Project Management 101: Optimize Your Contracting Work with These Best Practices
By Marjorie Yoder, Business Writer
Even if you don’t have a project management background, project management best practices can help anyone be more effective and efficient. I’ve learned as a contractor that juggling several projects, meeting sometimes shifting deadlines, and trying to resolve on your own any variety of issues that pop up can be challenging. Managing the work can be even tougher if you have multiple clients. Fortunately, many years of project management work taught me skills to navigate these challenges.
Let’s take a look at four project management best practices that can help any contractor optimize their work.
Scope work and gain agreement
Before you get started with a new client or project, scope out the work and document your roles and responsibilities as well as those of the people you will work with.
Meet with your client to discuss the project and create a simple scoping document, project proposal, or statement of work. This helps you align on overall expectations: the scope of work you will deliver, budget, timing, resources, such as style guidance, and team members to contact for questions, etc.
Documenting the project and asking for clarification where needed before you get started sets you up for success. It also helps you avoid, or at least navigate, scope creep.
Plan and track your work
Project plans help with juggling priorities and projects.
Even if you’ve never worked with one, you can create a simple tracking document or use a free online template. List projects and deliverables, due dates, notes, and project status. Use your plan to prioritize your work so each day you can see your top priorities at a glance. Add key tasks or deliverables to your calendar to ensure you don’t miss them.
Looking at your project plan daily reminds you what is most important, helps you reprioritize if priorities shift, and allows you to keep track of deadlines.
Communicate clearly and proactively
Once you have agreement on the work and responsibilities, keep your project on track by communicating with your client throughout the project.
If you face an obstacle or a deadline is at risk, it’s critical to apprise your client swiftly, with solution ideas when appropriate, and proactively manage expectations.
Being proactive and open with communications also affirms your reliability to your client.
Review and reflect
Just as scoping the work is important at the beginning of a project, reviewing and reflecting at the end of a project is essential to maintain successful client relationships and implement what you learn for future projects.
Provide your client with a summary of the work and what was accomplished. Then, meet with your client and ask for feedback. Make sure you met their expectations and discuss what went particularly well and any areas of struggle.
Take time to reflect on your own work as well by asking yourself the same questions and thinking about what you can do differently on future projects. Reviewing and reflecting allows you to continually improve the way you work and helps you become an even more effective and efficient contractor.
Scoping work with clients, using a project plan, communicating effectively and proactively, and working on continual improvement are actions anyone can take to optimize work management.
You might have already adopted some of these best practices, but if you haven’t, give them a try and see how they’ll level up the way you manage your contract work.