When you are shopping for the right web developers to build a new website, or to get a website makeover, price quotes can sometimes cause sticker shock. Looking through the details of a web development project estimate, you may see references to website project management and communications. The question that can arise is: What does a project manager do? Do I really need to pay for this extra person? The simple and honest answer to the second question is Yes. You need a project manager if you want your website development project to run smoothly and efficiently (both time and money).
What Does a Project Manager Do?
A project manager (PM) is responsible for managing all of the work associated with your custom web development project. Your PM is the central point of contact for the project. They are the knowledge holder whose goal is to keep the project within your expectations of money and time. When things shift with your project, this is the person who keeps you updated about what is going on and why it is happening.
What seems like an overhead cost is actually a vital investment in the success of your website development project. The project manager streamlines the work of the web developers who are assigned to your project. This is one of the ways a PM makes the most of your budget and increases the effectiveness of the development team.
A strong project manager produces efficiency by reducing context shifting and facilitating task coordination among team members. The PM allows each web developer to focus on one particular task, challenge, or information set. Switching to a completely different task shifts contexts, which interrupts and requires a change in direction - slowing down the process. A strong project manager will also serve their team and the project by removing blockers that are preventing progress, ensuring the developer team is able to remain focused on producing site components, code, and integrations.
Polycot Associates uses a Hybrid approach to project management for maximum efficiency. This approach combines various flavors of Agile modified to our workflows with a little dose of Waterfall thrown in where useful to stabilize and predict. You can read more about it on ProjectManager.com.
Website Project Management Is Key to Your Success
The keys to your website project management process are creation, cultivation, and preservation of the developer and administrative workflows. That kind of “magic” requires strong process and some improvisation.
Properly, a project manager serves the team and project similarly to a conductor serving an orchestra and score. The conductor keeps time, drives the progress, communicates key elements of the music, and holds the group together. Let’s make some music.
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