Every month we run through a series of questions to help you run your freelance business like a bigger business — “self-coaching” your way to better results and a better life.
Hey! Happy COO month!
You’re the Chief Operating Officer of your freelance business, so this month we’re talking operations…what you do, and how to make it better.
This week we’re looking at project management.
When I talk to frustrated freelancers, this one comes up…a lot.
Poor, or even just less-than-great project management can cause a whole list of problems, so today, we’re going to talk about continuous improvement in how you track everything.
Ready? Let’s do this!
Are you managing your projects well?
Project management isn’t something you should try to fix all at one time. That’s how you end up jumping from method to method and tool to tool — never really figuring out where the root opportunity is for you as an individual.
Before you start trying to decide between a Kaizen or Gantt setup in your software or switch tools altogether, let’s look at a few questions.
- Where are things falling through the cracks? (Onboarding, follow-up, getting feedback, responding to feedback, getting approval, etc.)
- Where do you feel you don’t have easy visibility? (Current project status, client changes, changes that impact billing)
- Where do you feel like you’re having to hold things in your head (vs. trusting your system)
Pick one. Just one and start trying to make small improvements over time. As you do, you’ll see the answers to other, bigger questions emerge.
If you’re looking to talk out ways to improve your business incrementally, come by the Academy boards and let’s talk it out!
Megan