I did a study on project management as I took a class course on the subject. While taking this course, I learned what it is like to be a manager verses being part of a team. Being a project manager means that you are a leader over a group of people striving to accomplish the same goal in accomplishing the project or product to the customer or clients satisfaction. Being a manager also means to learn the pain points of a project and to get to know your clients and communicate with them about the processes of their chosen project they have given to the manager or web designer/developer to work on.
Being a team leader means that you take ownership of the project and how to make sure others on your team do their part in completing the task and other assigned projects at hand. Being able to be a problem solver with quick solutions or to pivot to other solutions or projects that will work for the clients. Looking at the scope of the project and being agile while holding sprint or scrum meetings to help bring the team together while making improvements toward each project assigned to the team.
As shown from the picture above, There are phases a project manager has to follow with their team in order to present the final product or site to their clients. Each phase take agile and versatile training as well as time management to complete the process. Each phase has its own steps that are documented along with any problem that occurs. The Initiation phase is where the customer becomes a client and the project is presented. With all the knowledge a team needs they prepare and plan what the scope of the project will be.
The second phase is to define all the content and images as well as to determine what the products will be used or shown and then what platform to use in order to promote and grow the clients business. The third stage and my favorite stage is the designing phase. This is where all the designs from wireframes to surface compositions come in to test and find out all the bugs and glitches before it is handed to the next phase of work. The fourth Phase is the development stage where everything is not real and online. The development phase also is in charge of all the testing and retesting to make sure there are no problems as things are sorted out online.
The implementation phase is where everything gets put together and the final product of the project is shown and tested even more to find out everything and to ask for feedback about what the others may see as a customer point of view that may need to be addressed and fixed. Then the closing phase is when we see the clients satisfaction after more feedback is given. The follow up is about making sure that both the client and their business of the client is satisfied and to their expectations. Making sure that what they asked for will benefit their companies growth.
What is agile?
A picture of the agile process
Agile means to be quick and easy to work with and to be quick to understand things. While being knowledgeable about how to put sites together and or being able to solve problems quickly for the client. Being agile may also include to be able to be versatile while working on the project. If the manager or anyone on your team struggles it lows down the progress and the project may be a problem that needs more of a pivotal focus point. Or perhaps exchanged to someone that can solve the problem to the project. However, some pain points and pivots are not stopping points that sometimes may cause a person to pull their hair out in frustration. These are simply learning opportunities to find what can work best to finish the project the best way possible for the client and to their satisfaction. Sometimes a learning opportunity means to work with the client until the needs are met as the process and the problem is explained and how best to go forward with a solution.
Part of being a Project manager means to sit down and get to know your team and your clients. That way a manager can break the ice and be able to show empathy towards both your team and your clients. Communication is important and a key fact to grow your team, your business, and your customers and clients. Without proper communication by phone, text, or email a manager can not gain the trust of others with solving their problems, or even gain a reputation within the community. Managers may not even get the chance to grow their business or expand. This may be even harder if the project manager doesn't have the proper communication related to the team of workers underneath them. projects would be left undone and the business would fail by losing their customers and clients.
This is why it is also essential for a project manager to hold regular sprint or scrum meetings with their teams so that proper steps are taken to finalize each assigned task and to finish the project for the happy client.
A scrum verses a sprint
A picture of the scrum method process
Sprint meetings are just to see how everyone member of your team is doing and what the days goals are to be completed and what is to be followed up on from the previous days assessment. Sprinting int this case does not mean to work so fast that all the assigned tasks get done in one day. This is not a race to the finish line once the project is started. There is a risk involved with the measure of the quality of work and the time it takes to get each task done right the first time. Otherwise the risk is to present something that was poorly done and adding frustration by loosing the clients trust and satisfaction.
A scrum means to break a project down into timely sprints to build upon the framework and the structure of each design towards a project to efficiently come out with a proper and very useful and effective product. Making sure that each step of the process was followed so that there are no mistakes that could end up leaving cracks or glitches to the final project. This requires feedback from the team and the client to make sure that everything about the finished project or product is in order. Making sure that the overall look and feel, and /or the movement, and navigation of what the product is designed for is working smoothly. It is important to note that writing everything down about each meeting for documentation with the business and the clients can be essential in moving forward.
Time management
An example of a person thinking about time management
Working with a team or being a manager takes time and coordination. Working on Projects also take time and a lot of effort to make sure each step is done properly and done right the first time. When a worker like a web designer or anyone else is assigned a task or a project. It is not just about how many times an employee shows up to work, more than documenting the time that was being spent on the project. Because of the fact that there are so many steps to take for each project as a web designer and developer. Having a Team is wise to shorten the length of time needed to complete the project in a timely manor especially when the customer or client gives a dead line for the project or product to be done.
Time management also is about problem solving to where people take risks to some the problem of creating a website or a product with ease. This is before a scrum has to take place in order to plan out how to pivot to a solution or something that can help solve the problems that arise towards complete the clients project. Having a project manager to oversee things helps to make sure that time is not wasted and that every step is communicated in the right way. This also means that the Project manager with their best knowledge can help with the small problems that could lead to big glitches or mistakes that may prevent the website or product from working completely. It does not mean that the project manager has to constantly look over their employees shoulders, but to check in with them at the beginning or the end of the day or to check in with them individually on a weekly basis to make sure that the team and the projects are working together.
The Benefits and Struggles Of Having A Team
The benefits of having a team work on a project together is to help each other out if there were mistakes made that can be easily corrected. Being able to support each other when problems in the process or system occur. Preventing the completion of the project and adding frustration to the team. Being part of a team makes work easy, lighter, and faster rather than to ask one person to do all the work. Sometimes it is not always easy to work together when a personality or trait of a team member becomes too much or when someone does too little work to be of help. Each team member can do their part according to their strengths and abilities that can contribute while working as a team.
My experience of being part of a team however, had been dealing with others that did not allow my ideas to be part of the design. Or to deal with those that just wanted me to do all the work and then watch them only help by doing research but nothing else. This was a struggle for me at first because of how I was striving to be a team player and not the leader. It was hard to see how every time I put something together and show my work to the team they put me down. They put me aside by not excepting my hard work that I had presented to them. In turn I talked with my professor about it and how to work it out with the group I was assigned to. My group then listened and looked at what parts they can take from my designs and then added a few things to the overall project. The hardest part of this happened because one person in the group decided to take charge and only take pieces from all of our work to put together as one grand design project. Everything else that was part of this learning experience was to make and take notes of how things progressed and how to make the changes that were needed from the stand point of the customers.
The next pain point of this was to have a member of my group give up and do nothing but only help in researching making it harder for the rest of the team. Seeing someone struggle is hard and trying to lift them up and encourage them is just a set back in getting the team fully motivated. When one person struggles and is having a hard time it leads to the whole team to struggle and either fall behind on their tasks or take longer to do the assigned tasks properly. This is where effective communication happens and to make a corrective course of action to make as a leader in taking over the parts of a project in understanding that no one else wishes to do in order to complete the project in a timely manor. Sometimes working alone on a project or in a job is not ideal when you can lose focus over the frustrations. Feeling the total burden on your shoulders to get things done each day. Or having a day or two of not feeling motivated to complete the daily tasks assigned to you. Other times it may be the feeling of jumping right in and being lost not knowing where to start on the project.
It is in those moments that even I must remember who the project is for and what I can do to stay motivated to get my daily tasks done each day. Also to remember that not everything has to be completed with in a day or a week unless it is that easy to do. Projects and tasks take time to properly give the right amount of quality and effort in doing things right the first time. To avoid rushing in and making mistakes and to be knowledgeable and proud of what you do. Otherwise it will be hard to be at a job that I may find that I do not like and then fall into the slump of not working effectively enough because I would find it unfavorable to do the job.
Conclusion
In my presentations I have had others come to me seeing how I can be great at being a leader like a project manager. I have been able to change the way I present things because of what I have learned about project management. People come to me and ask questions because of the way that I present myself. This is also by the way of how I take time to listen to others and ask thoughtful questions. I do feel better in having a team to work on a project one day at a time until each project is finished and presented or published. This idea makes the work flow smoothly and faster as each member of the team presents great ideas to improve the product or website. It is great to handle projects on your own as long as you have the knowledge to do what needs to be done in an effortless but timely manor. Even though being versatile and Agile and being able to communicate with the team, the business, and the client is necessary to being a project manager. It is not easy when a manager has a picky client or customer, and having to work with a problem about a team member in your business. Through it all Communication is the best key as a project manager to hold people and projects together.
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