Bad Project Managers can destroy your site and sanity, but good ones do the opposite. If you have a choice between a bad PM and none at all, I’d choose the latter. But, if the PM is invested in the project and stakeholders and has the expertise and skills to help create a great application from start to finish, you can’t afford not to hire one.
Often regarded as just another layer of billing, there tends to be general lack of regard for what we do in the web world. Designers and developers do not like it when a pompous luddite PM agrees to ideas that are technically unfeasible and require major effort within an unreasonable time. Clients generally aren’t excited to pay for project management, especially if requirements haven’t been met satisfactorily or the job has gone over time and budget.
It can be a thankless job to coordinate diversified teams, keep projects on schedule, monitor budgets, archive communication, and resolve conflicts for even one project at a time, never mind several. It isn’t easy, and if any of these tasks are mishandled it can spell failure for not only the project, but also the client relationship and team morality.
Depending on your methodology, when a Business Analyst isn’t available, Project Managers act as the liaison between the client and the development team. For the developers, a PM should be a buffer in an environment with harsh deadlines and demanding assignments. The object is to preserve sanity of the team while allowing them to focus on their work without interruption. For the client, a PM should understand business goals and how to translate those goals into the lingo of a writer, designer, programmer or system administrator. The PM should be able to articulate why one solution is preferable to another, acting in the interest of the budget and deadlines. With respect to communicating with clients, honesty, approachability, respectfulness, and timely notification is the modus operandi of every good PM.
As Internet builders our work is complex. We don’t just point, drag and click to build websites. There are many layers of architecture, analysis, design, and complex programming and testing that go into the development of an effective website. A good PM has (at least) a working knowledge of every phase and the modesty to ask about what they don’t know in order to best serve the project and the team. When there are bugs, missed deadlines, or misunderstandings a good PM takes the flack, has the humility to apologize, comes up with solutions, and preserves the integrity of the project, operation and team.
If you are paying to have a website created, I wouldn’t recommend doing project management (or design or programming) yourself. Without knowledge in all facets of website strategy, design and development you will not be able to effectively manage the development of your website and best preserve your needs. It is in your interest to put your energy into defining your goals and to ensure that you are receiving what was initially specified.
A good Project Manager will take care of dealing with those technical details and types, so you can rest assured that your goals will be met on time and budget.
Does your project need a manager?
Bad Project Managers can destroy your site and sanity, but good ones do the opposite. If you have a choice between a bad PM and none at all, I’d choose the latter. But, if the PM is invested in the project and stakeholders and has the expertise and skills to help create a great application from start to finish, you can’t afford not to hire one.
Often regarded as just another layer of billing, there tends to be general lack of regard for what we do in the web world. Designers and developers do not like it when a pompous luddite PM agrees to ideas that are technically unfeasible and require major effort within an unreasonable time. Clients generally aren’t excited to pay for project management, especially if requirements haven’t been met satisfactorily or the job has gone over time and budget.
It can be a thankless job to coordinate diversified teams, keep projects on schedule, monitor budgets, archive communication, and resolve conflicts for even one project at a time, never mind several. It isn’t easy, and if any of these tasks are mishandled it can spell failure for not only the project, but also the client relationship and team morality.
Depending on your methodology, when a Business Analyst isn’t available, Project Managers act as the liaison between the client and the development team. For the developers, a PM should be a buffer in an environment with harsh deadlines and demanding assignments. The object is to preserve sanity of the team while allowing them to focus on their work without interruption. For the client, a PM should understand business goals and how to translate those goals into the lingo of a writer, designer, programmer or system administrator. The PM should be able to articulate why one solution is preferable to another, acting in the interest of the budget and deadlines. With respect to communicating with clients, honesty, approachability, respectfulness, and timely notification is the modus operandi of every good PM.
As Internet builders our work is complex. We don’t just point, drag and click to build websites. There are many layers of architecture, analysis, design, and complex programming and testing that go into the development of an effective website. A good PM has (at least) a working knowledge of every phase and the modesty to ask about what they don’t know in order to best serve the project and the team. When there are bugs, missed deadlines, or misunderstandings a good PM takes the flack, has the humility to apologize, comes up with solutions, and preserves the integrity of the project, operation and team.
If you are paying to have a website created, I wouldn’t recommend doing project management (or design or programming) yourself. Without knowledge in all facets of website strategy, design and development you will not be able to effectively manage the development of your website and best preserve your needs. It is in your interest to put your energy into defining your goals and to ensure that you are receiving what was initially specified.
A good Project Manager will take care of dealing with those technical details and types, so you can rest assured that your goals will be met on time and budget.
by Ginger
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