1. “I manage
100+
in a
projects
spreadsheet”
SAID NO ONE EVER
Jean-FrançoisArseneault WordCampOttawa2019

2. About Me
Jean-François Arseneault
Co-Founder, SatelliteWP
Managing Partner, S2B Solution
WordPress User
Since 2006
WordCamp Participant
Since 2010
And Business Owner
Since 2017 2010 1994
… and on Twitter since 2008, at @jfarsen

3. Today’s Milestones
• Addicted to Being Organized
• Trip Down Memory Lane
• It’s Always Easy at the Beginning
• Growing Pains
• But it was Free Before!
• And You Want That… When? 😂
• Do U Even Scale, Bro?

4. It’s like I live to try software 😲
Phproject
Age of Innocence Teenage Years Why so serious Wise Slightly Smarter
2006
Is it free? I’m so cool ! Can it be automated and scale?Is it feature-complete?
Redmine
FreedCamp
Podio
2008
Daylite
2010
ActiveCollab
2016
Teamwork
JIRA
2012
BaseCamp
2013
Trello
2014
Asana
Excel
Paper

5. …rewiiiind !!!
It’s 2006…
• Nintendo WII & huge controller… it lives!
• Pluto is no longer a planet :(
• Facebook becomes available to anyone
• Twitter is launched
• WordPress 2.0, now with WYSIWYG !

6. 1 project… pfft, easy!
2008
Build a multilingual WP site for a Talent Agency:
• Software used = Freedcamp
• Single owner = Single stakeholder
• No web knowledge = Minimal oversight
• Few requirements = Carte blanche
• Soft due date = No milestone tracking

7. So Easy, I Got This !

8. 4 projects – Woah… what?
2010
New builds, Assistance, “Fake it till you make it”
• Software used = ActiveCollab
• Multiple clients = Multiple stakeholders
• Varying levels of interest = Client portal
• Hard requirements = Document everything
• Multiple due dates = Milestone tracking

9. 11 projects – Must… sleep…
2012
Larger projects, Retainers, “Look the part”
• Software used = Basecamp
• Larger clients = Higher expectations
• Sub-contractor help = Ability to collaborate
• Client involvement = Better Project UI
• Me + subcontractors = Track others’ work

10. Ready For A Challenge?

11. 25 projects – #$@&%*!
2015
More projects & project types, “keep my mental
sanity” mode engaged
• Software used = TeamWork
• More/different clients = Onboarding
• Multi-channel inputs = Advanced Collaboration
• Thousands of Tasks = Project Reporting
• Meta-Management View= Dashboard

12. 100+ projects – Organize or Die
2019
Hundreds of projects, various complexity levels, work
overload, … “we need help!”
• Software used = TeamWork + Integrations
• Too much for 1 person = Hire Project Coordinator
• Data Visualisation = Gantt, Kanban, Exports
• Productivity Imperatives = Templates + Automation
• Team + Subs + Clients = Workload Management
• Business-Level View= Project Portfolio Mgmt

13. Resources
Project Management Sofware Comparison
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_project_management_software
Online Learning
https://www.udemy.com/courses/business/project-management/
Books
https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=project+management
Podcasts
https://www.projectmanagementdegrees.net/features/the-best-online-
project-management-podcasts/
And most important of all…
Keep organized to retain your mental sanity 😉

14. You Too Can Win At Projects!