Thursday, November 12, 2020
Content Operations vs. Project Management Tools
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Content Operations vs. Project Management Tools https://superspunarticle.com/?p=3346 Another blog post distributed from Kapost. Without doubt 1 of the best generators of information you could find. Content operations is increasingly becoming a core function across organizations with a strong focus on customer experience. However, it’s still an evolving and maturing area of expertise. As such, it’s not surprising to find points of confusion or misperception that can benefit from a little discussion and clarification. One of the most frequent areas of confusion I’ve run into lately sounds something like, “I don’t understand why that content marketing team needs another tool. We already have several project management tools in-house. Why can’t they just use those?” Alternatively, I find myself in discussions trying to define requirements for integration between a project management tool and a content operations platform without having a clear picture of the true needs on either side of the equation. Sometimes, understanding the difference between the two can be a great place to start. So, let’s start there. Project Management Project management is tied to (rocket science here) a project. By its nature, a project is temporary with a defined beginning and end, a defined scope, and (ideally) assigned resources. If you go with a strict definition, a project is unique, it’s not part of a routine or standard operation. In fact, it’s likely a set of operations that are pulled together to accomplish a targeted goal. Because by definition a project is “non-standard,” project teams often include people who don’t usually work together. Often, project resources come from different organizations. In global companies, they may cross multiple geographies as well. What are examples that map well into a project requiring project management? Implementing new software to accomplish an improved business process. Constructing a building. Expanding a sales team to a new region. Each example requires careful management and coordination to get all the various threads of the project to weave together—resulting in the desired outcome—which is ideally on time and on budget. What kinds of metrics and information are core to a project? Ideally, good project management offers some of the following: Visibility to resource capacity and utilization Costs and budget Timeline and progress Documentation of risks There are multiple software systems and tools designed for project management, many of which are highly effective and fit for purpose. They do a great job keeping track of resources, capacity, timelines, etc. At Kapost, we use several different project management tools and adjust the tool to the project requirements. For example, we might consider any of the following as we select our project management tool: Do we need to share the project tools with customers, agencies, or others outside our team? How much detail will we need in the planning tool? What kind of reporting will we need for stakeholders? Will we be working in an agile or waterfall format on this project? At Kapost, even though we have ready access to a content operations platform, we use project management tools every day. We don’t, however, use them when we are developing a content strategy, submitting ideas, developing or publishing content. And we don’t often draw metrics from our project management tools for content. Instead, we use our content operations platform, Kapost. Content Operations Content operations is, ideally, part of a routine, repeatable operation. Rather than being a unique project, there are consistent approaches in place to support business needs. We define content operations as the set of processes, people, and technologies that support strategically planning, producing, distributing, and analyzing content in support of the full customer journey. (Note: A huge differentiator from content marketing is this full-funnel focus.) When well established and running effectively, mature content operations unify the customer experience across all teams, regions, and channels while allowing marketers to focus on authentic, resonant messaging that drives revenue and growth. Creating and publishing content, like many projects, often involves stakeholders from many teams across an organization. Effectively providing a way for teams to collaborate, share information, and streamline approaches is essential to success in this arena. Typically, however, the focus and priorities in content operations are quite different than those of a project. Examples that map well to content operations? Aligning assets to campaigns and marketing strategy. Allowing appropriate teams to collaborate and provide input to a blog. Reviewing the editorial calendar to let sales teams know when specific information will be ready to share with customers. Each of these examples is all about producing the right content, for the right customer, at the right time, in support of an effective customer experience. While project management metrics can often be tied to efficiency (and who doesn’t love efficiency?), it’s not the major focus of content operations. While no one wants an ineffective or inefficient team, the most important metrics for content operations are focused on the customer journey and its outcome. Some examples: Are we producing less content than we did previously? What percentage of our content is mapped and tagged so that our stakeholders can find it? How often are we reusing content to support a consistent message? How well does our existing content map to key personas and our customers’ journey? What content do we expect to publish this month? Just a note: If that first bullet seems counter intuitive to you, you’re not alone. But we’ve consistently seen that effective content operations are able to create less content, yet still make the same (or better) numbers through re purposing, better targeting, and strategic alignment to business priorities. Based on these bullets, it makes sense that a project management tool isn’t fit to support or track the health of your content operation. The Right Tool for the Right Job Hopefully, with clarity around the difference between project management and content operations, it makes sense that a team might need to use different tools for different purposes. Choosing the right tool for the job at hand, however, is not always 100% clear. With differing maturity and sophistication—and a variety of goals and strategies across marketing—it can be helpful to consider which tool will serve your organization’s individual needs. Spreadsheets Don’t be too shocked at what I’m about to say. Sometimes, a spreadsheet may be the best technology for your content operation. I know, I’m not supposed to tell you there’s a free option. Fortunately, I’m more interested in educating you than selling to you. And let’s be honest: Spreadsheets are how many content operations first start to ramp up. Early in a content team’s maturity, a variety of solutions may work to organize efforts. Some will be more sophisticated, and some much simpler. One of the most common tools we see teams managing content early in their maturity use is a spreadsheet. The pros? Inexpensive, easy to use, readily available across a team. The cons…well, there are quite a few. As you might imagine, a spreadsheet is rarely ideal and not scaleable. Most notably, managing a spreadsheet requires a significant amount of manual effort just to keep current. In addition, given the goal of most content efforts is content, the fact that the key focus of your effort is relegated to an attachment (at best) can be challenging. When you add the complexity of keeping track of versions, coordinating various contributors and approvers…well, suffice to say once you have more than about seven marketers, managing complex content in even the most well-crafted spreadsheet is a headache. For any of us who have spent hours editing and rewriting a piece only to find (almost always at the point of a deadline) that we are doing a final review on the wrong version (…deep breath…you’ve been there, and you know it!), you understand. Project Management System For teams who opt to step away from a spreadsheet, a project management tool can be a significant step forward. Particularly where efficiency is a top priority, project management tools can be a reasonable option. You already know a PMS isn’t my favorite solution, but there are some pros: Unlike the basic spreadsheet, a project management system can help to identify tasks, such as who is responsible for each task and when that task is complete. Using a project management tool may allow some visibility into capacity, budget, costs, and the creation of a workflow that is clearly a step up from the spreadsheet. Early in content operations maturity, project management software can be extremely effective to help manage workflows. That said, workflow is not the point of content—it’s a means to an end. Content is the point. It’s not that project management tools aren’t helpful, it’s that they are not sufficient for the content operations effort. In addition, the tool used can often influence the approach itself, which can be challenging for content efforts. Project management tools tend to be relatively linear, while content creation tends to be highly creative. It’s not difficult to have a content effort move toward a production line approach, creating more and more content with increasing levels of efficiency, but without increased benefit. The approach can begin to border on micromanagement, shifting the focus from content and creativity to workflow and timing. In reality, the goal of project management is the opposite of content operations. It’s not about being more efficient and creating more content, it’s about making less content that is more impactful. Content Operations Platform When a content operation becomes more advanced, and/or the teams involved become larger, particularly as the focus shifts from the quantity of content to the quality of the customer journey, a tool fit for purpose becomes increasingly essential. This is where a system designed to support end-to-end content operations can provide significant benefits and enhanced functionality. Those in content operations need functionality that allows identification of key strategic messages and themes to support top business objectives and strategy. In addition, the team will want to be intentional about the types of content that will best support those themes, aligned to the specific messages at each point in the customer experience. The ideal tool for content operations can support all types of content, across the complete customer journey. Think about common concerns central to content teams: Who are our key customer personas? Is our content well mapped to their journeys? Do we have gaps? If so, where are they? For all the different types of content we need across multiple journey maps, is there a way to systematically track the tasks associated with each content type and their publication? Can we keep track of versions, optimize content, make edits, and complete approvals? Is it easy to review the publication calendar? Can we pull reports from the system to understand our content coverage? To quickly answer leadership questions? To plan for the next quarter? How easily can our team search for content that may be reusable? This is only a start to the needs inherent in content operations that begins to outline a list of core functionality. Key Takeaways There are a variety of options and tools that can support content teams as they grow toward a content operation. Here is a quick overview as you think about options. Does your organization produce a relatively small volume of content via a small content team? Spreadsheets are great for small teams with limited amounts of complexity in their content effort. They will, however, undoubtedly find it hard to manage as volume or team size increases. Spreadsheets can be very challenging when managing across multiple teams. Is your organization focused on defining workflows and processes while producing a limited quantity of content? Project management software can be great for managing projects and defining workflows. However, once you have defined a consistent and repeatable set of processes so that you are establishing a business function or operation as opposed to a project, project management software is less than ideal. It will tend to require manual workarounds and often result in version challenges. It is not ideal for significant content production. Is your organization identifying content as core to the business of marketing? Are you building a content operation? Once the task at hand is managing a business operation, systems fit for purpose will save time and reduce repetitive low-value manual work. For those focused on content, it makes sense to use software designed to support content operations from strategy to production, to publication and analytics. To be fair, even smaller content teams may opt to move to a content operations system that is fit for purpose. Supporting the complex functions inherent in content operations in a jury-rigged solution—like a spreadsheet or project management software—becomes close to impossible as your content operations team matures and/or increases in size. Working efficiently with limited manual efforts in this kind of approach is unlikely and a good user experience is not realistic. Recognizing where you are in your content team’s growth and the job at hand can help you select the best tool for your team’s needs. Trust you valued the information that they provided. You can find related content on our main website: https://superspunarticle.com Let me have your views just below, leave a short comment and let us know which topics you would like us to write about in our posts. #Apples #articlespinning #ArticleSpinningWebsite #articlewriting #articlewritingandspinning #BusinessMarketingConsultant #contentmarketing #ContentSpinner #eventpressrelease #FacebookMarketing #favoritesolution #HighQualitySpinners #Kapost #manualarticlespinning #MarketingConsultant #OnlineMarketingConsultant #PressRelease #pressreleasedistribution #PressReleaseSubmission #projectmanagement #projectmanagementsoftware #projectmanagementtool #projectmanagementtools #projecttools #QualitySpinners #sensetousesoftware #SEO #SEOExpert #sitecontent #SocialMediaMarketing #softwaresystems #spunarticles #spuncontent #SuperSpunArticles #UltraSpinners #WebDesign #websitecontent #WebsiteDesign #ContentMarketing
How BuzzSumo Alerts Compare to Google Alerts for Media Monitoring
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How BuzzSumo Alerts Compare to Google Alerts for Media Monitoring - https://superspunarticle.com/?p=7055 Some tips about Content and Video Marketing. 2. Prioritization Now, we may be biased, but we think this part is where BuzzSumo really comes into its own. Google Alerts are free, and there’s no denying that is a big tick in their favor. But if Google Alerts are the Forever 21 of the media monitoring world, then BuzzSumo is the styling service StitchFix. If that tenuous analogy isn’t quite clear enough, Google Alerts are kind of like a DIY alert where you get big data, but not a lot of help with prioritization or what to do next. BuzzSumo, with its entire suite of powerful marketing tools, comes into its own in providing context and next steps. And this is arguably the most important thing when it comes to building an ROI-led media monitoring strategy. Prioritizing media monitoring by social engagement: BuzzSumo Alerts: ✅Google Alerts: ❌ BuzzSumo’s powerful suite of tools was built on social engagement. When you invest in BuzzSumo Alerts, you’re also gaining access to the world’s largest index of social engagement data – as well as a bunch of other hugely robust tools, including Trending, Content Analyzer, Backlinks, Top Authors and Influencers. Knowing where to start with your mentions is half the battle, and social engagement data gives you that knowledge. Although Google Alerts doesn’t provide this extra layer of insight, it does offer some level of prioritization with the option to showcase “Only the best results.” The above post “How BuzzSumo Alerts Compare to Google Alerts for Media Monitoring” was published on this site. I hope you found the above useful and/or interesting. Similar content can be found on our blog here: superspunarticle.com/blog Let me have your feedback below in the comments section. Let us know what topics we should write about for you next.
Not Every Voice Deserves an Audience; But You're not Just Another Voice
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Not Every Voice Deserves an Audience; But You’re not Just Another Voice https://superspunarticle.com/?p=5931 Some advice about Video & Content Marketing. My friend Damian Corbet just released a new book, “Social CEO, The: How Social Media Can Make You A Stronger Leader.” As he was developing the manuscript, he reached out to ask if I’d write the foreword. After reading his work, the answer was, “absolutely!” I asked if I could share the foreword with you here…. Not Every Voice Deserves an Audience; But You’re not Just Another Voice If you’re reading this I’m going to make a series of assumptions in your favor. You either get it or you’re seeking to get it. Whichever way, you’re on the right path. Being a social CEO takes more than mastering social networks and building a community on social media. It means you believe so much in what we as a community stand for, and where we need to go together, that your dreams, aspirations and voice become ours. Let’s forget everything we know about social media for a moment. The world really doesn’t need another conversation about social networks. There’s always going to be another Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn – and who knows what’s next – which comes and goes with every trend. That’s not the point. We all can now appreciate that social media is forever part of our lives. We all have access to amazing platforms where billions of people are connected to one another. But that doesn’t mean everyone has a voice worth following. Nor does it mean everyone deserves an audience. The signal-to-noise ratio has become deafening. I once said that the good thing about social media is that it gave everyone a voice.The unfortunate thing about it is that it gave everyone a voice. Honestly, the last thing we need is another person on social media just to be on social media – another voice adding to ‘the conversation’. And, certainly, no one needs another ‘thought leader’ or ‘expert’ posting ‘insights’ in the hope of boosting their personal brand, collecting followers and likes as if they were a hard currency or fuelling shallow conversations or digital small talk to give the semblance of engagement and community. We just don’t. Whatever your marketing, social media, PR or communications teams tell you, you don’t have to have a social media presence. You don’t have to tweet, post, insta, snap, blog, slack and so on to be present and relevant. You really don’t. But, that’s not what Damian is talking about when he refers to the idea of being a social CEO. It’s not just about having a presence on social media or sending branded or corporate approved messages. It’s not just aboutexpressing yourself because you have the platforms to do so. What many get wrong with social media is that the mere act of being social contributes to stature. Attention is a precious commodity. We can earn it. We can definitely spend it. But those who listen andlearn and set out to create value can earn more than attention. They can build a meaningful and influential community, where thecommunity represents something greater than any one person. That’s what Damian is talking about here: leadership in public view. Technology by itself doesn’t make leaders. Technology only amplifies true leadership. That must exist within you and it must grow with you as part of a community. Everybody should grow. And, to be honest, that’s what the world needs now more than ever. Genuine, human, value-added leadership. Whomever your community is made up of, whether it’s your colleagues, employees, customers, supporters or peers, everyone can benefit from meaning, guidance and leadership. We all need more signal and less noise. We all need beacons. We all need salient and empathetic voices to move us in a common, rewarding direction. Being a social CEO is simply anextensionof tried and true leadership in the modern social age. Social CEOs use social technologies tolead us in a direction unified by the digital ties that bind us. That’s the thing about social leadership; true leaders don’t create followers or seek attention – they empower other leaders. This is your community. This is our community. And community is much more than leading or belonging to something – it’s about doing something together that makes belonging matter. Let’s do this. About the book: The Social CEO sets out to educate and inspire senior leaders to embrace the Social Age, teaching them the hows and whys of utilizing social media in order to make them stronger leaders. Social CEOs can effectively encourage engagement from their employees as well as other stakeholders and customers; they’re better able to communicate their organization’s objectives and values, gauge the climate in which they operate and improve their brand image. Offering contributions from industry-recognized experts in social business, The Social CEO explores the many aspects of leading in the Social Age, such as storytelling, personal branding, managing risk and public relations. With chapters also written by practicing “social CEOs” working across a variety of sectors, from healthcare to sport, the book provides a wealth of insight into how social media can be used to gain a competitive advantage. !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function()n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments);if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n; n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=‘2.0’;n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)(window, document,'script’,'https://ift.tt/2lW6kO4); fbq('init’, '192647454418119’); fbq('track’, “PageView”); (function(d, s, id) var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = “https://ift.tt/1LP4m6Y”; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); (document, “script”, “facebook-jssdk”)); The above article “Not Every Voice Deserves an Audience; But You’re not Just Another Voice” was provided on this site. We hope you found the above useful and/or interesting. You can find similar content on our main site here: superspunarticle.com/blog Please let me have your feedback below in the comments section. Let us know what subjects we should cover for you next. #SEO
Amid shift to remote work, application performance monitoring is IT’s big moment
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Amid shift to remote work, application performance monitoring is IT’s big moment https://superspunarticle.com/?p=4801 In recent weeks, millions have started working from home, putting unheard-of pressure on services like video conferencing, online learning, food delivery and e-commerce platforms. While some verticals have seen a marked reduction in traffic, others are being asked to scale to new heights. Services that were previously nice to have are now necessities, but how […] #ContentMarketing
Why you need a technical project manager for your digital projects
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Why you need a technical project manager for your digital projects - https://superspunarticle.com/?p=5765 Some helpful advice on Content and Video Marketing. In this article, I’m going to talk about the importance of having a technical Project Manager who can ensure the successful delivery of any digital project that requires an external company to implement. It could be someone you have on your team…. …..or someone you hire in to help. Either way, you will see why you need one! For example: You commission a website rebuild and, normally, there’s a technical side to this. You need to consider SEO, performance requirements, integration with 3rd party tools, and more. Or… You need to build a software tool that is specific to your organization. An external provider might deliver something but will it achieve the quality you want? will it be scalable? will costs overrun because of bad planning? How easy it is to maintain? Could another company take over the code base if required? It’s crucially important you have a strong technical person on your side for any Digital Marketing project that requires technical knowledge! And…these managers needs to have management and marketing skills also! What is the role of a Project Manager? A Project Manager ensures that a piece of work is delivered to a high standard, on time and within budget. Their role will include: Getting involved in the initial planning of the project Creating a detailed project plan which outlines the tasks for each member/team to complete Making sure the right team members with the right skills are involved Running project meetings on a regular basis to keep the project on track Managing resourcing for the project Providing regular reports Getting the maximum performance out of all members of the project (internal or external). Some of the typical skills a Project Manager will have are: People management skills – They need to get the maximum performance out of all members of the team. Communication skills – They need to be able to communicate effectively with all levels of the organization. They may be required to liaise with other departments or interact with senior management. Negotiation skills – At times they will have to negotiate with other members of the team, external agencies, internal resources, etc. Presentation skills – They need to be able to present to various levels of the organization on the status of the project. Organizational skills – They need to be able to produce a detailed plan and stay on top of it. The difference between a Project Manager and a Technical Project Manager A Technical Project Manager for a marketing related project needs to have all the skills of a Project Manager plus a broad range of technical marketing skills, including: Website building / website technology SEO Conversion Rate Optimization Usability Hosting setup Website Performance Payment integration etc As I’m sure you know, Digital Marketing has become quite technical over the last few years. I started my career in technical roles within the software industry and drifted into the Marketing industry when I started a blog. So, with a strong technical background, I had a significant advantage building a business online. Here are some of the areas where your technical skills may be called upon with a variety of digital marketing projects: Analytics During his fantastic presentation at the Social Media Marketing World, Chris Penn shared some stats from his CMO report revealing that the use of marketing analytics in companies reached the highest point in years at 41.5%. I know what you are thinking…. 49.5% of companies are not using analytics to track their marketing results! The reason being is that analytics can be daunting and technical for most marketing teams! But this still HAS to be a key part of any digital project delivery. For example: If you are building a website, you’ll want to know the following before you begin the project: What is the conversion rate for email subscribers/leads/customers on the current website? What are the highest converting pages? Where are people spending most/least amount of time on the site? What is the speed of the current website? And when you are building a new website you’ll want to ensure that analytics are set up correctly from the outset. You’ll be asking questions like: Are you using Google Tag Manager to set up the analytics? Will you set up conversion tracking? Some of our conversions happen on external websites, will you be setting up cross domain tracking? We need to track PDF downloads, can you set up event tracking for this? Can you set up goals for email optins? Without a good knowledge and appreciation for analytics, the vendor may not implement this the way you need it. Understanding architecture and software development OK…You must be thinking we’re getting a bit too technical now… Software development is uncharted territory for most PMs, but not for a Technical PM! You may be building some piece of technology to help you market your business (e.g. a free assessment tool) or integrating with an existing marketing solution etc. Understanding how software is built is particularly important when you get an external vendor to deliver a software solution and you are a technical resource on the team ensuring successful delivery of this solution. You’ll want to be asking questions (and understanding the answers) to things like: What platform/technology are they using to build the solution and does it fit your needs? The vendor could build your website using their own content management system which ties you to that vendor for a long time. You need to understand the implications of this. You also need to understand if the underlying platform used to deliver any solution will meet your needs now and in the future. 2. Is it scalable and will it deliver the performance we want? The solution may work well now, but how will it perform when there are heavy loads (e.g. lots of users)? You need to ensure optimal website performance during traffic spikes. 3. How maintainable is the codebase? Would you rather deal with one file containing thousands of lines of uncommented code? Or with multiple files each with clearly defined pieces of functionality with comments throughout the code? I’m sure you’d prefer the latter! Without a reliable vendor, you may be building a project that will have problems in the future. Traffic and Conversion Any project that is responsible for delivering traffic to your website and converting that traffic requires a project manager who understands the technical side to this. When an Agency says they will do SEO, what does this mean? They will want to know the exact details of the work that is required. What is the migration plan from the existing website? I worked on a project recently and I put over 100 technical items on the migration plan. If I didn’t do this, it would affect traffic to the website. So, here’s just some of the questions you need to ask: What 301redirects will be in place to redirect old pages that are no longer valid to the new website? Are we resubmitting the site to Google to re-index new pages after migration? How are the new pages optimized for the search engines? If we’re moving the server, is the new SSL cert ready to go? Need help managing the technical part of a new web project? We’ll help you navigate the rough waters of technical project management! Other areas to consider There are other technical areas that are important to understand, for example: Payment integration – What systems will the vendor use? As a Project Manager, you’ll probably liaise with different payment providers that are going to ask a lot of technical questions! Security – Are you familiar with SSL certs? Do you know enough about potential security threats to ask questions related to encryption, protecting against spammers, etc.? What about Project Management Methodologies/Mindsets used The most important skill for a Project Manager is the ability to lead a team to deliver a successful project. But… …there are various methodologies they can apply to help them follow a process for delivering a successful project. Some are fully blown methodologies, like PMI, and some are more about mindset and guidelines (e.g. Scrum). Let’s see what they are! The Waterfall method When I was running software development teams many years ago we used the Waterfall method. It is very simple to understand and use – you have specific phases for the project and you move onto the next stage when the first stage is complete. Following the waterfall method, a project moves on through 6 phases: requirements, design, implementation, verification, deployment, and maintenance. So, you start off by documenting all the requirements for the project and, when this is signed off, you move on to the design phase. For large complex projects, the Waterfall method does not work very well because requirements change over time and, when you have requirements signed off, it’s more difficult to adapt to changing environments. We often ran a year-long projects and by the time the project was released our customer requirements have changed. Agile It’s not by chance that ‘Agile’ means to move quickly. With the Waferfall method you are more likely to move slowly. If you were running an Agile project, you’d map out a list of requirements and pick off the highest priority one. Your team would then start working on the highest priority item directly with the customer and deliver a version quickly. You’ll then get feedback from the customer, implement improvements and continue with this feedback cycle. With Waterfall you’d have much less involvement with customers and focus more on building the entire solution as opposed to pieces of a module. The key differences between Agile and Waterfall are: Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Responding to change over following a structured plan Prototyping working solutions over comprehensive documentation Eric Ries is well known as the guy that introduced MVP to software development. Instead of building a full product you’d build a minimum viable product. This is a product that fully works but has very limited functionality. You can then get feedback from actual customers before you move to the next stage. Using Agile for this is perfect. SCRUM SCRUM is a type of agile framework that helps teams deliver complex projects. The following image outlines how SCRUM works: Lets explain each section: Product backlog – This is a list of the functionality you want to build. Sprint backlog – This is the list of functionality you have decided to include in the ‘Sprint’. Sprint – A time period of less than a month where something complete and usable is built. Scrum Master – The Scrum Master is a Project Manager with a lighter touch! They make sure the project stays on track and makes sure consensus is achieved about direction of the project. Sprint review – A review done at the end of each sprint. PRINCE2 PRINCE (Projects in controlled environments) This is a very structured and process driven way of delivering projects and it is in no way Agile. There is a controlled beginning, middle and end to projects and it is run by a Project Manager. There is also a Project Board which oversees the project and includes representatives from the customer (internal or external), user and supplier. The 7 main processes for PRINCE are: Starting up a project Directing a project Controlling a stage Managing stage boundaries Managing Product delivery Closing a Project PMI This is in an old school method of managing projects designed by the Project Management Institute. In their PMBOK book, they outline industry accepted processes, best practices, and guidelines for project management. The book highlights 5 stages of the project management process: initiating planning executing controlling closing So, in a way, this is actually a systematized structure for managing projects through phases and can be applied to most projects, no matter the size and complexity. SIX SIGMA I’m sure you’ve heard about Six Sigma methodology in the context of big manufacturing companies, such as Motorola and General Electric. It was actually introduced by Motorola engineers in the mid-1980s as a way to identify and minimize fault in the manufacturing process. The DMAIC Six Sigma methodology is uses a structured approach to solving business process issues through 5 stages: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control. So, how can you apply this framework to project management? You can adapt it to the specific needs of your project and focus only on the principles that you think are applicable. Note: Six Sigma requires certification and it works best in large organizations. Project Management Tools To manage the project correctly, you’ll need a tool that supports the main project management functions, a tool for managing and tracking all tasks, plus some supporting tools. Core Project Management Tools Excel and Word The most basic tools you can use to manage projects are Excel and Microsoft Word. A good Project Manager can deliver successful projects even if they rely only on these tools! Asana Asana is one of the most popular tools out there for managing projects. The reason it became so popular is that it’s incredibly easy to use even for the more complex projects. In Asana, you can create a project, add tasks and subtasks, assign those tasks to team members, and set due dates for everything. It lets you organize projects in Kanban style boards and also gives you a calendar view of all your project, task, and subtasks. The premium version of Asana also offers more advanced features, such as Dependencies, Milestones, Private teams and Projects, and more. Advantages: There’s a free version that is good enough to meet the needs of most small businesses and startups. Offers integrations with a variety of apps, like Slack, Dropbox, Salesforce, GitHub, and more. Disadvantages: Certain tasks will require more than one person to complete. In Asana, you can’t assign a task to more than one person. Note: There is Gantt type functionality in Asana but it’s not particularly good. We prefer to use Instagantt which is a tool that integrates with Asana and provides much better Gantt charts. Trello with Elegant Gantt Charts Trello is a simple to use project management tool where you organize projects into boards. You can then assign cards (tasks) to team members and these cards can be easily moved between boards. Cards in Trello contain comments, attachments, due dates synced with calendar, and more. Elegant is an add on to Trello that produces Gantt charts (thanks to Vincent Haywood for the shout out on this). Advantages: Good price at $12.50 per month (starting price) Very simple to use Elegant provides the Gantt chart Disadvantages: It’s a basic tool so if you need more complex functionality this is probably not the one to use. There’s an extra cost for Elegant. This functionality should be part of the product. Microsoft Project First introduced in 1986, Microsoft Project has been around for a long time and is one of the most used project management software in the world. It helps project managers be more efficient at their core activities i.e. set budget, plan and schedule, assign tasks, manage resources, track progress of the project, and do the reporting. Advantages: Ability to work on multiple projects on a single platform, combining different project plans into one Master Project Plan. Different project views available i.e. Gantt Chart, a resource usage chart, a calendar, etc. Disadvantages: Extremely complex tool Focused on Waterfall methodology which naturally excludes project management for most Web or software projects. It’s a desktop application so you can’t use it anywhere! Wrike Wrike is a fairly complex platform that lets you handle the complete project management process, everything from setting goals and tasks to managing resources and tracking progress in real time. It features multiple project views so you can switch from List, to Board, to Table, or Gantt chart at any time. What’s great about this tool is that it allows you to create workflow templates that you can use to quickly get moving on your next project or task. The Analytics in Wrike shows you a snapshot of the project’s tasks and milestones, as well as the charts relating to the progress of the project. I recently wrote an article about managing marketing projects in Wrike, you can check it out for a more detailed overview of the tool. Advantages: Apps available for Android and iOS so project managers can stay connected even while on the go. Disadvantages: The tool is quite complex and if you are not familiar with it, it may take some time to get everything set up. Workfront Workfront is a powerful web-based project management tool that helps you prioritize and manage your projects. Project managers use this tool because it has all the features they’d need to efficiently manage projects, including: resource and task management, workflow automation, capacity planning, time tracking, advanced reporting, and more. Advantages: Advanced resource management and scheduling features Integration with popular business tools like SharePoint, Dropbox, Google Drive, Google Docs, and Box. Disadvantages: Takes time to set-up your workspace and onboard new users. Basecamp This web-based project management tool has been around since 2004, and it’s definitely one of the most popular PM tools available on the market. Unlike some of the tools we mentioned, Basecamp is really simple to use and it’s great for managing small projects. Basecamp includes different tools, such as a message board, schedule and calendar, files library, automatic check-ins, etc., and it focuses equally on enabling easy collaboration and task management. Advantages: Easy to set up Great communication (built in chat) and collaboration tools available. Disadvantages: There is no way track time and there are no reporting features available. Podio Podio is a web-based project management tool that you can customize for your specific project needs. In this tool, your workflow will be organized into: Organization, Workspaces, Apps, and Items. An Organization will contain different Workspaces for different departments within your company and each Workspace will contain different apps. Apps give you an overview of the work and help you organize different Items. These items can be anything you want them to be – a task, a meeting, a checklist, etc. Advantages: Supports integration with a variety of apps, including Google Calendar, Dropbox, GoToMeeting, LinkedIn, etc. Disadvantages: Podio is a customizable tool so it can be complicated to set up and maintain. Time tracking is dependent on third-party integrations. Zoho Projects Zoho Projects is a comprehensive online project management tool that many businesses use to plan, track, and collaborate on projects. Zoho uses Gantt charts to visualize projects as they move through the stages, while tasks are tracked with Kanban boards. Projects can be divided into tasks, subtasks, and milestones. There are also great team collaboration features, such as activity streams, forums, and chats. Advantages: Automated task workflows based on the criteria you set. Integration with 3rd party apps, including Slack, Zapier, GitHub, and Google apps. Time tracking with Timesheets. Disadvantages: Complex functionality means there is more of a learning curve compared to simpler PM tools like Basecamp. Teamwork Projects Teamwork is a suite of projects and the big advantage of using it is that you could end up using more than just the project functionality (they have chat, helpdesk and a document management solution). Advantages: You can add on more products from Teamwork if you need to Starting at $9 per month it’s a good price but there’s a minimum of 5 users for that price Simple to use and nicely designed. Disadvantages: No Gantt chart functionality where you can see a clear overview of the project time line, milestones, and task dependencies. Setting up a Digital Project When starting a new digital project, you’ll need to have a plan that will help you get from A to B and ensure successful delivery. Working with an external vendor typically means that they will need to answer questions like: What is the project timeline What are the key milestones How much will it cost to deliver What exactly will the vendor deliver How will it be delivered However, in order to effectively monitor and control project progress, you’ll need to create a detailed plan that clearly communicates your expectations. And, you’ve guessed it, for any digital/software project this is a job for a Technical Project Manager. Let’s take a look at what a typical project plan should entail. Project Goals The first step to creating a Project Plan is setting specific project goals, the benefits you hope to achieve, and the metrics to help you track success. Budget Planning This section of the project plan shows the planned budget for the entire project as well as how these resources will be allocated. For a project that has external vendor(s), the project manager ensures deliverables are completed according to contract terms and within the set budget. Team Members Provide details of vendor representatives on the team as well as the internal team members assigned to provide support for the project. Methodology We talked about various Project Management methodologies earlier in this guide and you’ll pick the one that can provide the strongest framework for your organization and the scope and requirements of the project at hand. Project Deliverables What are the specific outputs the vendor is expected to produce? Which method will you use to check the quality of each deliverable? As a project manager, you also need to estimate due dates for each of the deliverables. Tasks Write down the individual tasks that project team members need to carry out together with tasks timeframes and any additional resources needed for these tasks. Milestones Milestones represent important events (e.g. design approval) or stages in project development (e.g. testing phase) and setting them up will help you track the progress of your project. Using project milestones makes scheduling and reporting easier and helps keep everyone on track. High-Level Timeline Create a high-level overview of the project timeline. You can create a visual representation of the timeline using a Gantt Chart. Tools for Project Management Its important to choose the right project management tool so you can keep track of the work being done and enable smooth communication and collaboration between team members. The type of tool you select will depend on the needs of your project, but there are some general questions you’ll want to ask: Is the tool robust enough to support your workflow? Does it integrate with other tools you use? Does it provide good monitoring capability? Does it provide time tracking and project scheduling features? If you’re not familiar with available options, we’ve highlighted some good ones in the previous chapter on Project Management Tools. Monitoring & Reporting Provide a summary of the monitoring and reporting mechanisms and tools for the project and how they will be implemented. https://thedigitalprojectmanager.com/how-to-guides/ Summary In the increasingly technical world of marketing it’s important to have a technical person on your side so you can keep everyone honest. It’s also important to manage projects effectively so they come in on time and budget. 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Whip Up a Tantalizing Blog Post With These 9 Ingredients
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