- What makes a successful project manager?

Any project manager must be organised and competent at managing budgets and schedules, as well as the client and in-house team. It’s a balancing act of making what the client wants come true, maintaining ongoing communication and managing their expectations and demands realistically.

Taking the time to make sure that the client understands the process from the beginning is pivotal. To do so we provide a pre-project guide, which clearly explains the process of the project from end to end, visibly setting out each step, and is supported by their assigned project manager. In addition, the kick-off meeting allows the project manager to clarify milestones and summarise the expectations of both parties, so that these objectives are met.

Central to the success of any project is having a clear understanding of the clients’ business. Only through this is it possible to truly meet their requirements and build upon creative ideas for successful innovation. A brief only provides so much information and your agency should be striving to get to know your business above and beyond this, so as to produce not just results but real digital solutions.

Of course all things are open to interpretation, but a thorough kick-off meeting and continuous communication should reduce the likelihood of the designer not fulfilling the clients’ wishes. In addition, the process of producing creative mock-ups and client sign-offs means that if this situation were to arise it would be recognised early on and quickly resolved.

Designed by committee projects can lead to crossed wires and additional challenges if not properly managed, as there are many voices all trying to get heard at the same time. That’s where the project manager comes in. There are several ways to manage it, each relevant to different clients and project situations. Using dedicated software solutions can streamline communications between the project manager and client, acting as both a record of actions and information, and a database of updateable content in real-time.

Clearly establishing one point of contact both within the agency and at the client side can be the best option for projects involving a number of stakeholders, so that everything goes through this person and is approved at the appropriate level. In theory this will save time for all involved and ensure that requirements are met. However, in other instances including all committee members may be necessary and work better, providing greater visibility and keeping everyone involved informed about everything that is happening.

Effectively it is crucial to establish relevant points of contact and places of reference, such as Teamwork, so that everyone knows who to contact and how to communicate in regards to the project. Furthermore, making sure that all email communications are responded to using the “Reply to all” feature keeps everyone in the loop at all times, and again keeps an easy to follow record of all communications.

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