Project Management Secrets:

A Disciplined Approach to Developing Small Plone Sites

What makes a successful project?

• Delivering a project on time

• Delivering a project within scope

• Cleanliness of implementation

• Quantifiable results

• Personal satisfaction?

• Client happiness / engagement?

Guidelines

• Do the paperwork!!

• Scope consistently for all clients

• Review project status frequently

• Minimize handoffs / disconnects

• Follow through and finish lingering details

• Ask for feedback and take it to heart

• Do proper, ongoing postmortems

Document your project (1)

• Write functional specifications someone else can understand

• Do this BEFORE design starts and get signoff from the client before starting

• Document exactly what will and will not be covered by the scope - products to install, # of design revs.

• Take notes on any important conversations, and keep those in front of you during the project

Document your project (2)

• Update your project database with any status changes (in design, implementing, ready for invoicing)

• Review checklists regularly to make sure all to-dos are being addressed

• Log your hours consistently

Scoping: Be consistent

Scoping Components (1)

• Complexity of design

• Custom home page vs a single design

• Overall level of tweaking required to make the design work in Plone

• How deep do you want to go with a client?

• Write work orders for additional design revs

Scoping Components (2)

• Selection of products

• Use a consistent set of proven, stable products

• Or, bill for innovation

• Difficulty of implementation of products

Scoping Components (3)

• Previous history with a client

• Increase scope time for needy / difficult clients

• Risky and hard to quantify

Scoping Components (4)

• Time spent on the project

• Each phase of the project is allotted an estimated, reproducible number of hours

• Build extra time into project management phase

• Price yourself competitively and realistically

Billing: Flat rate vs hourly

• Hard to quote on a flat rate basis

• Unknowns

• Client responsiveness / neediness

• Snag in implementation

• Scope creep

• Repeatability can be overestimated

• Helps to have a ballpark “flat rate” which also takes into account hourly estimates

Scoping Components (3)• Example $7,000 ONE/NW project:

Project intake: 3 hours Design: 10-12 hours Site buildout: 2 hours Project Management: 10 hours Training: 5 hours Implementation: 12 hours Evaluation / QA: 10 hours Site launch: 1 hour Total hours: 50

• Project is probably underscoped

• How to track staff training time?

How and when to bill

• 3 Phase Billing System = Engagement

• First bill due when project commences

• Second bill when design is complete

• Third bill when implementation is complete

Project Status: Review it frequently

Project Status: Self-Organization

• Find a system that works for you

• iGTD has changed my life

• Basecamp for small details

• File your email -- every day

• Review your list of projects every day and prioritize

• Hold “stand-up” meetings with colleagues to relay status and identify problems / needs

Project Status: Use a Database

• ONE/NW uses Salesforce

• Can create an account and multiple opportunities

• Can track almost any detail you want, from training to timesheets

• Can see a project timeline, up against other concurrent projects

• Reusable templates

Project Status:Basecamp Checklists

• Better for recording minor details, not milestones

• Website project start

• Client To-Dos

• Design

• Implementation

• Go-Live

• Focus: Client To-Dos and Go Live stages

Client To-Dos Checklist

• Clients are often overwhelmed by the number of checklist items in Basecamp

• Generally pull these items out of Basecamp and work through them via email or telephone

Go Live Checklist

• Often seems like there is a backlog at this phase

• Time constraints are also tight

• Need to move some of the tasks from this phase earlier into the process

Correspondence & Communication: Write it down!

Keeping track of client conversations

• Important details should be captured -- with date, time, persons involved so that scope creep can be tracked

• Additional people on a project need to stay informed

• Extra insurance in case someone leaves a project mid-way

• File these in a central repository, i.e. on a shared server, in a folder specifically for that opportunity

Minimize Handoffs / Disconnects

Handoffs:Internal and external

• We have outside designers and outside skinners

• Internal handoffs from strategists to PMs

• Be consistent in what you give people during a handoff

• Formal introduction

• Design survey

• Wireframe / Site map

Follow Through and Finish Those Lingering

Details!

Check in with the client• Constant review, reminder of scope

agreement

• Make sure they review and approve the site

• Push for training

• Check the deliverable against the scope

• Suggest a work order / phase two for additional changes

Wrap up

• Remember to invoice

• Provide documentation, esp. for special features

• Test the site thoroughly and ask for assistance

• Change DNS settings and test again!

• Celebrate the launch with them!

Postmortem• Ask client for feedback.

• Use a form with quantifiable questions, and leave room for additional comments

• Analyze stats over time to gauge improvement / reduced effectiveness

Process Improvements• Do a better job of analyzing metrics

• Long-term follow-up with client

• Improve scoping estimates to properly account for consistent overages

• Communicate with clients more effectively

• Do more face-to-face communication, esp. for training

• Get more eyes on a project