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