Managing a project is a crucial step in the overall success of the job. Whether you’re a firm or a freelancer, you should occasionally evaluate the way projects are being managed to improve and refine the process. Here are some tips on how to manage your time and projects, whether you work for a firm, or freelance.

1. Be realistic. If you aren’t the person who does project estimating, be sure that you go over projects with this person so that realistic job timeliness can be created. Review your current workload and estimate what the next month’s workload might be, then go over all the details of the job. On large projects, be sure to create a time line with milestones where clients will need to sign off or review the progress to date. If there are any questions on any part of the job, be sure to ask those before delivering a finalized time line.

2. Don’t be afraid to to tell the truth. If you find you are too busy to take on more work, review your current projects and estimate how long it will take you to catch up, then tell your client that you will be able to start their job on a select date. Telling your client you can start right away when you really can not will only serve to frustrate your client and stress you out! Most clients are very understanding with this.

3. Remember that time is money. Organization is a skill every project manager should posses. Every minute of the day that you spend looking for documents, emails, files, etc. add up to a whole lot of wasted time. Develop a uniform process of managing each project. There are a number of software solutions out there to help in this process (I personally use BaseCamp).

4. Update. Update. Update. Yes, it’s really that important that I had to type it three time in a row! This applies to updating your projects, your designers, and your clients. Projects should be updated on a daily basis so you always know which phase of development a project is in at any time. Clients should be periodically updated when there is something for them to review, if there are any delays, etc. On large projects, I like to update clients on a weekly basis and present them with a list of things that have been done during the week and any visual or online progress examples. Designers need to be updated when clients make comments, changes, etc.

5. Keep the train on the tracks. Make sure your team is all on the same page. If you notice someone not following job specs, you need to step in and make sure they understand what they need to be doing to avoid any delays.