Small Project? Small Team? Big Success!

Small Project?Small Team?Big Success!

Friday, February 22, 13

#bigideasHE

@Zablocki

Fran ZablockiStrategist

Hello!

mStoner

Big Project

Small Project

Big Project:

Institutional Redesign

a.k.a.

“The 500 lb. Gorilla”

Characteristics:

• Takes 10 - 14 months

• All consuming for 3 months

• Owns your world entirely

• But then leaves for like 3 to 5 years so

you can...

Relax!

Hm.. Not quite.

Small Projects

a.k.a.

“Hordes of 10 lb. monkeys”

Small Projects:

• Admission Microsite

• Professional school site

• Campus anniversary site

• Those “Hey I need a website” sites

• Those “Oh you didn’t know about that

site?” sites

Small Projects:

• Admission Microsite

• Professional school site

• Campus anniversary site

• Those “Hey I need a website” sites

• Those “Oh you didn’t know about that

site?” sites

What to do?a. Wrestle them all at the same time

b. Toss the lightest ones first

c. Shock them with an electrified t-shirt

d. Tackle them with lean, mean processes,

tools and communication

What to do?a. Wrestle them all at the same time

b. Toss the lightest ones first

c. Shock them with an electrified t-shirt

d. Tackle them with lean, mean processes,

tools and communication

Why?Because you don’t have unlimited:

Time You need it as quickly as possible.

Budget You aren’t minting money.

People Maybe it is just you! #higheredsolo

How?By taking the project lifecycle and trimming

the fat.

How?By taking the project lifecycle and trimming

the fat.

ApproachLean processes

communication

platform

Lean means:Having the right tools

Collaborating as much as possible

Centralizing documentation

Being smart with time

Break down the process:

Strategize Plan Create Implement Evaluate

Communication

Process

• Portfolio management - does this Project need to happen?• Does this meet a need?• Do we have the time/budget/resources to make this

happen?• Do we have those resources right now?

Strategy

• Be realistic - if the answer is no, you won’t do yourself favors later on by saying yes

• Make more time for the right projects by never starting the wrong ones

• Ultimate goal is to become more proactive, less reactive

Strategy

• Don’t skip it just because “oh my gosh can’t we just get this project done already?!”

• Give yourself time to think by scheduling meetings outside the office. Yes, I am suggesting you meet with yourself. Make it sound important.

Strategy

Need / Want / Wish Grid

• Identify what must be included and what can wait• Helps to define scope• Helps channel creative but distracting ideas

someplace useful

• Set measurable goals• Don’t get paralyzed by the details• Don’t worry if there aren’t already metrics• Pick a number, shoot for it• Adjust later when you evaluate

Measurable Goals

Examples of measurable goals• Reach ___ people on Facebook.• Increase engagement ___ percent.• Drive ___ people to the website.• Prompt ___ people to inquire.• Get ___ people to apply.• Attract ___ views of a YouTube video.

Measurable Goals

SWOT Analysis

Strengths Weaknesses

ThreatsOpportunities

Strategy Brief

• Pull it all together in one lean document• 2-5 pages

• Business Case• Goals• Need / Want / Wish Requirements• SWOT

• Planning is hard, particularly if you don’t have history on how long things take

• Be conservative and take your best guess.

Planning

• Begin at the end.• When do you need it done?• Back it up from there.• Be realistic.

Planning

• Identify resources, roles, responsibilities up front• Use collaborative tools to help save time• Track time (even if it is a really rough estimate)

Planning

• Browser - based project and resource planning• Collaborative - allows sharing, commenting,

discussions• Current - dates adjust automatically • Compatible with MS excel, project• $160 / year

• Free, Collaborative cloud scheduling• Integration with Google Drive and Business• Features similar to Smartsheet

• Outlines roles and responsibilities for project teams• Map to position or individual• Helps set expectations from the start

Responsibilites List

• If you are having trouble estimating, this can help• Keep it simple and use tools to keep it lean

Time Tracking

• If you are having trouble estimating, this can help• Keep it simple and use tools to keep it lean

• Go back to the basics (paper prototyping, back of napkin).

• Online tools can save an enormous amount of time here on collaboration

Creative Production

• Help quickly organize and weight information visually without needing heavy design work

• Allow focus on important elements such as information architecture, content organization, feature space

Wireframes & Prototypes

• Don’t be fancy• Sketch it out - you don’t

need to be an artist• 5 minutes, 5 people• Quick, cheap way to test

visual ideas

Back of Napkin

• One sheet (or napkin) for each page element

• Good for quickly rearranging page elements and testing different layouts

Paper Prototypes

• Collaborative wireframing• Allows commenting, sharing, versioning• Let you discuss functionality in the context of the

design instead of separately• $14 / month for small teams

Hotgloo

• 10 minutes of silence• Cut the chatter and get everyone’s input at the same

time• Simply look at what is in front of you and write your

thoughts. • Use group chat to share ideas• Open to discussion afterward

Creative Review Meetings

• Usability / IA / Wireframes / Designs• Beyond your core team• As efficiently as possible• Gives you real results to justify your decisions

Testing

• Efficient - use your existing student/faculty/staff/alumni email lists

Surveys

• Free basic service, $17 / month for unlimited questions responses

• OptimalSort: Online card sorting• TreeJack: IA pathing • Chalkmark: Wireframe / Design Heat Mapping• $109 / month for each

Optimal Workshop

• www.responsinator.com• Lets you see what your site looks like on muliple

devices quickly• Free!

Responsive Design

• Accessibility: cynthiasays.com • W3C compliance: validator.w3.org• Page performance: tools.pingdom.com/fpt • Page performance: www.webpagetest.org

Test, Test, Test

• Can be one of the most time-consuming tasks in any project

• Centralizing your effort on the cloud can reduce coordination time considerably

Content Creation & Migration

• Use bookmarks to allow users to quickly jump to different pages

• Eliminate tons of emails / attachments• Use your information architecture as the foundation• Track what copy is in, what is missing, when it’s due

Google Docs w/ Bookmarks

• You want your code to be• in one place• shared with everyone who needs it• always current

Implementation

• When more than one developer is working on the code, having version control is a must

• Subversion allows code segments to be ‘checked out’ so that no one else can alter them

• Allows collaboration and saves on code re-writes• www.subversion.com

Version Control:Subversion

• Keeps the bug list up to date• Automatically tracks changes and allows reversions• Allows comments and live chat while viewing• Invaluable during crunch time when heads are down

and meetings can’t happen

Bug tracking:Google Docs (again)

• So easy to skip because “Oh my gosh we just finished the project! Time for cake!”

• Crucially important to all the prior steps on the NEXT project you do.

Evaluation

• So easy to skip because “Oh my gosh we just finished the project! Time for cake!”

• Crucially important to all the prior steps on the NEXT project you do.

Evaluation

• Scheduled right after launch• Honest assessment:

• Did we meet our goals?• How close were our estimates?• What did we do right?• What did we do wrong?• What did we not see coming?

• Make it the first thing you look at the next time you do a project like this

Project Debrief

• Free, powerful. Get it.• Allow you to measure against past pages• Tons of options for goal setting

• Pathing and funnel reports• Visitor behavior• Device usage (ie mobile)

• If you have a brand new site, be sure this is installed!

Google Analytics

Strategize

Plan Create

ImplementEvaluate

Communicate &Collaborate

• Lean - cut out everything that is unnecessary, but don’t skip anything that is necessary

• Get away from email as much as possible• Reduce the time wasted on feedback loops (ie: the

endless reply all email thread from hell)

Communication & Collaboration

• Don’t meet to discuss, meet to decide• Don’t have one if you don’t need one• Everyone reviews/comments before the meeting

starts

Meetings

• Save time by getting the basics done right• Agendas• Note-taking• Minutes

Meetings

Golden Rule: never have a meeting without one.Template:

• Date, time, connection method• Agenda items• Review deliverables from last meeting• Discuss open items• Add new items• Upcoming deliverables and responsibility• Upcoming milestones (next 3-5)• Next meeting (if known)

Agendas

Golden Rule: always take notes. No, you won’t remember.

• Designate a meeting leader and note-taker • Have a note-taking buddy system (ie: Fran always

takes notes when Susan leads the meeting).

Meeting Notes

Golden Rule: Copy and paste the agenda and you are halfway there!

• Date, time• Attendance• Agenda items• Review deliverables from last meeting (notes in italics)• Discuss open items (notes in italics)• Add new items• Repeat upcoming deliverables & milestones (next 3-5)• Schedule next meeting date while you have everyone’s

attention

Minutes

Sometimes you need to pull your head up and see where you are in relation to where you should be.

• Can be monthly, quarterly. Less frequent than regular meetings

• Compare estimated timeline to actual• Let you flag slippage and discuss causes of and

solutions for issues

Periodic Status Reports

Collaboration Tools

• Shared calendars allow different levels of detail, including showing anyone (the public) when you are busy

• Can share with those who don’t have Google accounts. • ‘Find a time’ allows you to quickly see what is open for

a group of people• Free.

Google Calendar

When in-person meetings aren’t possible

• Hangouts are a great way to see people who might be remotely located.

• Lots of tools • Chat room• Screen sharing• Document collaboration with Google Drive

• Still free.

Google Hangouts

Central location for all • project correspondence• files• agendas• notes• conversations• project calendar

• www.basecamp.com• $20 / month for 10 active projects

Basecamp

Bringing it all Together:

Lean Platform for Small Projects

Lean Platform

• We’ve heard many times from clients about the need for an approach that is the right fit for small projects and small teams

• We’ve created a new approach tailored to provide a focused, nimble web solution

Lean CMS Platform

WordpressFriday, February 22, 13

Why Wordpress?

• Powerful platform• Easy to use: industry standard for interface usability• Quick to implement• Saves time with parallel production of design and

content

Why Wordpress?

• Strong base functionality• Strong development community with variety of plugins

and frameworks to meet different needs• Good fit for departments and schools with small web

teams that need a CMS sized for them

Lean Platform, Process & Tools

• Using many of the tools, techniques and strategies you’ve seen here today• 5-6 month time to complete• Parallel tracking of phases• Tailored for smaller projects and smaller teams

Lean Timeline

We’re flexible.

This is only one approach. We can:

• Customize this one

• Customize an approach just for you

Interested?

Let us know!

We’d love to work with you.

Thanks!

Questions?

Fran ZablockiStrategist

@Zablocki

fran.zablocki@mstoner.com

585.300.4559

Mallory Wood

Director of Marketing

@mallorywood

mallory.wood@mstoner.com

802.457.9234

Contacts

Small Project? Small Team? Big Success!

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