First Ever Toronto Interactive PM Meetup!
Posted on | August 31, 2010 | No Comments
I am quite excited to announce that next week – Thursday, September 9th – will be the first Toronto Interactive PM meetup. I have yet to set a location, but I will be announcing that early next week. If you are an interactive project manager, or know someone who is please direct them to: http://www.meetup.com/interactivepm/ and join us next week!
Toronto Interactive PM Meetup Group!
Posted on | July 22, 2010 | No Comments
I have started a new Meetup Group for Interactive PMs! My goal is to create a monthly meetup for PMs in the interactive/digital space in Toronto. I think it would be a great opportunity to meet face-to-face and share ideas. Eventually, I would like to have a guest speaker and special topics to discuss each time. But, I think I will keep it simple and informal to start. The first meetup is set for September 9th – venue TBD based on how many people sign up. So pop on over to meetup.com and join the group!
[Guest Post] What Good Project Management Means to a Designer
Posted on | July 20, 2010 | No Comments
I am very excited to present my first guest post on interactivepm.net! This post is by Cassie McDaniel. Cassie has worked as a web designer in Orlando, London, and Toronto, having worked with Chevrolet, Adidas, Citibank, Kids Help Phone, Sony Centre, and more. She has a design degree from the University of Florida and now freelances as an independent designer, artist and writer. Check out Cassie’s portfolio or follow her on Twitter.
A good project manager and a good designer have a lot in common. We need to understand lots of different aspects of a project: requirements, constraints, budget, what’s possible, who’s responsible for and capable of what, and overall strategy. In working with PMs, I’ve found it most useful when they can appreciate and respect my role in the project as well as my particular needs. One of the best articles I ever read in understanding the different roles and kinds of people that come together to create an end product is by Paul Graham entitled Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule. For me, good PMing has always meant that they allow me the headspace to be able to do my job efficiently and effectively. Beyond what Graham says, I have a few other concrete suggestions:
Empathize with your team members
It helps to work with people who are empathetic to the challenges of your job. I really feel for PMs when they have to take the abrupt phone calls and keep their cool while someone is shouting at them over the other end of the receiver, or when they need to pacify a client by offering up chunks of their soul. For developers, I carry a lot of guilt that their involvement with a project often comes at the end and they are the ones stuck with the tightest of deadlines, working late because of delays in prior project milestones and an immoveable deadline.
As a creative, one of the biggest challenges is similar to the PMs’, because we too have to offer up bits of our souls. Some clients are perfect, but at other times, trying to design for someone else is like trying to communicate with a wall, a wall that in fact keeps changing its mind. It’s very difficult. Understanding and appreciating these challenges from a team perspective again helps keep the morale high.
I think it also helps a PM to empathize with their team members and consider whether saying ‘yes’ to the client’s next request just might be the straw that breaks the camel’s back in terms of what we can and can’t deliver in time. As another very talented PM always says, when a client makes a request of us, the answer is always Yes – with more money. It’s hard, I know, but justifies to the maker that working late or other mental stress that comes from being asked to do more, more, more is worth it.
Avoid micromanagement
This is my most exacerbating pet peeve. A fundamental of working in an agency, or what should be a fundamental, is that it’s in everyone’s best interest to get the job done and done to a reasonably high standard. Once this is truly understood, there is no need to manage every small task involved in making a website. This is avoided by clear communication of expectations, including a deadline, which isn’t always easy but makes everybody happier. If you’re the type of PM who can’t relax until a project is done, find another way to vent than by tapping on someone’s shoulder or slamming their inbox because that only makes it more difficult to get things done. Not only that, but it says to me, “I don’t trust you,” which is both frustrating and disheartening.
Organize the content
Keeping files intuitively organized in an agreed-upon structure saves everyone on the project the hassle of back and forth questions about “Where the hell is that file?” and “Is this the final content?” Educating the client certainly helps, too, because it means that not only are the content files named correctly from the get-go, but the guts of the files are also organized and presented in a way that is conducive to building out a site. (Using a content template helps for this, too.) I find this part of the project is constantly underestimated. The fact is, it’s a simple task. It really isn’t that difficult. But it is time-consuming, under-appreciated, and underestimated, making it the least sexy job there is.
Comparatively, after four years of designing website after website, I still find design tremendously challenging. And I know that searching for the correct content in disorganized files with inconsistent file names will only make my head hurt. I always say that while cutting graphics for another language on a site, one deserves a beer; so one does when organizing content, too. It’s something anyone can do when they have downtime, for sure, but since the PM is the client’s point of contact and the funnel through which content flows, I generally look to them for this responsibility. Final content, organized and ready, is priceless.
Follow through with feedback
For those makers who sit in their caves all day with their headphones on and don’t get out to talk to anyone, client feedback is often the light at the end of the tunnel. It is invaluable to know that the work we are doing is appreciated, if merely for a boost in morale. It seems sometimes that PMs are always on the go, in and out of meetings, on the phone all day, which is its own challenge, but since PMs are the point persons responsible for most if not all communication we look to them to know what the client has directly said. Especially the good stuff: compliments and general happiness. Sharing these sentiments with the team makes the team bond stronger and is just plain encouraging. It will motivate a person to push through the slog.
Myth of the “design eye”
My final point of appreciation is for PMs who develop a good design eye. Often in small shops, or even on big projects when they are working alone, designers are underrepresented amongst a sea of developers. It helps in these situations to have someone other than yourself who is interpreting the clients requests and can offer an educated opinion on what they are looking at. You might say “I’m not creative” or “I don’t have a design eye” but design (as opposed to art) is analytical, strategic, and can in fact be learned. Take a bit of time to read design and illustration blogs, critique conscientiously, discuss design, ask questions, and suggest constructive alternatives.
Conclusion
To recap in bullet point form how best to improve the relationship between a project manager and a designer, follow these tips:
- Be an empathetic team player
- Avoid micromanagement
- Keep content organized
- Follow through with feedback
- Develop your design eye
Do these things and I guarantee you will win your designers’ heart and have them pumping out glorious designs for the rest of time. Or at least until the next project.
On Motivation and the Project Manager
Posted on | July 15, 2010 | 1 Comment
I have often wondered what motivates someone to become an interactive project manager. Unlike other common roles found in the digital world, I think what motives a PM is less obvious. For example, a designer is likely motivated by their love and talent for design and more specifically, interactive design. They likely went to a post-secondary design school or at least studied it in some capacity. Developers are likely motivated by the fact that they are technically minded, and enjoy problem solving and coding. But what motivates a project manager? Is it a love for to-do lists and schedules? Or is there more to it then that?
From my own experience, there is no doubt that raw organizational skills have helped drive my decision to be a project manager. When I was at university, I would write out each and every deadline for all of my classes at the beginning of each semester and keep that list beside my computer. Seems like I was pre-destined to a life of making schedules! I have also dabbled lightly – very lightly – in coding and design. And while I am no great talent at either of those tasks, I can appreciate the skills they take. It seems that interactive project management allows me to combine all of those aspects of my personality. Are you PM? What motived you to become a PM? What do you thinks motivates other people to do the same?
Hello, World!
Posted on | July 12, 2010 | No Comments
I remember being in a job interview a couple of years ago for a PM gig at a small web development company. The owner of the business asked me “why do you want to be a project manager?” My response was something along the lines of “because I am crazy.” Although my comment was said tongue-in-cheek, I think there is a grain of truth in there. I often think you have to be a little bit insane to be a PM, let alone one that works primarily in the digital space.
Being a PM is like being the goalie on a hockey team. It is always the goal scorers who get all the glory when your team wins, but let in too many shots on goal and the loss is your fault. Perhaps that metaphor is a bit of a stretch, but you see what I mean. There are rockstar designers and developers in this space, but less so for project managers. To be a project manager usually means you have to be satisfied with not being in the limelight (on whatever scale that may be.)
I started this blog because lately, I have been feeling like there is a lack of community for interactive PMs. Sure, there are plenty of resources and meet-up groups out there for PMs in general, but like I mention on the About section of this blog, I think interactive PMs are faced with a unique set of challenges and opportunities. It is my hope that this blog will become a space where we can share experiences and ideas about interactive project management.