At IMA, we know the one of the most important factors in our success is the working relationships we build with the client teams we serve. When we have a team that is enthusiastically engaged with us, we find the results are optimal. That often results from setting expectations early in the engagement; defining what each of our roles and responsibilites are in the project.

So we thought it might be helpful to provide our clients and prospective clients with a list of the top eight ways to ensure they are collaborating effectively on Web development projects. And when we were finished, we decided that some of these can be applied universally, to almost any client-vendor relationship. See what you think:

1. Do your homework.
   This starts in the very first meeting, the kick-off, when we expect the client team to come to discuss their goals and objectives, tell us about Web sites they like or dislike, and provide us with marketing or other collateral material that we'll use to begin design work. Those teams that take the "assignment" seriously -- who spend time listing the URLs of Web sites they want to discuss, carefully considering why they like or dislike them, and who provide us with the materials we've requested -- are already ahead of the game.
   
   
2. Honor the schedule.
   Since a development project depends on meeting deadlines by both client and vendor, the client must embrace the schedule as seriously as the developer. Almost every client promises to adhere to the schedule, but often they slip into the thinking that the schedule is the vendor's commitment. Actually, the schedule is a mutual commitment. Treat it that way, and you will get better results.
   
   
3. Get the right people in the room.
   When an important decision needs to be made on a project, it is essential to have access to the people who have the authority to make those decisions. Having the wrong people in the room can cause delays and duplicated efforts.
   
   
4. Provide processed feedback.
   Feedback delivered to us in "raw" form, where some items may contradict others, puts the vendor in the position of interpreting and weighing comments, to arrive at a conclusion. Our experience is that role is better handled by an internal team leader who is aware of the politics and organizational issues. Having a trusted senior client side person to act as our filter moves the project along.

   That doesn't mean we won't help resolve contradictions, and suggest ways to work around them. It just means that you should resolve as many as possible from an organizational perspective before involving us.
   
   

5. Keep focused.
   One of the reasons clients hire a company like IMA is because they have other things to do. We appreciate that fact. But it is also true that Web development projects require a level of attention that must be sustained throughout the project. When a project is "shelved" for a time, to allow a client to work on something else, it takes a considerable effort to re-orient the development team to decisions already made when everyone is finally ready to get back to work. The most efficient projects are the ones where focus is maintained for the duration of the project.
   
   
6. Raise any concerns early rather than late.
   For some clients, it seems like Web site doesn't seem "real" until the application is working in test mode or, even worse, after it's launched. At this point requests start flowing in that could have been made months before. Making a change to a template early in the process is easy and costs little. Making that same change when templates have been populated with content can be time consuming and more expensive for the client.
   
   
7. Use us for our expertise – it’s what you hired us for.
   We tend to be hired when the client recognizes that they don't know everything about the Internet, and want a professional to help them realize their full business potential on the Web. Having made the decision to go with a professional firm, we ask that you remember that fact when we're making recommendations. We promise to listen fully to your reasons for wanting things to appear a certain way, and will work with you to make best decision for the project. We ask that our clients realize that our objective is always to make the project the best possible, while still recognizing the reality of budgets and deadlines.
   
   
8. Don't forget the testing.
   At IMA, we conduct thorough quality assurance testing of your application. But no matter how well we know your company and its goals, it always helps to have the client team working with us to ensure that the content and the workings of the Web site are "as specified."