Project management for agencies: The right workflow and more efficiency

Working with multiple customer projects means you need to be adaptable and communicative at all times. How do workflows help you maintain an overview? And how can you make your project management more flexible? Our best tips for agencies and freelancers.

In the modern global market, customer service that actually lives up to the attributes of "flexible" and "communicative" is a top priority. Because getting new customers and then keeping them is a challenge. Especially when you consider how many agencies out there are creating websites with WordPress and WooCommerce every day.

It is even more difficult to ensure that these customers are satisfied with successfully completed projects. Yet such satisfaction directly increases your turnover, as numerous studies have shown. The connection may not be as clear as it is for a retail business or an online store. And yet agencies and freelancers who attach particular importance to a clean project completion report time and again how this increases revenue in the medium and long term. For example, from referrals, affiliate marketing, but also from up- and cross-selling.

For some who work in the creative field, it can be a shift to focus primarily on customer needs - rather than directly on development or design. Do you recognize yourself in this? Perhaps you regularly ask close customers for detailed and honest feedback in order to gradually become more customer-oriented. This can also be asked in a structured way, for example in the form of small surveys.

The importance of workflows

WordPress agencies and developers have one thing in common with other industries: at the end of the day, it's your customers who pay your salary. Improving your workflows to better incorporate customer needs is particularly efficient. Constructive communication plays a key role in this. There's nothing worse than signing a contract with an eager and exuberant contractor, only to experience radio silence afterwards.

Sure, you get in touch with your customers. But hand on heart: are you doing this with the same care and intensity as you do when canvassing? If so, then you're already doing a lot of things right. Because then you will also listen more closely during project planning and make realistic (!) promises. Realistic in terms of what is technically possible with the available budget, but also in terms of the duration of the project.

So the first step to making your customers happy is simple: listen to them carefully - it's their project after all. Schedule regular meetings online or in person as part of your overall plan. Make sure all questions are answered. Stay in touch and your counterpart will be happy. This is especially true when difficulties and delays arise. Your customers can usually handle such bad news better than you think. But only if you explain them in detail and coherently. And if you also show how the problem can be solved.

Another important point is your ability to adapt to the different needs and tastes of different customers. When selecting projects, you should of course make sure that they match your values. And you don't have to accept an assignment that proves to be extremely difficult to communicate with from the outset. But you need to have a certain degree of flexibility if you want to survive on the market in the long term. After all, this flexibility is also required for any project planning. Especially if you are not working as a lone wolf, but as part of a team.

Asking uncomfortable questions

So far, we've only talked about the kind of communication that comes fairly easily. But whenever it comes to project work, you will also ask your clients questions that are uncomfortable for both sides.

Because in order to manage or advance a project, you need to find out as much as possible about the processes, the organization, the company policy, the budgets, the values, the power relations and the players on the customer side. It makes sense to ask some of these tricky questions right at the start. Then the issues are clarified and you can get started with less stress. Here are some sample questions for your briefing:

• What exactly is the scope of the project? Minor adjustments and changes are of course inevitable in a project as extensive as creating a completely new WordPress website - or revamping an existing one. However, if the client adds new components during the course of the project that significantly increase your workload, you need to be able to refer back to the original agreement. When in doubt, this means saying a nice but clear "no". Or at least renegotiate the price.
• What are the project deadlines? This point may seem obvious, but it is absolutely essential that you have all deadlines and time limits confirmed in writing. Especially those that are dependent on performance on the customer side. If individual members of your client's team fail to deliver, this should not put you at a disadvantage.
• What dependencies exist? Another question you should have answered: Are there external factors that influence individual milestones or the duration of the project development? For example, important upcoming conferences, decisions at board level, the launch of a central advertising campaign, etc.?
• Who is responsible for final approval? Who is the "owner" of the project? How is liability regulated in the event of damage? It is also important to know exactly who is responsible for which content area on the customer side. Working in a team is great. But working with a team in which everyone thinks they are the central key figure is a nightmare.
• Are there any unknown stakeholders? In other words, those who are not present at the briefing but who you should know? We're talking about the dreaded absentee management who burst in at the last minute with a series of "proposals" that no one on their side is in a position to say "no" to. If you've encountered situations like this before, you'll be even better prepared in the future with even more questions.

Here are a few more tips to make sure your briefing is as detailed as possible. After all, how good your final project plan will be depends on it one-to-one:

• Draft for the design: The first phase in which you present a design proposal also consists of asking as many questions as possible and gathering information. Once you have a solid idea of what type of company and what type of website is required, you put together a draft or design proposal. Make sure that the following points are also included.
• Sitemap proposal: Creating a draft sitemap based on your clients' needs is important before you start. Make sure you understand all the page hierarchies you want and place them where they would logically belong. For existing sites, Yoast and Google both have tools that you can use to create an XML sitemap. This may serve as a starting point for the future structure.
• Review the SEO strategy on the client side: Work together with your client on a keyword strategy. Research the respective volume of keywords as well as their level of difficulty. See our guide to keyword SEO and the SEO audit. Create a corresponding table in which these terms are listed. Next, check your client's existing content for SEO and note where there is a need to catch up. Don't know anything about SEO? Then be honest and bring in other specialists or freelancers.
• Test existing content and develop new content: Review all existing web content and create a plan for developing new content that fits the website's target audiences and goals. See our content marketing tutorial for agencies.
• Create a website mockup: This is a sketch of what a proposed website could look like in terms of user interface, colors, design, etc.. But it is a rather static model. Creating a mockup like this is a great way to convince the client of your proposals. This is because it allows a tangible idea of how the end product could look and function. At the same time, the effort involved in creating a website mockup is manageable. At least if you have someone in your team who has a good knack for design and creativity.
• Don't forget to test: Using the roadmap developed above, you can insert the required pages into an initial copy of WordPress installed on a local host or test server. See also the particularly convenient staging of Raidboxes.

If everything is going as you imagined, it's time to arrange a meeting with the client. There you can discuss the designs in advance before the actual implementation begins.

Increase efficiency

Project teams are increasingly working remotely. This also makes it essential for you to use online collaboration tools. In this day and age, you can easily share information with people on all continents of the world without having to leave your home. That's already worth a lot. However, the increasing speed with which we communicate with each other about projects also creates expectations and new pressures.

After all, you need to be able to keep up with other agencies, for example if they buy development capacities overseas at low cost. We're not saying that you should do the same - after all, your clients appreciate it when your team is based locally and knows the local business. But even within your country or continent, you'll be working more and more with external teams and freelancers. Not to mention the opportunities you open up when you take on your first international projects.

The old-fashioned email and even the (video) call are of course still useful tools for communication. But imagine that your teams are getting bigger and more distributed. Then you'll need extra help to keep everyone on the same page. And so that you don't lose track yourself.

Communication, collaboration and productivity

It may come as no surprise: Most of the time we spend at work consists of inefficient activities. According to a McKinsey study on efficiency in the workplace, we spend over 60 percent of the working day on the following three tasks:

• Answer e-mails
• Searching for and collecting information
• Internal communication and cooperation

According to the study, employee productivity could be increased by 20 to 25 percent simply by optimizing communication and collaboration. And with the help of easily accessible online tools. More on this in a moment.

It is by no means the case that companies and agencies do not have the right tools or the right technology. But are the possibilities of these tools being exploited in a targeted manner? In most cases, this is not the case, at least according to the results of the study.

What do online collaboration tools do?

Online collaboration tools are applications that help to coordinate work processes between individual employees and teams. And across different time zones, media and distances. These apps allow you to create a more coordinated workflow by providing a unified platform for collaboration and communication. All information and tasks relating to a specific project are bundled together on this platform in a single location. Depending on the tool, this includes, for example

• All communication, whether messaging, group discussions or even meeting videos and logs
• File shares
• The exchange and archiving of documents
• Access to background data and WIKIs
• Assignments and documentation of work steps
• Real-time monitoring of tasks and project statuses
• Project collaboration in real time

Basically, online collaboration tools are a way of bringing all the data for a particular project together under one roof. So all your emails, chats, meetings, research, data and work results. Practical, isn't it? 

Improved efficiency and workflows

The main benefits of using such tools are a clearer exchange of information between team members and the reduction of errors. If you've ever sent an outdated version of a project status to your clients or forgotten to share an important piece of information you received over the phone with a team member, then you understand the value of online collaborative tools. That's because these applications turn the way projects with multiple contacts are managed on its head.

Let's start with a good old acquaintance of online tools that we are probably all familiar with and that is still very useful today: Google Docs. The app enables distributed teams to access and edit documents together and update them in real time around the world. Most of us use Google Docs, and perhaps Microsoft OneDrive too. And most of us probably have to deal with uncoordinated and overlapping email threads resulting from their use.

Other online collaboration tools allow you to combine many of these functions under one roof. And with the leanest possible workflow, without having to access different applications or even media.

Functions that matter

Nevertheless, as a WordPress agency or freelancer, you shouldn't let the abundance of available online tools unsettle you. When it comes to choosing the right tool for you and your team, patience and trial and error are required. You can ask yourself the following questions:

Does the tool suit my needs?

Those of us who work in the digital sector are perhaps particularly susceptible to the first fancy impression that new software usually makes. Without asking ourselves if we really need all the bells and whistles. If a program doesn't really help you do what you expect it to do, then it's getting in your way. This formula may sound obvious, but it is rarely taken into account when making a choice. So first ask yourself the following banal question: What problem do you want the tool to solve?

If Slack and Google Docs work well for your small team that only needs to tackle one or two projects at a time, then stick with them. But when things get more complex, you should look for alternatives. With Trello, for example, you can coordinate a large team working on dozens of different tasks. Others swear by similar tools such as Asana. We'll take a closer look at these and other tools in a moment.

Is it easy to use?

If you involve people from different teams with different skills and backgrounds in your project, it's important to think about the learning curve when choosing an online collaboration tool. Do you need to set up your own long-term project just to teach your people how to use a tool that is supposed to save time? Is it easy enough to use? Is there someone in the team who is familiar with the app and can help newcomers to familiarize themselves with it? The answers to these questions will determine, among other things, whether your team accepts the new software or not.

What does the change mean?

If you don't use the tools extensively and end up back with locally stored files, it won't be worth the investment. You should therefore be prepared to actually change your team processes. This will be unfamiliar at first and may even be more work at first. But in the end, you won't be able to imagine going back to the old way of working. Nevertheless, make sure that you and your team are actually ready for a change.

How tools improve efficiency and your workflow

There are numerous areas in which online collaboration applications optimize your processes:

• Uniform status of documents: Probably the most obvious benefit of online collaboration tools is the fact that everyone is working on the same copy of a particular document or task. You no longer have to worry about which version you need to adapt or submit. Or which one contains the latest version. Changes - and who made them - can also be easily tracked.
• Share and release files: If you are working together on a project, it can be tedious and time-consuming to share data and background documents. With a suitable tool, you have a repository for all relevant data that everyone involved can access as required.
• Transparency: With such applications, everyone in the team can easily see how far along the others are with their parts of the project. Deadlines and dependencies can be clearly defined. This means there are fewer questions about what needs to happen before the next step can be taken.
• Monitoring and project status: All tasks that are necessary for the completion of the project - or one of its milestones - are listed. As well as who is responsible for them. This allows you to see exactly how far the project has progressed and where you need to intervene at any time.

Focus on your customers

With all this information, you can prepare for status meetings with your customers more easily. You no longer have to laboriously ask everyone in the team in advance how far they have come with their work. Or whether they have everything they need - provided the project management software is properly maintained. You can also have certain notifications sent directly to your customers, such as when tasks or milestones have been completed. But also when there are queries, an approval is required or when documents need to be exchanged.

Some tools also allow you to track which hours have been worked on which part of the project. This makes billing and invoicing easier for you. Or you can use the tools to communicate via chat or an online meeting. After all, some things can be clarified more quickly in a direct way than by passing comments back and forth in the individual tasks.

Overall, the tools for online collaboration are all about significantly streamlining the administration of your projects. Through clean processes and targeted communication. This not only makes your team happier, but also your customers. In the next part of our series, we will introduce you to several tools for project management. We will link the article here as soon as it is published.