Project delivery can be tricky, with various hurdles along the way. Whether it’s tight timelines, miscommunication, or scope creep, here are some quick, super-simplified solutions that can make a big difference in keeping your projects on track.
*the much-needed context of your agency is not included. But it could be if you’re in need!
- Client Alignment — Ask about their hopes and dreams for the project before it begins, then share progress towards those same goals early and often.
See also Defining and Achieving Client Value in Projects - Contract / SOW Format — Either document everything in great detail, then stick to the plan, or focus the contract around outcomes that are measurable and achievable.
- Estimation — Make and agree a detailed plan to achieve the shared goals, containing only estimatable steps, then get the whole team to estimate their part of each piece using hours.
See also Why Agencies Can’t Quit Their Really Bad Estimates - Delivery Approach Consistency — Flex your delivery approach to each client based on needs, but maintain core processes and milestones to ensure consistency and quality across projects.
Explore my Delivery Approach Review Session - Scope Creep — Either document everything in great detail, then reject or charge for changes, or align around outcomes and adapt to maximise impact on some achievable goals.
See also 5 Agency Strategies to Handle Scope Creep on Your Terms - Project Overruns — Make client alignment non-negotiable, then prioritise procedures, automation and achievable high value deliverables, early and ongoing to ensure you’re building a high quality version of what’s actually valuable.
- Rework — Build what achieves the agreed outcomes, while releasing early and often to maintain alignment and limit recalibration.
- Agency Agile — Agile frameworks don’t ‘just’ work for agencies and so instead the core Values and Principles of Agile should be adopted in whatever way works for the delivery approach.
See also my article on Agile Principles & Your Agency
If you’re seeing these challenges at your agency, learn more about how I can de-risk your agency’s project delivery.