One of the things you must do as a service provider is to manage and organize your clients’ projects. While being organized will help you accomplish everything in an orderly manner, saving time, it will also help your clients develop trust for you. In addition, you may even earn some additional revenue by impressing your clients so much that they will want you to organize and plan all their projects.
Get Organized Using Mind Maps
While you may not think of a mind map as a type of technology, there is software that you can obtain that is helpful in creating mind maps. Sure you can create one on paper, or by using Word, but you can also use specialized mind mapping software. It’ll make the task faster and look better than if you did it another way. Once you start using mind maps and introduce them to your clients they’ll be super excited. Everything comes together effortlessly with mind maps.
A mind map helps you and your client visualize their projects in an entirely new way. Instead of looking at random notes, and sticky pads, you will see an easy to follow visual representation of a project. A mind map looks just like the word implies. Like a map. To create one start with the destination or end product, in the center, then create branches off the end product to major steps to do to realize the end product. Each branch can have sub steps off to the side of each major branch to further establish what needs to be done to see each task to fruition.
By using this type of visual aid, you and your client are more likely to be able to identify any missed steps necessary to successfully complete a project.
Manage Projects Better with Gantt Charts
A Gantt Chart is a great way to analyze and plan complicated projects that have many steps. Especially projects that require a specific order for some tasks to be done. You’ll be able to figure out when your project will be done by organizing who, when, what, why and how each task will get done for your project. You will establish a list of tasks that need to be done (using your mind map) to complete the project, when each task will start, how long it will take, and what dependencies that particular task has.
For example: Design a website. There are certain receivables that need to be done first, before other things can be accomplished that will affect the project. Some of these things can happen at any time, but others are dependent upon first things first. A Gantt chart will help you see in a visual way every aspect of the project so that you can plan it better in terms of time, personnel and budget.
Start Date Time to Finish Dependency
a) Story Board Design – Week 1 Two Weeks
b) Content Creation Week 2 Two Weeks
c) Digital Images Week 2 Two Weeks
d) Navigation Design Week 3 Three Weeks b
e) Coding Week 4 Three Weeks a, b, c, d
f) Testing Week 7 One Week a, b, c, d, e
g) Submission Week 8 a, b, c, d, e, f
This chart isn’t comprehensive, it is just created to give you an example. Now take this chart and either use a program made for creating Gantt charts or use graph paper. Make a row for each day or week for your project, and insert the tasks that will be done for each subsection. Then color in the tasks so that you can see at a glance what task you’ll be done on what day or week. Consider using a color for each person responsible for each task.
By showing your clients how to better organize projects you will create more revenue for yourself by organizing your clients in a positive direction. In fact, most projects will seem so much simpler that your clients will likely get so excited about projects that they’ll want to create more which will give you even more work to do.