US Pros Share How to Improve Your Project Management Skills
Invest in education or coaching, focus on client expectations and create processes to follow, pros advise
There’s the aesthetic side of the design and landscaping business that involves the mood, colours and materials used in a space. Then there’s the logistics part, where you make it all happen in a timely and efficient manner. Most design pros are naturally good at the first part of the process, but how do you improve your skills for the second part of your business so your projects run smoothly?
We recently spoke with US pros to get their tips for successful project management, as well as to find out how they improved their skills. Read on to find what they said.
We recently spoke with US pros to get their tips for successful project management, as well as to find out how they improved their skills. Read on to find what they said.
Explain to clients how a project will run
One must-do for smooth project management is setting appropriate expectations with the customer. If you don’t, it can cause all kinds of problems later. “Being able to establish expectations with a customer about how the project is going to unfold – that comes with foresight based on past experience,” says Tim Glass of Alderwood Landscape Architecture and Construction in Bellevue, Washington.
For Glass, it’s key to share with clients details about construction sequencing, which homeowners may not be familiar with, especially if they’ve never done an outdoor project. He explains early on that the crew may need to create an access path to bring materials into the garden, and that they’ll set up a staging area where they place materials and equipment. He tells clients a project will get messy and involve dirt and mud, and that things will look worse before they look good. He also lays out the project timeline and mentions factors such as bad weather that could slow that timeline down.
Glass holds meetings with customers mostly on-site, but also sometimes through video conferencing. Pros can use Houzz Pro to schedule and host video meetings.
One must-do for smooth project management is setting appropriate expectations with the customer. If you don’t, it can cause all kinds of problems later. “Being able to establish expectations with a customer about how the project is going to unfold – that comes with foresight based on past experience,” says Tim Glass of Alderwood Landscape Architecture and Construction in Bellevue, Washington.
For Glass, it’s key to share with clients details about construction sequencing, which homeowners may not be familiar with, especially if they’ve never done an outdoor project. He explains early on that the crew may need to create an access path to bring materials into the garden, and that they’ll set up a staging area where they place materials and equipment. He tells clients a project will get messy and involve dirt and mud, and that things will look worse before they look good. He also lays out the project timeline and mentions factors such as bad weather that could slow that timeline down.
Glass holds meetings with customers mostly on-site, but also sometimes through video conferencing. Pros can use Houzz Pro to schedule and host video meetings.
Create a process for sharing project information with your teams
Glass relies on two project coordinators to oversee the day-to-day project management of each job; each project coordinator manages four crews. With multiple people involved in each project, it’s critical that everyone stay up-to-date on what’s happening on the job. Glass’ teams communicate these details through in-person meetings at the project site, phone calls, texts and email.
As lead designer at design-build firm Copper Sky Renovations in Atlanta, Micaela Quinton uses construction project-management software to communicate with the construction managers at her company, as well as with the firm’s clients.
She’s also built specific tools for project managing her own team’s work. One is a project checklist with 50 individual tasks that need to be done on every project, which the designers Quinton manages use as a work guide. One line item is “Did you ask your client if they have any [audio-visual] needs?” Quinton says. “We don’t manage the AV, but it is integrated into the electrical scope,” so the designer needs to ask about this early, so the electrical elements of the project can be appropriately planned and executed.
Quinton and the other designers regularly review together the checklist to make sure their projects are on track, and to identify any gaps.
Glass relies on two project coordinators to oversee the day-to-day project management of each job; each project coordinator manages four crews. With multiple people involved in each project, it’s critical that everyone stay up-to-date on what’s happening on the job. Glass’ teams communicate these details through in-person meetings at the project site, phone calls, texts and email.
As lead designer at design-build firm Copper Sky Renovations in Atlanta, Micaela Quinton uses construction project-management software to communicate with the construction managers at her company, as well as with the firm’s clients.
She’s also built specific tools for project managing her own team’s work. One is a project checklist with 50 individual tasks that need to be done on every project, which the designers Quinton manages use as a work guide. One line item is “Did you ask your client if they have any [audio-visual] needs?” Quinton says. “We don’t manage the AV, but it is integrated into the electrical scope,” so the designer needs to ask about this early, so the electrical elements of the project can be appropriately planned and executed.
Quinton and the other designers regularly review together the checklist to make sure their projects are on track, and to identify any gaps.
Find a process that works for your own projects and tasks
For her own work, Quinton has developed strategies to help her manage the collection of tasks that she does to contribute to a project’s completion. Some techniques are simply good time-management practices that reflect the specific demands of her job.
“I keep a lot of lists,” Quinton says. “I use my calendar a lot. I look ahead at my week and what my deadlines are. I slot time periods between meetings to get things done.”
For design work, Quinton needs more than a couple of 30-minute or hour-long chunks to get into the flow. “I really need to work in long periods of time. I need enough time to get into the project and develop it,” she says. So she protects chunks of time on her calendar for that deep kind of work.
For her own work, Quinton has developed strategies to help her manage the collection of tasks that she does to contribute to a project’s completion. Some techniques are simply good time-management practices that reflect the specific demands of her job.
“I keep a lot of lists,” Quinton says. “I use my calendar a lot. I look ahead at my week and what my deadlines are. I slot time periods between meetings to get things done.”
For design work, Quinton needs more than a couple of 30-minute or hour-long chunks to get into the flow. “I really need to work in long periods of time. I need enough time to get into the project and develop it,” she says. So she protects chunks of time on her calendar for that deep kind of work.
Your turn
What strategies do you use for smooth project management? Share your tips in the Comments below.
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For more practical advice and stories for professionals, click here
What strategies do you use for smooth project management? Share your tips in the Comments below.
More
For more practical advice and stories for professionals, click here
A number of pros we spoke with said reading, working with a coach or hiring a business consultant had helped them get better at project management so they could run a more efficient business.
“Five or six years ago, I was getting really frustrated with the project management side of [the business],” says Charli Junker of Your Space Our Design in St John’s, Newfoundland, and Labrador, Canada. “Things tend to go off the rails pretty quickly if you don’t have policies and procedures in place.”
Then Junker attended a talk by Kimberley Seldon, who offers business coaching for interior designers. “It was one of the more life-changing things I went to,” Junker says. “At the end, she was selling her books, so I bought them.”
Implementing tactics from Seldon’s books helped Junker reduce some of the emotional stress and interpersonal challenges of running a design business. The most important technique she learned, she says, was to “follow policies and procedures whether or not you’re the only person that works there”. She advises fellow designers to share their process with clients, and only work with people who “respect your policies, procedures and guidelines”.
For instance, one of Junker’s policies is working only with certain vendors. “If the client wants to go to other vendors, they are responsible for [selecting the products], payments, installs and budget,” Junker says. She also works only with her own contractor. “This ensures quality control and that the plans are executed properly. If the client wants to work with their own contractor, all info is relayed through the client.”
As another example, if your policy is to not answer client texts after 6pm or at the weekend, make the client aware of that policy and then stick with it. Otherwise, it’s too easy to make exceptions for various clients that can end up leaving you feeling exhausted. “I think a lot of entrepreneurs suffer from it. You’re emotionally invested in the business,” Junker says. “I’ve learned to people-please less and follow the steps.
“It’s just easier if you’re following a set of standards for each project, and treat every project the same,” she says.