Managing Multiple Interior Design Projects Doesn’t Have To Drive You Crazy
Your interior design business is constantly evolving. That’s a great thing and it can also make you feel a little crazy! You get new clients, address different projects and overcome new challenges as your company grows. You’re thankful for all the buzz and expansion, but you wonder if you can really handle all these projects! I have been there before.
If you are looking for new ways to improve your interior design project management skills, you have come to the right place! Here are five suggestions.
Set clear goals
They can be weekly, monthly, quarterly, but regardless of the deadline, setting goals encourages you and your team to complete tasks that not only benefit your business, but also contribute to overall morale. When you and your team are knocking out the tasks by deadlines, it builds momentum and solidifies measurable results.
Whether you are implementing a new social media strategy or meeting project deadlines with clients, setting the right goals will keep you on track. It will keep you from becoming frazzled in remembering what the bottom line is. It will help you prioritize activities and leave you with a sense of accomplishment. When you feel accomplished, it inspires you to do more.
Communicate regularly
Communication can be time consuming. BUT, it is the saving grace of your business! Maintaining regular communication is the advice that never goes out of style. You know how important communication is to solve problems and understand clients’ needs, and this mentality should be cultivated with clients.
All clients under your care should feel comfortable discussing all types of business matters. Open lines and regular check-ins are the keys to business success and development. I recommend weekly status reports to my interior design coaching clients.
Use the right tools
It is difficult to improve your project management skills without the right tools at your fingertips. As an interior designer you have a variety of options to support your business functions.
Use social networks to expand your online network, promote your business and get in touch with a wider audience. It’s magical! Social media platforms make it so much easier to know EXACTLY who you’re looking for. Don’t be shy! Post images of finished spaces, inspiring pieces and client testimonials.
Try a project management tool like Trello. I use it with my team and it makes managing so much of what we all do, easier! We can see other team members project progress and our own notes/resources to support what they are doing. It is fantastic!
Of course there are more heavy duty project management tools that have integrated and intuitive features to provide better visibility of current workflow processes that can improve your business as well.
Stay Organized
I know this is not the most fun part, but it does make life easier! Every part of your interior design business must have its place, in a physical and digital file or both. You need to have a set system for how to store and separate client projects, where to store invoices and update spreadsheets to track expenses.
There’s a little bit of grunt work at first, but you WILL NOT regret it later.
Impressive organizational skills are crucial for effective project management! So, you can easily see where a project is and avoid confusion. Use the tools available to you. Stay in touch with your team to keep everyone on track, simplify and manage the workflow to avoid duplicate work.
When a potential client senses and sees all of this in action, it is a subconscious selling point, that you’ve really got things under control!
How did the project really go?
Remember, no two clients are the same, nor are two projects. The design process may have gone smoothly, but some delays could have been avoided. In the end, review the project, by either you or your team, to assess what went well and what could be improved.
Evaluate feedback with an open mind. This evaluation can help you adapt the ideas or principles you learned in a project to a new one.
All these ideas support smoother projects and relieves some of the “crazy” accompanied with managing multiple projects. It also helps you track future progress in your interior design business, that’s the bottom line, isn’t it?!
Overwhelmed growing your business and need help? You don’t have to figure it out all alone anymore. Sign up for an introductory business strategy call and I’ll help you make decisions on the next steps for you and your business.
Hop into my private FB group the Interior Design Business Forum here to get my daily inspiration, lessons, thoughts of the day and let the community help you become an actionable entrepreneur.
Nancy Ganzekaufer, Interior Designer Business Coach
Nancy is a sought-after Speaker, Certified Body Language Trainer, Author, and Business Coach to Interior Designers and an expert in topics like marketing, sales, profitability, and systems for your Interior Design Business. She teaches Interior Design professionals how to have the confidence to charge what they are worth, how to succeed in sales without feeling sale-sy, and how to authentically position themselves in their market for maximum visibility.
Through her work, Nancy empowers service-based entrepreneurs to build the life and business they have always wanted. As a mom of three young adults and a successful business owner, Nancy understands the unique challenges entrepreneurs face when pursuing their dreams of growing a profitable business. She leads by example through her hard work, encouragement, and most of all, her no-BS leadership style.
Nancy offers 1:1, group coaching, and self-study courses, and a free FB Group called “Interior Design Business Forum” to guide Interior Designers to clarity on their business identity, offerings, pricing, marketing, and sales. In addition to Coaching, Nancy is a National Executive Board member of the Interior Design Society (IDS) and the Current and Founding President of the IDS Virtual Chapter.
