At one point in my career I was responsible for as many as 40 active client projects at the same time. Every one of them had a deadline, a budget and a business owner who needed it done. Nothing teaches you faster which habits keep work moving and which ones only look busy.
Here’s what held up then and still runs how I work as Vice President of Operations at DirecTech Connect.
1. One list, and it’s the real one. Work slips through the gaps between systems: a request in an email, a change mentioned on a call, a note on a sticky pad. Every commitment goes into one place the whole team can see. If it isn’t on the list, it isn’t real yet.
2. Every project has one owner. “The team is handling it” usually means no one is. Each client gets one person who’s accountable for the next step and answers when the client calls. That one habit prevents more problems than any software.
3. Review the whole board every week, not just the urgent items. Urgent work finds you on its own. The project that quietly hasn’t moved in nine days won’t. A weekly pass through every open item, asking what’s stuck and who’s waiting on whom, catches trouble while it’s still small.
4. Write down what “done” means before you start. Most scope fights come from two people picturing different finish lines. A few sentences at the start about what’s included, what isn’t and how you’ll know it’s finished save weeks at the end.
5. Forecast honestly, then track it. Early in my career I spent nine years at Avnet. I rose to Customer Operations Manager, responsible for forecasting $1 billion in annual revenue and tracking every order from sale through shipment and billing. The lesson carries over to any small business: a forecast is only useful if you check it against what actually happened and adjust.
6. Protect response time. Clients forgive a lot if they hear back quickly. They forgive very little if they feel ignored. A fast “got it, here’s when you’ll have an answer” is worth more than a perfect answer three days later.
None of this is complicated. The hard part is doing it every week, especially when things are busy. That’s the job.
Danielle Lemons is Vice President of Operations at DirecTech Connect, a Nashville provider of business phone systems, managed IT services, websites and digital marketing. More about Danielle.
