- Provide list of recommended designers to client
- Client to choose 2-3 designers
- Send out request for proposals from the chosen designers
- Present quotes to client
- Award the chosen designer
- Pay designer their deposit
- First round of logo concepts to client
Assign dates to the above milestones and you have the start of an amazing workback schedule. Depending on how large the project is I usually add each milestone to my digital calendar to make sure I am on track and following up with all the contributors.
In an ideal world there are no delays and you complete the project early and the client loves it, but if there are delays always communicate those and why they happened to the client, so they are aware. Communicating upfront will increase your client’s trust in you and manage their expectations.
-Meredith Raber
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