1. WEB PROJECT MANAGEMENT
How to Successfully Structure Web Projects
Business Academy Aarhus - ITDays October 2012
Jarne W. Beutnagel
jwb@eaaa.dk
www.beutnagel.dk/itdays2012/

2. OVERVIEW
The purpose and structure of this presentation

3. 1) PROJECT COMPONENTS
Logical and controllable division of the project
(WHAT, HOW & WHEN)

4. 2) ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Division of areas of responsibilities
(WHO)

5. WHAT IS PROJECT MANAGEMENT?
Achieve alignment, create momentum and
ensure value delivery
Planning and structuring resources
Issue handling

6. WHAT IS A WEB PROJECT?
Projects whose output exist in an online
environment
• Web applications
• eCommerce / Webshop Solutions
• Websites
• Etc

7. 1) A SIMPLIFIED
PROJECT MODEL
The components of a Web Project

8. Planning Production Test
(A Typical Model)

9. Fails to consider other perspectives
Is centered around production, not creating value

10. Goals Production Validation
(A value based model)

11. Oversimplifies the process
Does not contain control structures

12. Control
Valida-
Goals Production tion
(A Controlled Project Model)

13. Project is not grounded
The environment the project exists in has to be
taken into consideration

14. Environment
Control
Valida-
Goals Production tion
(A Grounded Project Model)

15. REALITY:
NOT SYNCHRONOUS
Several phases are often ongoing at the same time

16. Environment
Control
Valida-
Goals Production tion

17. Environment
Control
Valida-
Goals Production tion

18. THE PROJECT ENVIRONMENT
Understanding the project framing

19. There are two distinct
environments

20. The INTERNAL Environment
The CLIENT Environment

21. (even if it is an internal project)

22. The INTERNAL Environment
Knowing the hard limitations of business reality

23. What to take into consideration (internal perspective)
Business Environment
• Business Goals
• Customer Retention Goals
• Placement in the Program Structure

24. What to take into consideration (internal perspective)
Resource Availability
• Internal Budget
• Time Constraints
• Skills
• People

25. What to take into consideration (internal perspective)
Motivation
• Incentives
• Motives
• Desired Outcome

26. What to take into consideration (internal perspective)
Attitude / Opinions
• Preconceptions
• Past Relations with Client
• Role of Project Management

27. What to take into consideration (internal perspective)
Support Structures
• Infrastructure
• Tools
• Company Culture
• Methodology
• Agile Development (e.g. Scrum)
• PRINCE2

28. The CLIENT Environment
Understanding the Client Needs

29. What to take into consideration (client perspective)
Business Environment
• Project Incentives
• Program Structure
• Career Importance
• Stakeholders
• Internal / External

30. What to take into consideration (client perspective)
Strategic Goals
• Business Goals
• User Goals
• User Needs

31. What to take into consideration (client perspective)
Constraints
• Quality
• Project Budget
• Maintenance costs
• Timeframe
• Required involvement
• Security

32. What to take into consideration (client perspective)
Pre-Project
• Expectations
• Knowledge
• Experience
• Trust
• Guaranties
• Availability

33. What to take into consideration (client perspective)
Controlling
• Transparency
• Level of Involvement
• Support / Consultation

34. What to take into consideration (client perspective)
Post-Project
• Measurability / Metrics
• Maintainability
• Governance

35. Environment
Control
Valida-
Goals Production tion

36. Environment
Control
Valida-
Goals Production tion

37. GOALS
Laying the foundation by strategic alignment and
defining expected value delivery

38. Purpose: Ensure Measurable
Strategic Alignment

39. PROJECT DOCUMENTS
Business Case
Reasons for undertaking the project, Goals
and Future Life
Project Brief
Outline of the project structure, Functionality
and User Description

40. PROJECT DOCUMENTS
Technical Specs
Detailed description of implementation of
functionality
Test Plan
Quality Criteria that have to be approved for
final signoff

41. Business Case
• Description of Business Goals
• Measurable Metrics
• Post-Project Existence

42. Project Brief
• Project Resources
• Project Team & Responsibilities
• Project Structure
• Timeline, Milestones, Deadline
• Scope and Functionality
• User Description
• Use Cases
• User Actions

43. Technical Specs
• Requirements
• Dependencies
• Integrations
• Functionality Implementation

44. Test Plan
• Quality Criteria
• Types of tests
• Approval Plan
• Timeline

45. Environment
Control
Valida-
Goals Production tion

46. Environment
Control
Valida-
Goals Production tion

47. CONTROL STRUCTURES
Controlling the processes and activities

48. Purpose: Enable steering of the
project and ensure client
involvement

49. PROJECT TOOLS
Status Meetings
Reoccurring client meetings to discuss the
status and handle issues
Project Tracker
Central document keeping track of progress
and logging hours

50. PROJECT TOOLS
Issue Log
List of issues that arise, their status and plan
of action
Document Storage
A space where project, design and production
documents are shared with the team and the
client

51. Environment
Control
Valida-
Goals Production tion

52. Environment
Control
Valida-
Goals Production tion

53. PRODUCTION
The processes and activities that generates the
project output

54. Purpose: To structure the build
process to ensure that the right
value is created

55. PROJECT TOOLS
Design Plan
This plan outlines the design phases and
dictates which processes will be used and the
number of iterations sent for approval
Prototyping Plan
This plan outline what is included in the
prototyping process

56. PROJECT TOOLS
Phases Plan
The production must be broken down to
manageable phases and their structure laid
out
Development Methodology
This defines the development process and
framework. For instance, Agile development

57. Environment
Control
Valida-
Goals Production tion

58. Environment
Control
Valida-
Goals Production tion

59. VALIDATION
Finalizing the project by ensuring that goal were
met

60. Purpose: Confirm that business
goals were met and ensure
successful project signoff

61. PROJECT TOOLS
Client Acceptance Test
The client approves that all use cases and
user activities have been satisfyingly
implemented
Post-Project Deliveries
A plan of how the project is to be handed
over, including documentation

62. PROJECT TOOLS
Live Plan
An overview over the requirements for
putting the project live and a detailed
timeframe for it
Bug Period
A timeframe for which bugs that are reported
after going live will be included in the project
scope

63. PROJECT TOOLS
Signoff
A meeting where the client official confirms
that all goals and criteria have been
satisfyingly met
Celebration
A gathering where the successful delivery of
the project is celebrated and internally
showcased

64. 2) ROLES &
RESONSIBILITIES
The division of the project team

65. ORGANIZATIONAL LEVELS
The different team members function at
different levels, each with their own specific
purpose

66. Production
Operational
Tactical
Strategic
Business

67. WHO WHAT
Designers Code
Production Developers Design
IA Architects Testing
Team Leads Deliveries
Operational External PMs Tech Solutions
Planning
Tactical Project Manager
Controlling
Goals
Client Stakeholders
Strategies
Strategic Consultants
Specs
External Experts
Success Metrics
Project Owner
Program Managers Project Initiation
Business Operational Managers Budget Approval
Sales People
Account Managers

68. PROJECT TOOLS
Issue Handling Plan
A plan for how to escalate issues, when to
flag a deviation and who is the final authority
Communication Plan
An overview over who is supposed to get
which information and when

69. RESPONSIBILITIES LEVELS
In the project plan it should be specified
which responsibilities each team member has
Escalation tree: who reports to who?
There has to be a person who is not part of
the project team that can be the client
authority

70. TEAM SUPPORT
It is imperative that each team member
understands their own role and that of the
other team members
There has to be support for the project
structure, both internally and externally
Responsibility areas has to be respected!

71. CONCLUSION

72. SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS
Requires understanding of all the components
in the project
Ensuring that the right value is created,
delivered and measured
Careful application of roles and
responsibilities

73. Questions?

74. Thank you
Slides are available at beutnagel.dk/itdays2012/