Managing web development projects can be challenging, especially if the development team is located across the world. These challenges can make it hard to keep track of project statuses and progress to the inability to meet deadlines. To ensure none of this happens, web development teams should have robust systems and processes in place to make sure every project is completed successfully. Here are some tips that will help web development teams do just that.
Stop Using Email
Emails are okay for communication, but they are the worst tool for project management. This is because emails lead to communication threads and branches that can be difficult to follow, especially if there are a lot of people on the thread.
In addition to being hard for your team to find the instructions and changes, you send them, using email to manage projects is highly inefficient.
Collect Enough Details and Keep Them in One Place
For the successful completion of a project, you should collect enough details about the project before starting. Here, a business can take lessons from a company like Web Integrations. They are an Aberdeen website design company. Their managing director, Ewan, says: “We always aim to get as much information from the client as early as possible in the process to really get under the skin of their business. We use project questionaries, host brainstorming sessions, map out content, examine their competitors and much more – all before we’ve given any thought about design or functionality.”
Once these files and documents are produced, they should be stored in a centralised location so your team does not have to go back and forth between emails, a file hosting service or another file-sharing software to find the files and documents that are related to a project.
Create Subtasks
Once you have the project requirements, you should use software that allows you to create subtasks. This way, bigger tasks can be broken down and the subtasks can be assigned to different people. By doing this, the project manager always knows who is working on what and teams can complete projects faster.
Specificity is also important to ensure these subtasks are completed as required. Instructions to team members should be as clear as possible, with additional clarifying points added if the instructions might be hard to understand.
Assign Due Dates
All tasks and subtasks should come with a due date attached in addition to specific instructions on what needs to be done. If a task or subtask is not completed by this date, the project manager should try to find out why this is and make the necessary corrections.
Assign Tasks and Subtasks Logically
The arrangement and assignment of tasks and subtasks should be ordered according to priority. Tasks that have a higher priority should be assigned first. To ensure this is done right, the project manager should talk to the client to find out what is most important to them.
Managing complex web development projects is challenging but it can be learned. In the beginning, it might look like things are not working as expected, but given enough time for refinement, project managers will find themselves with a strategy that allows for the prompt completion of web development projects successfully.