Oh, the dreaded deadlines for projects. You either love them or hate them. But regardless of how you feel, deadlines are essential for project management and for client satisfaction. So, for this blog, we are going to explore ways that you can hit your deadlines and finish projects on time.
There is nothing worse than a client who has edit after edit after edit. It can become frustrating from a design standpoint and can cause tension between this work relationship. One way that you can prevent this, is before starting a large project, set hard deadlines. Whether you are a team of one or many, this is where, once you know the project, you/your team will look at the calendar and set dates for phone calls, edits and feedback, new proofs, collateral, all the way up to the final competition date. This sounds tedious but hear me out, this will help not only you, but your client as well in managing expectations and reality. When everyone is on the same page, there is no room for the “I wonder where my new design is” or “I really don’t have time to proof this right now.” By not setting multiple small deadlines, you give yourself/your team the chance to work on a project and dedicate the right amount of time and prevent everyone from waiting to the last minute.
Now, before you set these hard deadlines, they must be approved by the client. They have to work around holidays, vacations, any other thing that might cause a delay in project completion. So before starting you will have a sheet of paper that both you/your team and your client have outlining these dates. You can even make it easier for them by highlighting when they need to have feedback to you. Trust me on this, it will reduce the amount of edits you make, save time and frustration, and the project will end with a happy and satisfied client.
You might be thinking, how does this apply to me? “I don’t work on projects this large” or “I’m one part of a very large team.” But the answer is, it does. If you apply this way of thinking to even the most mundane tasks, you can guarantee that you will always hit your deadline. For example, even if you have a small task and your boss or project leader asks for it on the 10th. Instead of sending it to them on the 10th, put it on your calendar to be due the 7th. Send it to them early, and then if there are any questions or changes you have time to make them before the final deadline on the 10th. Think of it this way. A person that always runs late might set every clock in their house 10 minutes early, so this way when they glance up and see the time (even if they wait to the last second), they will still be early. Setting early deadlines for projects instead of the day they are actually due will set you up for success and remove the pressure of working under a clock the day of.
Hopefully this will help you always finish your projects on time and stop waiting until the last minute! Follow along with us here at The Burnette Agency for more tips and tricks on project management, graphic design, and more!
