2020 has been a crappy year for a lot of reasons, not least of which is the fact that it has been massively disruptive for work. No, I am not talking about working from home, although that has been disruptive for some.
I am talking about the enormous economic uncertainty we are currently experiencing. It has caused many organisations to put on hold any significant projects that require substantial investment. Website redesign projects, for example, are hard to find at the moment. That has meant agencies and freelancers like us are struggling to pay the bills.
Big Project Suck
However, in some ways, I don’t think that is a bad thing. That is because I would say that as a general rule of thumb, most big projects suck. From website redesigns to massive IT projects, the outcomes are unpredictable and often undesirable.
Big projects often mean fixed priced that prevent you from adapting midst project, timelines that are nothing more than ill-informed guesses and specifications that are rarely based on user research.
As agencies and freelancers, we should be moving away from these kinds of projects anyway. They are hard to price, difficult to run and bad for our clients. Big projects require significant risks and big decisions. They put massive pressure on everybody to ‘get it right’.
Focus on Low Risk, Iterative Decision Making
I prefer to avoid these big weight projects whenever possible. Instead, I achieve the same objectives through a series of smaller, lower risk, iterative decisions based on data.
Digital lets me do this because it is easy to adapt and iterate upon. It also provides me with data on each of my small decisions to tell me if I am heading in the right direction. That means I have evidence to present clients, and we are less constrained by the statement of work.
Working in this way allows me to identify and explore exciting ideas which might be the solution to the problem I am trying to solve. These ideas won’t be perfect or even well defined. However, they will be enough to start experimenting with and evolving. Ultimately that results in a better solution for the client and avoids costly mistakes.
It benefits me too as I don’t have to worry about scope creep or endless iterations because the client is paying me for my time, not a fixed price I quoted without having all the facts.
Approach Digital Projects Differently
I believe that 2020 is an opportunity to start approaching how we work with our clients differently. Instead of putting these projects on hold, we can encourage our clients to take small steps towards their objective without committing to a large investment at a time of economic uncertainty.
Now you might feel that in your case that is not possible, but I ensure you it is. If you aren’t sure where to start, get in touch. I am happy to discuss it with you.
However, I would also encourage you to consider things like running a discovery phase, doing a design sprint, mapping the customer journey or building a prototype as good starting points. These are all small, low-risk steps that you can offer to encourage clients to start spending again.
Don’t Give Up. Start Small.
So if you are frustrated because some project you wanted to work on has been put on hold, don’t give up. Instead, talk to the client and suggest starting small and doing some preparation work that will put them in a better position when the company can begin to take more significant risks.
You might find that when they see smaller, incremental steps in action, they may well be converted to this approach permanently, in much the same way that many organisations have been won over to the idea of remote working.
How Are Things With You?
However, I could be wrong. Things could be full steam ahead in your business, in which case I would love to know. How is your pipeline? Do you still have enough work coming in, or have your clients gone quiet? Drop me an email and let me know.
I look forward to hearing from you.
