How to Manage Client Approval Delays in WordPress Development Projects

Client approval delays are common in WordPress development projects, especially large, complex ones involving multiple stakeholders.

These delays can affect the project schedule and timelines, but with the right strategies, it is possible to keep moving forward and maintain the quality of the work.

This post will explore how to maximize productivity during waiting periods, optimize communication, and apply technical solutions that ensure the team meets deadlines.

Delays in Client Approval or Feedback Are a Common Challenge in WordPress Project Management

One of the most common challenges in project management is delays in customer feedback or approval. The most common delays tend to occur at two key stages:

• The web design stage is when the client reviews deliverables before moving to the development stage. The delay time can increase when multiple people review the designs, making it difficult to get consolidated feedback.
• The web development stage. After delivering the site for review, clients often need time to review each page and make notes on adjustments or changes required. This process can also create significant delays.

In some of our projects, we’ve had to postpone release dates due to a lack of feedback from the client, either because they were busy with other priorities or because they needed more time to review deliverables.

In these situations, we always try to agree on a deadline for feedback with the client, followed by reminders, to ensure that revisions are made within the agreed-upon timeframes.

Focus on Maximizing Productivity During Downtime

Downtime due to feedback or approval delays is sometimes unavoidable, so finding ways to move the project forward during these periods is important.

While certain stages of the project depend on client approval, there are others where teams can make progress even while waiting for clients.

Here are some examples of strategies we use to maximize productivity during downtime:

• Remediate various elements of the project. During downtimes, the team can focus on the final details of other aspects of the project. For example, our team usually uses downtime to refine the custom WordPress blocks we use to build our clients’ sites.
• Review the site as it currently is. Perform exhaustive pre-launch reviews to leave everything ready for when you receive customer feedback.
• Document technical details. Completing project documentation is an important task that teams can focus on during downtimes. It may include creating guides for the client (WordPress tutorials, etc.), GitLab workflows, and demo videos to facilitate data entry for the client.
• Prioritize tasks that don’t require client approval. All of our projects use a timeline that allows us to quickly identify tasks that are not dependent on client approval, allowing us to prioritize them and move forward in parallel without wasting time.

Performance and Accessibility Optimization Tasks That Don’t Require Client Approval

We want to emphasize these tasks because they usually are one of the most efficient ways to use downtime.

Optimizing performance and load speeds objectively improves the site’s final deployment and doesn’t require client approval. It includes tasks such as making images lighter, implementing caching solutions, and adjusting custom functions to make the site run more efficiently.

We also perform functionality and accessibility testing to improve the user experience.

How to Communicate With Clients When There’s a Delay?

Clear and consistent communication is critical when there’s a delay, so it’s important to keep the customer informed about the status of the project and the consequences of delays.

When we notice there’s a delay, we immediately communicate with the client to explain the reasons behind the delay and how it will affect the schedule. We also include the strategies we will use to adapt to the changes brought upon by the delay, including suggesting a new realistic deadline.

When communicating these news, always maintain a friendly tone, showing empathy and reassuring the client that we understand the importance of the project.

Depending on the timelines and the consequences of the delay, we may communicate these news via Slack (through dedicated project channels), Google Meet for extended meetings when necessary, or Notion as a central dashboard where the client can see the real-time status of each stage of the project.

How to Speed Up Client Approvals and Face Fewer Delays in WordPress Development Projects

While some delays are unavoidable, there’s a lot we can do as project managers and agencies to make the approval process easier and faster for clients. Some of the strategies we use include:

• Breaking down the project into smaller milestones. It makes it easier for clients to review and approve in manageable chunks without feeling overwhelmed.
• Providing intermediate deliverables. Examples include preliminary designs, which help get early feedback that prevents later delays.
• Providing clear options for clients. Such as choosing between two layout alternatives.
• Setting deadlines for approvals. It helps keep the project on track.

An Example of How to Maximize Productivity During Client Approval Delays

One of our recent projects provides a concrete example of how WordPress development teams can manage client approval delays.

We had already completed the development of all the custom blocks the website would use, except for one that was still waiting for the client’s approval. Instead of getting stuck, we decided to move up the migration stage to save time and speed up the process when the time came.

This approach meant that the project was ready to move quickly to the next phase once the pending block was approved.

This experience taught us several important lessons about managing client approval delays:

• Map non-customer-dependent tasks in your project’s timeline to always know how to maximize productivity during downtimes.
• Provide intermediate deliverables to get early feedback and avoid redoing large parts of the project.
• Have short, regular meetings with clients to identify potential roadblocks before they cause delays.
• Establish deadlines for feedback, as it ensures a commitment from the client to keep the project on track.

Learning to Manage Client Approval Delays Will Improve Your WordPress Projects

Delays in client approval are inevitable in many projects, but with the right strategies, it is possible to manage them without affecting deadlines or the quality of work.

We have learned that maximizing productivity during downtimes, improving communication, and taking advantage of non-client-dependent milestones are the keys to moving forward smoothly during delays.

Additionally, finding ways to implement smaller milestones and intermediate deliverables helps keep the client engaged and improves approval flow.

Applying all these strategies will help your team navigate client approval delays smoothly and be prepared to push the project forward quickly once approval arrives.

If you found this post useful, read our blog and developer resources for more insights and guides!