A Comprehensive Guide to Managing Web Development Projects
By: Karen Cartar
Tags: Business, Web Development, Website, Project Management

Do you know according to a survey by Wrike, only 64% of the projects meet their respective goals. Yes! And, poor website development project management practices is one of the major reasons for the failure of any project.

A Comprehensive Guide to Manage Web Development Project

These stats give you an idea about the importance of an effective project management technique:

On an average, projects go over budget by around 27% of their intended cost. (Source: Harvard Business Review) On an average, one in six software development projects saw a budget overrun of 200 percent. (Source: Harvard Business Review) In total, IT failure rates are estimated to be around 5 to 15 percent, accounting for a loss of $50–$150 billion per year in the United States alone. (Source: Harvard Business Review) Most of the organizations have a 70% of the project failure rate. (Source: 4PM) Only 28% of the companies use project performance techniques. (Source: PMI, 2017) Only 2.5% of companies complete 100% of their projects in a successful manner. (Source: Gallup)

So, now you know the organizations need an effective project management approach that not only saves their money but also save their time & reputation in the market. Learning good project management techniques is crucial for any organization as it can make or break any organization.

In this blog, we will discuss some of the effective techniques of project management. we will start from the definition of a web development project, then we will move to the project manager’s roles and responsibilities, then various phases of a web development project and finally we will discuss some tips to make your project management foolproof.

“Expect the best, plan for the worst, and prepare to be surprised.” ~ Denis Waitley

What is a web development project management?

Project management is the process of managing a project, and the person who has the sole responsibility is called as Project Manager. Large web application development projects generally have multiple project managers while small ones are managed by a single project manager.

Two most important elements of a project are its stakeholders and resources.

Stakeholders: Whoever takes the benefit from the completed project is a stakeholder. It may be Clients, senior leaders and all those people who may use the project.

Resources: Humans and other tangible sources that you need to complete a project. For instance, a human who creates a design and a printer that gives it a physical form, both are the resources.

So, project management basically implies managing resources in an effective manner so as to deliver the results that match the real needs of the stakeholders.

Roles and responsibilities of a Project Manager

So now you know about what is a web development project and who are project managers. Here we will discuss the roles and responsibilities of a project manager. A project manager has several roles and responsibilities:

Defines the scope of the project

Planning and sequencing activities

Resource Management

Schedule creation

Estimation of time and costs

Creating and managing budgets

Analyzing and managing risks

Creating and leading teams

- Steps involved in managing a web development project

1. Initiation

It is the beginning phase of project management. In this phase, a project manager develops a project overview and selects a team. This phase has immense importance as here the whole project is given a proper direction.

2. Planning

In this phase, the project manager creates a roadmap for the team. Here, the manager sets a goal, defines the scope, create a work breakdown schedule, identify milestones and make plans on communication and risk management.

3. Execution

In this phase, the project manager creates teams and assigns tasks to them. Moreover, he holds meetings and sets up tracking systems. Most of the real work occurs in this phase.

4. Monitoring

This phase starts along with the execution phase. It involves monitoring team performance and managing its output quality. Here, the manager track project costs, the performance of individual team members and the entire project.

5. Closure

In this phase, a project manager hands over stakeholders and the project is taken to a proper end. Moreover, here a project manager reviews the performance of the team and analyses their effort.

“Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.” ~ Peter Drucker

Project Initiation

This phase consists of five unique steps that are surrounded to create a business case and create a core project team.

1. Create a business case

For this, you will need to document the following:

A simple explanation of problems and opportunities

A list of alternative solutions

A short analysis of business advantages, prices, and potential risks

Project requirements and its potential results

A small explanation of recommended solutions and the process to apply them

A small plan that lists required resources, financial analysis and schedule

While creating a business case, one needs to be as specific as possible. And once it is created, you can go for the feasibility study.

2. Going for a feasibility study

Feasibility study means the process of listing the possible solutions to the problems and opportunities presented in the business case. Here, the aim is to document whether a solution is feasible or not.

To go for a feasibility study, one needs to:

Research proposed solutions to business problems or opportunities

Recognize and list any other solutions possible

Take a deep look at each solution to check feasibility in terms of budget, capabilities, resource needs and timeline

Recognize the potential risks associated with every solution

3. Create a Project Charter

For any project, preparing a charter is really an important thing. And it is also a crucial deliverable at the end of the initiation phase. The project charter is a combination of the previous two steps.

And these steps are a business case and feasibility study. Moreover, this charter defines the vision, scope, deadlines, and deliverables of a project.

In order to develop a project charter, one needs to make a list of the following:

Goals, vision, and objectives of the project

Project Scope

Key deliverables and their deadlines

Crucial project stakeholders on both sides

Key roles as well as responsibilities

Project organizational structure

4. Create the Project team

Here, it is all about finding the right people to deliver the project on time. And for this, you will require a job description. Moreover, this description should include all of the following things:

Purpose of the role

Responsibilities associated with the role

So who will this person report to

Relevant qualifications

Performance evaluation criteria

Salary and working conditions

5. Arrange a Project Management Office

Though it is not the most important, but it puts a large impact on the success of a project. For setting up an office, you need to perform the following actions.

You will need to find out the location of the office

You need to ensure that this location has the right infrastructure and facilities for smooth functioning

Get the right tools, equipment, and utilities required to perform project management duties

Define the roles and responsibilities of the Project management office and its staff

Create a standard web development project management process

Set up and apply templates for project management

Planning

Here, you create schedules, estimate costs and set up performance indicators. Planning is quite important in order to make a decision while the project moves from initiation to closure. Planning helps you a lot in case of a complex project.

The end result of this phase is the Project Management Plan.

“A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.” ~ Proverb

Execution

This phase can be either difficult or easy. It depends on how much effort did you put in the planning. In this phase, you manage the project team, hold team meetings and communicate the project status to stakeholders.

Different project execution activities include:

Resource management

Time and task management

Managing risks and changes

Managing communications

Project Monitoring & Control

This phase takes place along with project execution. In this phase, you basically check whether the project is meeting the required quality guidelines and deadlines without asking for extra budget.

It is just about keeping track of the project and to make sure whether it is complying with the project plan. It includes the following activities:

Selecting various KPIs

Controlling and Monitoring Communications

Engaging stakeholders

Project Closure

Once you have met all the milestones and handed over all the deliverables, it is time to close the project. This phase includes scope verification.

In scope verification, you connect with the stakeholders and ensure that whether all the promises are included in the final deliverable or not.