“Best Practices for Client and Project Management” is a subjective topic because everyone has a different opinion about how to develop the needed skills. Some place emphasis on professional training, while others find hands-on mentorship as a starting point.
I think that there is a much simpler way to get started.
After working for eight years with clients from small agencies to big corporations that use WordPress, and learning from all the mistakes, I found there are five basic questions that should be answered and introspected to make a client relation successful-
1. *Who* – exactly is your client? A techie, manager, marketeer, or a user.
2. *What* is expected from you? Go beyond gathering requirements and find out what your clients’ & their customers’ expectations are.
3. *When* do you plan to give ongoing demos, and delivery? Build predictability.
4. *Why* do clients send you those agitated mails? What is the real reason behind them?
5. Finally, I will speak about *How* can you make this happen: by following the **LED principal – Lead, Empathise, Document**
In my experience, answering these questions are building blocks for a successful client relationship- whether a small theme project or one with a huge scope.
Because at the end of the day, we are humans dealing with other humans.