The document outlines the key steps for staff and resource planning for a project: 1) Define goals and audiences, both external people the project serves and internal collaborators. 2) Identify key steps or "epic stories" for achieving goals through actionable tasks, focusing on audiences. 3) Take inventory of required skills and any gaps, determining what can be done internally or through hiring. 4) Manage budgets and tools, whether focusing on task management or team collaboration. 5) Balance project scope, budget, and timeline by starting with an ideal scope and reducing to what's realistic.

1. NTEN LCS September 15th 2015 2-3:30pm
Michael Rader, Senior Project Manager - Forum One
Staff & Resource Planning
1) Define Your Goals & Audiences
a) What are you trying to accomplish? Keep it high level, focused on outcomes. You will
use these goals to measure your success at the end of the project.
b) External Audiences​- These are the people your website/app/program is designed to
serve. Always keep them in mind - what are their desires and constraints? What type
of experience do you want them to have?
c) Internal Audiences​- These are the people invested in and contributing to your
project’s success. They are your collaborators and your biggest potential
champions. Understand and hear them and they will help you succeed.
2) Identify Your EPIC stories!
a) Start with your hero’s journey. What are the key steps to reach your desired
outcome?
b) Break those steps down, and then do it again, until you have individual actionable
steps.
c) Again, focus on your audiences - what do they want/need to do, and how can you
create a path for them?
d) Ideally, these tasks should be ​testable​by someone who hasn’t been involved.
3) Inventory Your Skills & Gaps
a) What are the broad skillsets required in each of your epics?
b) Take inventory:
i) What can you do?
ii) What can people in your organization do?
iii) What can volunteers do?
iv) What can you hire someone to do?
4) Manage Your Budget & Tools
a) Budgeting - Start with a simple spreadsheet. Tasks in rows, people in columns. Add
dollars where appropriate. Sum the rows for task estimates, sum the columns for
people’s time.
b) Tools - Decide whether your focus is on ​task management ​or on ​team collaboration.
5) Balancing Scope, Budget, & Timeline
a) Start with your ideal scope and reduce to a realistic scope
b) Remember to communicate & manage expectations of your audiences, particularly
your internal team members and stakeholders

2. NTEN LCS September 15th 2015 2-3:30pm
Michael Rader, Senior Project Manager - Forum One
Team Collaboration
Tool URL
Google Drive https://www.google.com/drive/
Teamwork https://www.teamwork.com/
Glip https://glip.com/
Basecamp https://basecamp.com/
Task Management
Tool URL
Redmine ​http://www.redmine.org/
Jira https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira
Trello https://trello.com/
Kanban Tool http://kanbantool.com/