The Web Design Business Kit by Peter Williams & Brendon Sinclair

Author:Peter Williams & Brendon Sinclair
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: SitePoint Pty. Ltd.
Published: 2011-06-08T16:00:00+00:00

Tip: Everyone’s a Project Manager

I believe that everyone in our organization needs to have a level of project management skills as a core competency. If all staff are working on projects, they all need to understand how our project management methodology works. It’s not just the job of the Project Manager—you may not be able to afford a full-time PM anyway! Everyone in the team should be involved in managing the project.

First, agree with your senior staff on the methodology you’ll use. Then, make sure that when you induct new staff, they understand how the process works, and what sorts of events and deliverables they can expect to see as they work through a project. Ensure that your staff adopt the methodology themselves, understand how it affects tasks like proposal preparation, and so on.

As the team starts to scale, you’ll find that items like template documents and other tools will help everyone to adopt, and adapt, your chosen methodology more smoothly. Templates are therefore very helpful in inculcating your methodology across your organization in an operational sense—for freelancers and contractors as well as your permanent staff. A thorough, systematized induction process is also recommended, ensuring that every new starter is on the same page as your existing team members.

Everyone on your team must understand the importance of the methodology as a framework for getting the job done—whatever job that is. If it’s well-planned, your methodology should be capable of being appropriate for any project, big or small. In larger projects, you’ll likely need to apply the methodology to a deeper level of detail, and in smaller projects you may be able to truncate some aspects of the process. Your staff have to be able to perceive those different needs, and adapt the methodology accordingly. The only way they can do that is by learning the methodology, and applying it in practice.

Of course, over time, your methodology will evolve as your client base and the nature of the work change. I hold regular team meetings in which we review the way our methodology is working on different projects, and consider altering our templates or procedures if we find that, over time, they’re becoming less effective.

Ultimately, everyone who works on your projects needs to appreciate the value of your methodology, and understand that although it may add a little to their daily work overhead, that effort will repay itself many times over for them as members of your business. Communicating that at induction, and on a daily basis by example, is the key to creating that understanding.

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