Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. If you as my client have to ask me for a status report or an update in the project, then I have failed you.
When I start a new client project, I have a list of tasks already defined — based on project type — in a template that I kick off within my project management tool, Basecamp.
Clients have full access to the project within Basecamp, allowing them to see all outstanding tasks, messages, files, and milestones throughout the project.
I give weekly updates to all clients during the project, and sometimes more if there is a scheduled meeting or feedback on content is needed.
Since I offer paid discovery in the form of a Project Roadmap, once a new development effort has kicked off I typically break things up into milestone goak such as:
- site definition verification
- visual interface defined
- build and integration finalized
- testing and launch
- verify and maintain
These are by no means cast in stone since each client engagement is unique, but my general templates task list tends to cover most scenarios (based on past project experience and next practices).
And I am always revisiting my process to see where I can improve my business to give the best solutions to my customers.