No matter if you’re a project manager, team manager or a team leader, your basically boils down to one single thing – you have a group of hard-working, creative individuals who need managing and you’re the person for the job.

And managing people is hard work – so hard in fact, that a vast majority of organizations can’t complete their project on time.

According to a study of more than 10,000 projects, published in the Gallup Business Journal, only around 2.5% of businesses manage to successfully complete 100% all of their projects.

So you know what this means? By completing all of your projects, you’ll automatically become one of the top performing companies on the market. But does this mean that all it takes to be a successful project manager is deliver your projects on time? Piece of cake, right?

How to Manage a Design Team Effectively

Now, here we come to the root of your problem – you’re not just managing an average team of ordinary workers – you’re managing web designers. And these guys tend to have a lot more personality and more often than not, they’re less willing to work in a group.

And that’s why managing a web design team is a bigger challenge that ordinary team management.

Learn How to Keep Everyone on Your Team Motivated

This will probably be your biggest challenge as a team manager, because, according to Gallup research, more than 70% of the workforce in the United States isn’t actively engaged. And as we mentioned before, you’re not dealing with your average workers here.

To ensure a smooth transition and successful collaboration within your team, it’s important to schedule regular one-on-one meetings, especially during the initial months. Additionally, if you’re working with a young team, be prepared to take on a coaching or mentoring role to provide guidance on project execution for client assignments. An effective approach would be to utilize the grow coaching model, which generally involves encompasses goal setting, feedback provision, and ongoing support. This methodology can help employees gain clarity regarding their roles and responsibilities within the team, while also fostering their professional growth and skill development.

While there’s no official guide that will help you deal with all of the different personalities you’ll have to manage or prepare you for every situation you’ll face, there are in fact, certain things you can do to make things easier for both you and your team.

You Need to Realize That Time Management is Crucial

Time is the most precious resource you have so make sure not to waste it too much. The more you plan the allotment of your hours, the less time you waste every single day.

Your job is to make plans isn’t it – so make sure to create a schedule and stick with it. Don’t force your team members to work overtime – according to new findings, working more than 40 hours a week is basically useless.

Start Listening to Everyone Involved in the Process

Most project managers are trained to listen to the client’s needs and make sure every single one of them gets fulfilled. But if you’re a part of the web design world, things don’t actually work that way.

Most clients don’t actually know what they want (Clients from Hell was created for a good reason), so you need to listen to your team as well, because every member will give you feedback that will make their (and subsequently, your) job a lot easier.

Four Essential Apps for Managing a Web Design Team

Managing a successful team also largely depends on knowing what apps you need to use. Handling over email is almost impossible, which is why, according to a recent Enterprise Project Management survey, more than three quarters of companies rely on team management software to get things done.

But if you haven’t used any team management before, it’s easy to get lost and lose a lot of money while trying to find the best set of tools. So in order to make things less complicated for you, we’ve compiled a short list of apps that will help you manage your team more efficiently.

1. Dropbox Business

When the cloud storage service was initially launched, it quickly revolutionized the way people manage their files and data. And recently, the company introduced a business version. You can use the service to store all of your sensitive data and share it with your team members and/or your clients.

2. Slack

We’re sure that most people already know about Slack, but we simply have to say a few words about it. The Time Magazine dubbed it “The Email Killer” because thousands of companies across the world are now abandoning email, because slack makes things much easier for team leaders to communicate with their teams.

3. ActiveCollab

Some people will tell that Basecamp is the be-all and end-all of digital project management apps, but if you’re working on a tight budget, it’s probably wise to look elsewhere. And if you want an alternative – look no further than ActiveCollab. This web design project management tool offers a virtual space where you and your team can work on projects and keep each other up-to-date for small fee.

4. GoToMeeting

It’s 2017, and people no longer waste half of their day visiting clients or hosting business meeting, when they can easily host a conference online with a tool like GoToMeeting. This professional, HD-video conferencing tool provides a much safer environment than Skype and enables you to host secure meetings with your colleagues and clients online.

Final Thoughts

And while all of this may seem a bit complicated, honestly, team management isn’t anything scientific. Although you’ll probably need some time to grasp everything, with a little bit of hard work (and the help of the apps we listed above), you’ll get a hold of things sooner than you think.