The bigger the challenge, the extra probably a freelancer is to
get overwhelmed. If you happen to do not do an excellent job of organizing a big challenge, you
may even miss your deadline. A misplaced deadline may imply shedding your shopper
and perhaps even your status.
There’s a greater method. Challenge administration ideas assist you to
manage your large initiatives in order that they run easily.
First, let’s outline challenge administration. In accordance with the Affiliation for Challenge Administration,
Challenge administration is the appliance of processes,
strategies, data, abilities and expertise to attain the challenge
goals.
Most freelancers perceive why data, abilities, and
expertise are necessary to finishing their initiatives. However some balk on the
thought of utilizing processes and strategies. Inventive freelancers generally really feel that
an excessive amount of construction takes away from their creativity.
Freelancers ought to welcome processes and methodology. Fairly
than stifling creativity, they help you do extra. For many of us,
extra work completed means extra earnings. That is an excellent factor. Plus, having good
challenge administration abilities allows you to deal with bigger freelancer initiatives. With challenge
administration abilities, you’ll be able to handle different freelance professionals and tackle
extra work.
Bigger initiatives are inclined to pay extra. If you happen to can deal with giant
initiatives, you will be value extra to your shoppers. You may even be extra prone to
appeal to repeat enterprise. In truth, challenge managers are in demand for company
and authorities initiatives. In accordance with a survey
from Payscale.com, the median pay for a challenge supervisor within the US in August
of 2015 ranged from $65,062 to $85,971.
On this tutorial, I give
you a fast overview on challenge administration. I begin by evaluating the Agile
and Conventional strategies. Subsequent, I present sensible strategies which you can apply to your
personal freelance initiatives.
Evaluating Processes
It is necessary to know that challenge administration is a
big discipline. There are numerous completely different challenge administration methodologies, a few of
that are patented. Listed below are just some of the completely different methodologies out
there:
- Agile strategies
- Lean (an Agile technique)
- Scrum (an Agile technique)
- Six Sigma
- Waterfall strategies (additionally referred to as Conventional)
- PRINCE2 (fashionable within the UK)
Every of those methodologies
has variations and sub-methodologies. Do not let the names of all these
strategies confuse you. Company challenge managers want to know them effectively. As a freelancer you will in all probability solely use considered one of two strategies: Agile or Waterfall
(additionally referred to as Conventional).
Company challenge managers additionally use some very particular
phrases. TechRepublic has printed a
nice record
of challenge administration phrases you’ll be able to confer with should you run throughout a time period
you are unfamiliar with. For this tutorial, we’ll concentrate on two definitions that
you could not know:
Scope:
…the best way you describe the boundaries of the challenge; it defines what
the challenge will ship and what it won’t ship…
(TechRepublic)
Deliverable:
…any tangible end result that’s produced by the challenge…
(TechRepublic)
Different phrases are self-explanatory or outlined inside this the
tutorial.
One of many first selections you will make as a contract
challenge supervisor is whether or not to make use of an Agile or Conventional challenge administration
course of. This part compares the 2 kinds of challenge administration processes.
It should assist you to resolve which technique works finest in your challenge.
Selecting an Agile Course of
Agile challenge administration relies on the twelve ideas
of the Agile Manifesto. It’s typically used for software program growth
initiatives. Listed below are some traits of initiatives well-suited to Agile
challenge administration:
- The challenge deliverable just isn’t well-defined or
is prone to change. - The challenge has a number of or phased deliverables.
- The challenge has a set variety of sources.
- The client is on the market all through the
course of. - The schedule could be very versatile.
An instance of an excellent Agile
challenge is the roll out of a brand new software program app. The app will likely be launched in
phases. The options of the primary section are well-known. The
options of the final section are not well-defined and will change over time.
The client additionally desires frequent brainstorming conferences.
To be taught extra in regards to the Agile challenge course of, take a look at the
following free tutorials from Tuts+:
Agile is a good methodology for a lot of initiatives. However some
initiatives are higher managed below a extra Conventional course of.
Selecting a Conventional Course of
On this tutorial, I concentrate on how Conventional (or Waterfall)
challenge administration lets you handle a contract challenge.
Though Agile is fashionable, there are occasions when a
Conventional course of makes extra sense. Listed below are the traits of a challenge
well-suited to Conventional challenge administration:
- The scope of the challenge is well-defined and never
prone to change. - The challenge has a single deliverable.
- Sources for the challenge will be adjusted.
- The client’s involvement within the challenge is
restricted after the scope is agreed upon. - The deadline or supply date is ready and agency.
- The shopper requires Conventional challenge
administration.
An instance of a Conventional challenge is the roll out of an
e-commerce web site for a corporation with solely a handful of merchandise. It would not make sense
to roll the challenge out in phases as a result of the top result’s identified and unlikely
to alter. The client offers you the necessities, however desires you to deal with it
from there. In truth, the shopper’s
availability in the course of the challenge will likely be restricted.
Conventional Challenge Administration
This part identifies the 5 phases of a challenge below a
Conventional challenge administration course of. Completely different methodologies use completely different
phrases, however what occurs in every section is comparable.
Roli Pathak, writing at PM project-management.com, provides a
good description of Conventional
challenge phases:
- Provoke
- Plan
- Execute
- Management
- Shut
I will clarify how one can apply every section to your challenge in
the subsequent part. For now, let’s have a look at the benefits and downsides
of Conventional challenge administration.
Benefits of the
Conventional Course of
- Conventional challenge administration permits group to
work with much less shopper oversight. - There are fewer modifications to the challenge.
- Conventional challenge administration features a
well-defined scope.
Disadvantages of the
Conventional Course of
- It is troublesome to course of modifications.
- The shopper is much less concerned.
Now that you’ve an
overview of challenge
administration, you are prepared to make use of it.
Utilizing Challenge Administration
You possibly can apply a Conventional challenge administration course of to your
freelancing challenge. I’ve tailored the Conventional
challenge administration phases for freelancers. Listed below are the 5 phases of challenge
administration once more and an outline of what occurs throughout every section for you,
the freelancer:
- Get
Necessities (Provoke). The shopper expresses an curiosity in doing a
challenge with you. Test that you’ve the fundamental sources (together with
subcontractors) to do the challenge. Ask for an in depth scope of the challenge. Additionally affirm that your understanding of the scope is right with the
shopper. - Plan.
Estimate the quantity of effort the challenge requires and schedule the work. Break
the challenge into smaller elements (typically referred to as a piece breakdown construction) to
create a manageable plan. Set your inside objectives and ensure that your plan
meets the shopper’s objectives. Get a signed contract or settlement from the shopper
and accumulate the preliminary cost. - Growth
(Execute). You (and any freelancers you have employed) do the principle duties of the
challenge. If you happen to’re an internet developer, that is the place you construct net pages. If
you are a author, that is the place you create the tough draft. - Evaluate/Testing
(Management). Throughout the course of the challenge, examine your progress to the
plan. If you happen to fall behind, take steps to make sure that you get again to the
scheduled plan. Test your work throughout this section to verify there aren’t any
errors and that it meets the challenge scope. If in case you have a group, evaluate every
others’ work. If not, look over your personal work fastidiously. Skipping this section
may end in an sad shopper and many rework. For big initiatives you
might have an impartial subject material knowledgeable for evaluate or testing. - Conclusion/Upkeep
(Shut). Flip the challenge over to the shopper. Invoice for the remainder of the challenge
charges. If the challenge requires ongoing assist and upkeep, make
preparations for dealing with these (for an additional cost). As a freelancer, it is a good suggestion to ask for
extra work at this level.
As you progress by means of the challenge administration steps, you will
want instruments that can assist you. For small to mid-size initiatives, create customized challenge
spreadsheets utilizing instruments like Google
Sheets (free) or Microsoft Excel. For bigger
initiatives you could want a extra complicated instrument like Microsoft Challenge or Jira.
If you happen to’ve adopted the
challenge administration course of, you have in all probability prevented many
frequent challenge issues.
Avoiding Challenge Administration Pitfalls
For bigger initiatives, the challenge
administration course of helps you keep away from frequent freelancing pitfalls. Right here
are seven issues freelancers typically face and a proof of how the
challenge administration course of helps with every:
- Not understanding what the shopper desires. Within the
challenge administration course of the shopper agrees to the necessities (often known as
scope) in the course of the first section. The scope turns into a part of the contract. - Underestimating the time for the challenge. With
challenge administration, your estimate is extra correct since you base it on a
extra detailed scope. - Undercharging for the challenge. You might be much less prone to undercharge for the challenge as a result of you might have a extra correct estimate.
- Falling behind on duties and in the end delivering
late. With a challenge administration course of you all the time know the way your progress
compares to the schedule. - Handing over a challenge with issues. Challenge
administration requires you to check (or management) your work. You might be
much less prone to flip in a challenge with errors. - Misunderstandings after the challenge is full.
For the reason that scope is clearly outlined from the start, the shopper is aware of precisely
what you agreed to do. - Not getting repeat enterprise from the shopper. As
a part of the ultimate section, ask the shopper should you can deal with their assist or
upkeep wants.
After the Challenge
Even after your freelance challenge is full, you aren’t
completed. One of the best challenge managers analyze their challenge successes and failures.
You need to do the identical.
Listed below are some questions when your challenge ends:
- Was the shopper glad? If not, why not? (Chances are you’ll
need to ask.) - Did the challenge keep on schedule? If not, at
what level did it go off schedule? What triggered it to go off schedule? - Had been the time estimates correct for every activity?
In the event that they weren’t, how way more time was wanted? - What did you be taught from this challenge? What do
you would like you had completed otherwise? - Primarily based on this challenge, do you want to spend money on extra
instruments or coaching?
Document your solutions to those questions and maintain them in a
secure place. Go over your solutions together with your challenge group members. Have a look at your
solutions earlier than you begin your subsequent freelance challenge to keep away from making the
identical errors on a brand new challenge.
After a profitable challenge, ask your shopper to
provide you with a suggestion whereas your work remains to be contemporary of their minds. Company challenge managers often
skip this step, but it surely’s important for freelance challenge managers.
Listed below are some Tuts+ tutorials that can assist you to ask for
shopper testimonials:
Conclusion
This tutorial covers a posh topic, Conventional challenge
administration, and makes it accessible to freelancers. It’s not supposed to be an
exhaustive useful resource on challenge administration. Nor does it advocate Conventional
challenge administration methodology for all freelance initiatives.
Challenge administration is an space the place expertise and opinions
differ. Some key factors to recollect are that it’s best to plan and manage your
freelance initiatives and that there are confirmed strategies that can assist you do this.
Additionally, with the ability to handle freelance initiatives will increase your
worth as a freelancer and makes you extra marketable.
Sources
Graphic Credit score: Challenge Administration icon designed by Matthew Roberts from the Noun Challenge.
