Despite your best efforts, it happened again.

Once again, you were late on a freelancing project. When you finally delivered it, your
client said that the project wasn't what he was expecting. Now, you're struggling to
collect a payment and you're behind on the rest of your projects.
Unfortunately, the story above is all too common among freelancers. And it all could
have easily been avoided by using thecustomizable Osmosis questionnaire.
In this post, we'll explain how you can save time and money by using the Osmosis
questionnaire to do a better job of scheduling your projects, starting with nailing down a
project's scope.
Poor Project Scheduling Costs You Time and Money
If the story at the beginning of this post sounds like something you've been through,
you're not alone.
Too many freelancing deals are agreed upon casually. A client contacts the freelancer
and asks them to "write an article" or "design a logo." The freelancer agrees quickly
without questioning the client.
If the freelancer does ask questions, those questions are likely to be a simple ones such
as, "how much does the project pay?" But simple questions don't really give freelancers
enough information to deliver a project on time, let alone deliver work that meets or
exceeds client expectations.
In fact, often the freelancer is doing little more than guessing when they schedule time
for a project. No wonder so many freelancers struggle with deadlines and unhappy
clients.
If you continue the way that you always have, tackling your projects without knowing all
the details, you'll continue to have problems.
You may wind up losing clients or your client may refuse to pay you. You may find
yourself working far more hours than you intended to work for far less money.
You have to get a better idea of what each project requires if you're going to succeed.
How to do a Better Job of Scheduling Projects
You can do better. You need to find a way to be more accurate when you schedule
freelancing work. Fortunately, there are ways to do just that.
Here are seven simple steps that will help you do a better job of scheduling your
projects and ultimately, a better job of keeping your clients satisfied:
1. Define project scope. A misunderstanding of scope is one of the biggest
problems that freelancers face. It's a major culprit in missed deadlines. You are
much more likely to have problems with scope if you never really got an accurate
idea of the project's scope in the first place. You can make sure that your project
scope is accurate by asking the right questions. The Osmosis questionnaire is the
perfect tool to help you find out exactly what the client expects.
2. Determine project due date. The due date is important. It's not enough to simply
get a calendar date. You also need to understand what time the client expects the
project. There's a lot of difference between a project due at 8:00 a.m. and a
project due at 5:00 p.m. If you don't determine exactly what time the client wants
the project, you may find yourself with an angry client at 9:00 a.m. on the calendar
due date. When planning for due dates, also be sure to include time zone
differences in the discussion.
3. Agree upon project approval. Does the client expect to review the project before
it is accepted? Does the work need to go through a revision stage before final
acceptance? You need to come to an understanding with your client about when
they will consider a project to be accepted before the project starts. You can use
Osmosis to incorporate the requirements for project approval into your work
agreement.
4. Break the project into sub-tasks. One common mistake freelancers make is
thinking that their project is too small to break into smaller tasks. Even small
projects should be broken down. Creating a custom logo, for example, requires
brainstorming, possible research, and a draft phase. Nearly all projects can be
broken down into smaller components. If you don't break your projects down into
smaller tasks, you risk underestimating the amount of time each project will take--
and that can mean missed deadlines.
 5. Set mini-deadlines for sub-tasks. Once you have your project broken into
smaller tasks, you should estimate how long you think each small task will take.
Adding up the amount of time you expect to spend on the component tasks of a
project gives you a better idea of how long the project, as a whole, should take.
The next very important step is to assign a mini-deadline, known only to yourself,
to each project sub-task. These mini-deadlines will keep the project moving
forward.
6. Leave some room for the unexpected. Don't forget to plan for the unexpected.
Murphy's Law states that whatever can go wrong will go wrong. If you schedule
your project work to go right up until the project is due, the chances are good that
something unexpected will come up. That something unexpected can cause you
to miss the deadline. Even if you don't miss the deadline, you don't want to be
forced to rush through your project work. A day is usually enough of a cushion for
small projects.
7. Perform each smaller task. Now that you've followed the steps above, you are
ready to start the project. All you need to do now is perform all of the project tasks
and follow your schedule. It will be more accurate than any guessed attempts
you've made at project scheduling in the past.
If you follow these steps and use the right tools, you'll cut back on number of times that
you underestimate the amount of work required for a project. You'll also increase the
number of times that you deliver exactly what the client wanted when the client wanted
it.
In other words, you'll find yourself with happier clients and you'll spend less time
keeping them happy. In the long run, happier clients means more income for you.
Your Turn
What struggles have you faced when scheduling projects? How has Osmosis helped
you do a better job of determining client requirements?
Share your answers in the comments below.