How to Organize and Manage Multiple Freelance Projects Successfully
Managing multiple freelance projects at a time can be stressful and painstaking. It may require a freelancer to put extra effort to meet delivery deadlines. Without having strong organizational skills and management aptitude it is not possible to accomplish the job at comfortable pace and on time.
Quick lessons for freelancers:
Every freelance job requires timely delivery, keeping quality of the work intact. It does not matter how many projects you are handling, how different they are from each other and how difficult they are to perform – accuracy, speed, spontaneity and quality are the must to consider factors for all employers. Therefore, time management and goal setting becomes inevitable for every individual out on job. Unless they maintain a structured and preplanned work habit, optimizing productivity and gaining efficiency in job is not possible. Freelancers too have a social life and they should retain work-life balance.
If you are new to freelance jobs market, it is essential that you learn project management skills well. Reading out freelancer’s success story, following their tips and advices would be of great help. Consulting freelance experts and abiding by site’s rules and regulations would also work wonders.
If you know how to prioritize projects based on deadlines, importance and its sensitivity, it becomes easier to optimize work hours and enhance productivity. The same holds true when you have to perform both – your personal work and freelance job assignments. Experienced professionals are apt in project organization and accomplishment. They are good planners as well as performers.
Here in this article we will discuss a few essential tips that will help you organize multiple freelance projects online.
• Know your employers and their expectations:
It is important that you interview each client thoroughly and understand their requirements, targets, instructions and other necessary points. Get to know the assignment facts, project deadlines, contact details of project coordinator in detail.
• Design a file system:
Once sign up process for all projects is complete, take a notebook and write down all project details on it. Have a paper copy of everything you note. Keep separate folder for each of the projects and label them accordingly. Using a file cabinet for this would be extremely helpful. You can label the folders as per their project names and then set them alphabetically for easy access. Every time you have new assignments in place, store them in individual folder.
• Maintain a calendar:
Make a note of the dates for all deadlines and meetings in a desk calendar and a daily planner. You can also use desktop calendar or Microsoft outlook to set important milestones. Circle dates on the desk calendar and add a short description to it for quick reminders. If you can use outlook’s calendar and notification system, it is the best. There are project management software available in market that can help manage your projects starting from job scheduling, deadline management to payment system and record maintenance.
• Prepare notes for each of the projects you work on. It is crucial that you detail each of the action items and follow ups on it and thus keep a track of the overall progress.
• Prioritize your projects and compile a list of it on paper. Freelancers often need to work on stringent deadlines, client’s specifications, and routinely reporting. More the organized way one can handle multiple assignments, better the output and reputation freelancers can expect in minimum effort.
• Focus on your personal goals and employer’s business objectives. Combine each other and work together for a common goal. Write down a summary of client’s requirements and list down all the activities and supplies that you need to accomplish the project.
• Plan a schedule for each of the projects and fix individual targets on daily, weekly and monthly basis. Review the entire work you do in a day and devise plan for next day work. In case, there is sudden change in project deadlines or volume, keep a copy of the updates. You can record it in daily planner for future reference. Setting up small targets each day and then consistently working on it throughout a month would give you sigh of relief.
• If you are working on multiple projects in a day, it is better to divide your work hours. Instead of taking up both at a time, freelancers should be dedicated to single assignment before switching to another.
• Timely and routinely reporting is also a necessity. Most of the clients want detailed report on work progress once in a week or twice in a month. They are so thorough that you cannot think of anything less than they expect and you promised to deliver.
• Join social business networking sites and communicate with your clients real-time. Thus you can discuss any project related matter to any number of clients anytime you want. Such portals are good for freelancers to get to know each other. Building networking relationship with large number of clients and then continuing regular interactions with them would sure increase the speed and accuracy of your service. Keeping a track of project updates and client feedbacks also becomes easier when you join a community-based platform.
Thus, by following the above mentioned guidelines freelancers can effectively manage their projects and reputation online.
About Author:
Dan Rubin, the author of this article is the founder of Wubb.com – a complete social business networking hub. The Florida based company aims to reach out to all freelancers who need part-time jobs, freelance projects online. He feels Wubb could be the next generation online marketplace for all freelancers who are looking for freelance jobs. To know more about how it works, visit http://www.wubb.com
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