What the build/create team wants to improve upon in the coming year
It’s that time of year when everyone’s talking about ways they want to improve in the coming year. At build/create, we believe improvement is a continual process that you work on all year long. But New Year’s is still a great time to think about how you’re doing and what you could do better. So we checked in with everyone in the office to see what they plan to do in 2017 to build better projects and deliver higher satisfaction to our clients.
Eric: Improve the client’s understanding of the project.
“I aim to give clients a better understanding of project scope and process so that they feel comfortable knowing exactly where they are in the project.”
One common challenge in project work is helping the client understand what you’re doing. But when you create greater transparency with the client about what is or is not involved in the project, it helps resolve points of potential friction early on. Web work can be disorienting, but guiding a client through that process helps build trust in the work you do.
Ian: Balance business roles.
“My resolution is to work harder at balancing working in the business, and on the business. I hope it will help me keep things in perspective and manage my time between both roles more effectively.”
As Creative Lead, Ian’s responsibilities pull him in a lot of directions. And at the end of the day, there’s not always a lot left to put into internal projects. Well, 2017 is the year Ian makes it all happen. Look out, world.
Alex: Communicate priorities.
“I would like to stay ahead of project deadlines and make sure that our team is kept in the loop on the priorities for the day and week.”
Keeping priorities straight—and then communicating them effectively to your team—is one of the tougher aspects of project management. That said, we have a lot of confidence our office anthropologist will figure it out.
Joe: Cut down on distractions.
“I will make an effort to better focus on tasks by not allowing myself to be distracted as easily.”
This was the nicest way Joe could tell us to stop bothering him with Marketing initiatives so that he could focus more on web development. Or Hearthstone. We’re not really sure which.
Matthew: Give early warning.
“Give my team as much warning as possible before I spring a need on them.”
Sometimes work comes through with a short turn-around time and everyone has to jump. But giving your team an early heads up goes a long way toward lowering stress in the office.
Matthew’s other resolution? “Get milk.” As in: for his coffee. We’re pretty sure he’ll make that one.
Laura: Work ahead.
“I tend to wait till the last-minute pressure is on before I start clocking hours, but that doesn’t leave much room for error. For 2017 I want to think and work ahead so that I can keep content flowing smoothly and be better prepared for any bumps in the road.”
Almost all of us offered up some form of “working ahead” as their resolution. But I’m writing this blog, so I got to pick mine first. How’s that for working ahead?