We work in a service industry. We charge fees based on services rendered. You, our clients, trust us to educate, to provide our expertise, and often to advocate on your behalf as the “outside expert” who can help to influence approvals, policy, funding or purchase decisions.

But we need to be careful not to cross the line beyond what’s necessary for you. In most cases, an initial proposal will clearly define responsibilities and deliverables, a set fee for those deliverables, and a timeline for completion. Without this, a design firm is either working on a retainer or time and materials basis; even so, there needs to be some delineation of expectations.

There comes a point where we need to ‘teach a man to fish.’

Part of our responsibility is to design the process as well as the outcomes. In order to create a solution that is sustainable over time, we need to develop solutions that educate our clients’ internal staff, as well as addressing the needs of your end user. Indeed, often the most important audience is your internal staff and their ability to maintain and sustain the system we’ve designed together. Absent that, erosion quickly occurs and you lose the value of your initial investment in Corbin Design.

Similarly, if we as designers do not keep a close eye on project scope, timeframes and identified deliverables, we lose our investment in you, our client. If you’ve become too dependent on us for consultation, review and opinions, our billable time begins to add up. Without proper tracking of project phases, a tightly defined budget can begin to erode.

We offer the following to you, helping to create the proper balance:

1. Review the proposal and expectations as the first order of business. We know that sometimes client teams are assembled without full knowledge of project parameters, especially if a purchasing/legal department had final say over the contract terms. It is in the best interests of all concerned to carefully review the terms of the agreement the first time all team members are assembled.
2. Keep the lines of communication open. At Corbin, our Project Managers are tasked with closely tracking budgets and deliverables via an internal studio management software tool. Identifying a key person on your team to act in the same capacity will assure an ongoing system of checks and balances.
3. Define expectations. Part of our goal of ‘designing the process’ is to provide you with deliverables that you can fully understand. It is important for us to clearly state whether submitted designs are in draft form or finalized, whether we’re asking for input or final approval, what time commitments your team will need to make, and the deadlines you’ll need to hit. Clear, concise instructions will accompany every deliverable.
4. Call to confirm. When we send a document, a project manager will call to confirm receipt of that document. Whether or not your team receives the call directly, at least we’ve closed the loop and created an awareness that we’re there for questions or clarifications.
5. WebEx is a wonderful thing. Our experience in recent years points to the effectiveness of technology tools in keeping in touch with you. Building these meeting points into a project schedule and budget demonstrates our intention to stay on top of the project for the duration. Additionally, saving on travel costs allows more flexibility in budgeting, both for you and for us.

As consultants we know that there’s a point at which we need to help our clients take the reigns. It’s as important for us as it is for you to assure the long-term prospects of our respective businesses. By paying close attention to the points above, we’ll all see the benefits of a well-designed project process.

Tags: Development, Education, Team, Where We Work

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009 at 1:30 pm and is filed under Where We Work, White Paper. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.