Don’t let the baby face fool you. I’ve been working in marketing and communications for 15 years. One of the secrets to my success is efficiency. As a project manager, I stand between the client and the creative team, and sometimes, I speak two completely different languages to accomplish the same task. That's right. I'm efficient in client and design speak.
A few tips:
- Translate text-heavy client edits into bullet points or check marks that make it easy for your designers to make updates. If needed, change the language of the edits, so your designers easily understand them.
- Hold your designers accountable to these checklists. I love designers who literally send me check marks with their updates.
- Ensure your designers proof their work. It is their responsibility to ensure client names and simple words are spelled correctly. Just run a spell check.
- Once you get the task back, do your own proof against your list and the client’s. If you have the luxury, send this to an internal proofreader, too.
- In your communication back to the clients, outline the changes that have been made, and if a change wasn’t made, tell the client why rather than letting them discover it on their own. That helps you be proactive rather than reactive.
This process not only delivers work efficiently, it also builds trust between your clients and your teams. With that trust, you're well on your way to becoming more than the "hired help;" you're a partner internally and externally.