Gary Sheynkman dot com

This post is long time coming and is written from the perspective of someone who is tasked by his superiors to make a website happen. This person is given a budget and a timeline and is sent into the fray. I’ve done a few of these now and wanted to share some (learned the hard way) tips. FYI this is just the build, marketing the thing is a whole ‘nother deal

The 2 project managers

Realize that there are really 2 project managers. The first one is the client side manager, the one who commissions the job. The second is the face of the executing team. As such, the client manager will always put pressure on the “executing manager” to allocate team resources in a way that will get the project finished better/faster/cheaper. The job of the executing manager though is to properly allocate all resources between multiple projects while providing the greatest average satisfaction. This means that if the client manager changes expectations or requirements mid project, the executing manager will need to reallocate resources. In some cases, no harm done, in others delivery times are affected.

The relationship between these two managers is a tough one. On one hand the client manager is the good cop that is the dictionary between the tech side and the money. On the other hand the client manager has to be a bad cop when something needs to be rushed. Being on the same page and over communication is KEY to making the relationship work.

The goal of the client manager is to build in certain “headache savers” from the get go. Here are ones that I now have in my arsenal… learned the hard way, of course.

Click “Read More” for the list!

1. Build in room on both sides. If you are tasked with delivering a project in 6 weeks, negotiate for 7 with your Employer and for 5 with your executing manager.
2. Copy first. Copy first. Copy first. Oh…. And copy first. FYI this never happens. But if you are in a rare position to have copy before you start building and designing, you are in much luck. Copy requires a ton of formatting and optimization. It is a time consuming element that is not simply copy/paste, especially if you are working with multiple authors who do not conform to a similar writing voice, formatting style, etc. You will get a mess on your hands that will take days to sort, much less edit, and you must account for that. If you get copy first, do a happy dance.
3. Demand the site to be as dynamic as possible. Let’s face it, #2 will never happen. Your design should accommodate for more or less copy than your first guess. Easily scalable text areas, spaces that look good as “full” or “white” are some methods to account for the all too common issue. I hate scrolling, but if there must be scrolling, it has to be sexy. Smooth and slick scrollbars will hide the fact that there is too much copy
4. Demand the end user be self sufficient for as much of the content as possible. I’ve been very lucky with the teams I’ve worked with. They understood that building on top of a good CMS is a “headache saver.” There will always be requests to change words, upload a new picture, etc. The ability to pop into a browser and make the changes in a matter of minutes will not only save money in the long run, it will make you, the company webmaster, look like a web-guru-rock-star.
5. Assume the very last final finalized sitemap you signed off on will be changed right before the deadline. Someone will say “you know, it would be better if…” and BAM, weeks of development needs to be crammed in a few days. There are no ways to combat this. There are 2 ways to help you brace for the impact though.
   1. Make sure the executing manager understands that this might happen and builds in flex on the development end. Sometimes that means some pizza and Red Bull driven all nighters (yes, from experience), other times outside help can be brought in to supplement the original team.
   2. I know there is a temptation to make every page a snowflake. However, creating a few good templates that can be adapted for multiple purposes is a good way to prepare for sudden changes. This tends to be very difficult in Flash, but other frameworks allow for this method to shine. Any changes will still take time, mind you, but at least you do not need to go back to the drawing board.
6. Last, but certainly not least, is the team. You might be best friends with the executing manager, but if your best friend outsources parts of the project on Elance, the entire project becomes dependant on a third party with no accountability (not even going to mention that the said best friend is not much of a friend in that scenario). Make sure to that the portfolio matches the task. I’ve know of 3 ways of going about portfolio evaluations:
   1. The developer team has done something very similar to what you want. You simply ask them to repeat the process with minor changes. (least time intensive)
   2. The developer team has done something that is technically more challenging than your project using a similar approach that you want to utilize for your less complicated project (the guys behind the Sony PSP site, for example, can easily make a flash intro video with your logo rotating funky). This, in some cases, becomes the “hunting for fruit flies with a bazooka” method. But look at it this way… you can take a Kia to a restaurant or you can take a Lamborghini. (choice of champions aka my choice)
   3. You have a generous budget and do not need to look for the best performance per dollar value by going with a “brand name” agency. (most expensive, least headache inducing)

Well that just about covers it! Post more in the comments if you got them! Extra thanks to Luke and Baher for tolerating all my mistakes!