On Time, On Budget
Unless you have unlimited resources, you'll probably want to minimize
the time and cost required to revamp or expand your Web site, yet
maximize the quality. Time, money, and quality - known as the "triple
constraints" - are your project's boundaries that you must work
within. And that least flexible of the three constraints - the "driver"
- will be your taskmaster throughout.
To manage a Web site project effectively within these triple constraints
will take wisdom, skill, determination, and a few tricks of the
project management trade. These "tricks" are actually tried and
true principles from the discipline of project management. You will
employ them to break down the project into tasks, map the project
out over time, and determine the resources required to complete
each task. They include the Work Breakdown Structure, the network
diagram, and the task analysis form.
A Work Breakdown Structure, or WBS, is one of
the first jobs for your project team in the process of a Web site
revamp. Call your project team into a project meeting. Take a package
of Post-ItŪ Notes and start writing down all the tasks involved
in the project. Paste them onto a wall, grouping related tasks together.
Some tasks may actually be more generic and encompass some of the
other tasks on the Post-It Notes. These are not really tasks but
"phases" of the project. Group related task Post-Its together above
the appropriate "phase" Post-It. Place a Post-It with the name of
the project at the top, above all the phase Post-Its.
You'll quickly recognize the wisdom of using Post-It Notes when
you discover how much you'll move tasks and phases around before
you finalize the WBS. The finalized WBS can be charted out using
Visio or other charting or desktop publishing software. (See http://www.netconcepts.com/bob/wbs.html
for an example.)
Your team will then use their work on the WBS to develop a network
diagram. Take the Post-It Notes at the task level and rearrange
them on the wall in chronological order, positioned between two
new Post-It Notes - one labeled "Start" and the other "Finish."
Those tasks that are independent of each other can be done at the
same time and thus should be stacked one on top of another. For
instance, a task of "loading catalog database with product information"
would be independent of "designing the graphics," but it would be
dependent on "designing the catalog database's field structure."
It is important to identify the critical path of the project. In
other words, know which tasks that, if delayed, will bring the project
to a screeching halt. Such tasks are known as "show stoppers." Show
stoppers must be managed carefully or the Web site project will
come in late, or over budget, or both.
After the network diagram is finalized on the wall, transfer it
to the computer, again using Visio or other charting software. (See
http://www.netconcepts.com/bob/network_diagram.html
for an example.)
Now that each task has been identified, the project manager (producer)
will need to complete a task analysis form for each task, together
with the team member assigned with the task. The task analysis forms
will define the deliverables, resource requirements, milestones,
time estimate, and deadline for the task. (See http://www.netconcepts.com/bob/network_diagram.html
for an example.)
Rather than producing just one time estimate, come up with three
- an optimistic, pessimistic, and most likely time estimate. You'll
then take these three time estimates and apply statistical methods
(long forgotten from high school, I'm sure!) to them to end up with
an overall, much more accurate, time estimate (see Figure 1).
Figure 1 Tmean = Toptimistic + Tpessimistic + (4 x Tmost likely) 6
standard deviation = Tpessimistic - Toptimistic 6 T95% = Tmean + (
2 x standard deviation ) (which yields a time estimate accurate up
to 95%)
Project management is an essential ingredient for Web site redesign
success. Follow the above-mentioned tips and techniques and you'll
be way ahead of the game. Nonetheless, we've barely scratched the
surface! Project management also includes workflow, version control,
Gantt charts, and content management. We'll have to save these for
another issue!
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