Effective Project Management for the Web. presented by: Stephen Lovell

Effective Project Management

for the Web

It’s a skill foremost, and a singular role in specific situations of need.

PM is NOT babysitting.

Contextual understanding is vital in adequate PM.

You can’t stand on the periphery or the outside looking in. The best PMs are the ones DOING the work.

If the person doing PM doesn’t know the build

skills, then it’s time to learn.

There’s a lot of different methodologies and philosophies out there. At their most basic level they boil down to a few foundational elements.

Projects Tasks Events

Client

Adequate Information Defined Scope

Timeline

Projects are the Hub.

Focused

Individually assignable Segment in a chain

Meeting Milestone

They are a signifier to communicate a status update to the Client or Stakeholders.

It is also dependent on process.

Research -> Build -> Test -> QA -> Support

Your mileage may vary.

In simplest terms the procession of a project is

as follows…

Tickets Ticket Ticket Cards Cards Cards List

Design Build QA Content

Migration Content Revision Staging Support Discovery Contact

Project New Project is

auto-generated in Podio

New List is auto-generated in Trello

Space Project Initiation

Ticket Created Initial Client Contact via

email/phone/in-person • Individual site audit • Initial Site • Sitemap • Discussions i • Sitemap Reorg • Discussions • Content Strategy grain) • Develop Layout • Discussions • Revisions • Generate • Discussions • Revisions • Mockup sign-off • Setup • Seed • Mods • Overall Construction • Rotating Testing • Cross-Browser Testing • Cross-Device Testing • Error checks • Render checks • Security checks • Permissions checks • Initial Approval • Revisions • Final Approval • Migration by CIT of content into site, marked "unchanging" by client • Audit for errors, or issues • Setup Beta Location for site • Site Training (client and CIT trainer) • Creation of new content in appropriate areas by client • Content Audit (Organization, Accessibility, etc.) • Site is moved into a Staging State where it will remain until ready to GO LIVE

Cards generated for Task Work on Project in

Associated List Associated Support Tickets Created Cards Cards Cards Matching Cards generated. Assigned. Worked. Clients contact with

problems or wishes

EOL

EOL is generated because of request or

replacement

Change Request Ticket Generated to Track EOL Contact _Tickets Associated Tickets Updated to match work completed on Cards Project

Project removed from Production & Closed in

PM Systems Cards Assigned. Moved

to Assigned List

Card Work Begins. Moved to In Progress /

Blocked !

Work ready for review. Moved to Ready Check

Necessary Revisions Made. Moved to Done

GO LIVE Cards Cards Cards Matching Cards generated. Assigned. Worked. Project Enters Frozen

State. No Changes Allowed.

Cards Cards

Cards Assigned. Worked.Cards Generated. Project

Project is now LIVE & In Support. PM Systems Updated • Training Booked • Credentials Generated • Training Participated Wordpress Project Workflow & Life Cycle

Initiation Queued In Pro g re ss (o r Bl o cke d ! i f a p p lica b le ) In Su p p o rt C lo se d Training

It enables you to build Scope, gather key Project Details, build out Tasks,

build out Events, and create a manageable Timeline.

Funny Dilbert Comic Here Use your imagination. It could be about anything!

Lots and lots of questions. You should kill all future surprises possible in this stage.

Research is the lifeblood of Planning. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

You do adequate Research by asking

questions.

Planning starts with Scope.

Without adequate Planning you can’t do

adequate Projection.

You break the Scope into chunks and sub-chunks of work and generate Tasks.

Tasks should be grouped based on sections of work instead of a long list.

You define the time on Tasks based on modeling and intuition.

It’s an exercise in intuition and rhythm.

https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=kbxtYqA6ypM

https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=eDdI7GhZSQA

When sections of work have been completed there is a Milestone Event

which might be followed by a Meeting Event to report the update.

Deadlines associated with things are also Events.

You can now see if the desired completion date can be met reasonably or not.

BUT, we forgot something.

Therefore, a system built on order and perfection in order to succeed will fail.

Life will happen. Someone will get sick.

Someone will break something. It happens. Be prepared.

Without it you are assuming everything will be perfect and nothing bad will happen.

That’s a very irresponsible mindset to have.

Bake it into tasks by making all tasks planned for 2 hour blocks of time minimum. Vary increment, but keep consistent.

At the end of your Timeline creation you add in 25% - 50% of your overall time back in.

Passive methodologies are always best, as they are least intrusive.

You can only manage what you can track.

Information without data to back it up is just speculation or at worst fabrication.

Generally enable passive tracking, auto-reporting, data storage and

organization, and communication channels.

Project Management Systems

as Software

Podio Trello Asana Jira Basecamp Blossom Google Cal Wunderlist Todoist

Software Possibilities

Podio Trello Asana Jira Basecamp Blossom Google Cal

For Teams

Trello Asana Basecamp Google Cal Wunderlist Todoist

For Individuals

You will have to chain together multiple Apps in order to accomplish

effective Project-level Information, Tasks, and Events, along with all the

ancillary data associated with PM.

The unfortunate reality is that there is no silver

bullet in what’s available.

Project-level Podio

Example Setup 1

Project-level Basecamp

Example Setup 2

Project-level Trello

Example Setup 3

Passive communication wherever possible is always best.

However, it will never be perfect and so there must be a schedule or routine built into your process to account for manual communication of items: daily,

weekly, bi-weekly, monthly.

Note hourly is avoided because it is a time sink.

In all of the above what is most important is

clear channels of

communication

.

This may be you communicating to your system alone, or your team communicating through the system with each other.

It will vary based on whether you are an

individual vs. a team.

Everyone has access to the Project Management Software. Everyone can see where things are and where they need to be. Everyone can report their progress and obstacles as they go along.

This means that individuals can self-correct behavior that threatens timelines.

The Project Manager is no longer the keeper of

the keys.

There isn’t a need for one person to hold the plan and direct traffic all the time.

A trusted team with adequate communication has a clear plan from the outset to follow.

This is why PM built into a team as a skill is

such a gain.

Individuals can self-correct mistakes.

Managers can more quickly notice and communicate alternatives to things “off the rails”.

There are not enormous “status” meetings required since accurate and current data is always available for the team or individual.

Project System Elements

Projects Tasks Events

Bringing it all together

Project Process Research Build Testing QA Support Project Planning Scope Timeline Intuition Modelling Buffer Time Project Tracking Software Toolchain Communication Channels Routine Direction Micro-level Individual Team