You may be a freelancer or you own a web design company, but your most significant challenge lies in prioritizing your projects and managing your time, especially when you’re working from home. You may get a simple task to complete within a short period, but failure to manage your time efficiently makes the work take months to complete. You could lose out on clients because of your inability to meet deadlines, and that’s not good for the growth of your business.
Steps You Can Follow to Avoid the Above Scenarios
1. Be clear on your goals
For you to successfully manage your projects, you need to understand the scope of work required. Know the deadline and be willing to work under the timeline provided. Therefore, you need to meet up with your clients and discuss the backstory of the project.
You must keep an open communication channel and be transparent on how you plan to manage your timeline. This will help establish trust between you and the client.
2. Know the client’s requirements
Branding projects doesn’t only involve doing the design itself. It requires constant consultation with the client to understand his goals and the story he wants to tell.
Storybrand website examples can help you in this regard as these provide website designers tutorials on winning in the industry.
3. Consistent follow-ups on projects
If you have a team, you should often check the progress of your team’s output. This will help you pinpoint errors before they build up and show up when it’s too late. Give quick reviews and gather reports from time to time to ensure that all your team members are on the same page.[adsense]
4. Perform an internal review
Even when you are running out of time, remember that quality comes first. As the design lead, your reputation depends on the quality and timely delivery. Thus, you should review your designs twice before presenting them to clients. Storybrand website examples proved guidance on the creation of appealing projects.
5. Determine the required creativity level
Does the client need a groundbreaking or a highly conceptual design? Often, the thought process should not be similar to the design process.
You should be able to decipher the level of creativity and innovation your clients need. You should strive to be creative and continuously create change in your designs. Lastly, your designs should reflect the purpose of your project.
6. Manage your team
As a leader, you should always praise loudly and criticize softly. This does not mean that you should give a lot of freedom to your team. Set strict boundaries and continuously check the performance of inexperienced staff.
For experienced team members, this can be overwhelming and annoying. Instead, you should manage them by helping in decision making and holding meetings. You should practice empathy and excellent conflict handling skills.
Summary
To be a better design manager, follow the above steps. It will also improve your efficiency at work and yield better quality projects.
