Managing WebDev Client Expectations, Part 8
Having established a good system to track deliverables in your webdev project, ‘milestone’ dates for interim deliverables should be agreed upon.
You’ll need to communicate to the client that missing any milestone date for supplying initial content or adding new content will have an impact on launch commitments and costs. Both of you have businesses to run, and your schedule depends on them holding up there end of the bargain. If you have to shuffle personnel from one project to another and/or pull in help off of other projects, there’s a cost to those delays that the client will have to bear.
The best way to make sure major milestone dates are met is to set interim deadlines for each portion of the work. These would include setting dates for:
- Initial content delivery
- Site Architecture approval
- Site Functionality approval
- Site Design approval
- Draft site internal “go live”
- Site Owner and User Testing
- Public site launch