How to best communicate with your freelance Designer and Webflow Developer – a guide

Communication is key. Especially when working together on projects it is super important to communicate efficiently to avoid misunderstandings and to make the project progress smoothly. In this post I outline some of the issues that can arise when working together on Webflow, web design, or other projects and how to circumvent some of these problems more easily. Here we go!

Respond to your applicants

You are looking for a Designer to help with an urgent project and have put a call out online. This could be a forum, specialist Facebook group or even a job board. you receive heaps of great (and not so great) applications and expression of interest messages and emails. Why not set up an email template thanking rejected applicants for applying? If you can't do that, at least apply this approach when you've interviewed several candidates and potential collaborators. These people have taken the time to have a phone call, Zoom conversation or even an in-person meeting with you and would greatly appreciate a quick message, outlining the next steps or letting them know that they weren't the right fit. A one-size-fits-all template can do the trick here.

Have systems in place for communicating

When you are working with a Designer on an ongoing basis make sure you have a good tool and/or system in place to communicate and delegate tasks. For communication this could be an app like Slack, or Microsoft Teams. If you are working on larger projects together why not use a project management tool like JIRA, or Azure DevOps Boards. Of course, for smaller, one-off tasks and projects, a tool like Trello, or even email can still be the go-to for you as well even though in particular with email there is less of an opportunity to organise and keep track of tasks.

Respond swiftly

After talking to a Designer you are considering to hire or who you are already working with, try not to suddenly go radio silent before turning up again 3 weeks later with a project that needs attention right now. Usually Designers have several projects on the go and need space to plan their days/weeks as well. This requires talking to your own clients and/or coworkers to establish boundaries and expectations but is needed for working together successfully.

Have clear decision makers

Make sure you determine one person at your company to call the shots for any decisions that have to be made regarding your web design or Webflow projects. It can be very difficult as a Designer to work on a project with several decision makers, with competing interests and requirements. If there are several people involved in the project in your company, first come to a decision in-house, before communicating the final decision to your Designer via one designated point of contact. This makes project communication way easier and avoids confusion.

Hope you can use this brief list of ideas as a starting point when working on your next (or first) project with a Designer or Webflow Developer. Questions? Get in touch via email.