Project Management
Large projects can quickly become unwieldy and difficult to manage. The traditional waterfall approach to project management is too cumbersome whilst many feel that the 100% agile approach is far too loose to keep under control.
We feel that projects just need to be managed, sometimes it makes sense to have some documentation to accurately describe where the boundaries are. If you communicate effectively within the team and to all affected parties you can keep documentation to a suitable level. It’s about being effective and choosing the right method for the right project.
Adopting the right approach to managing the project will remove ambiguity and keep all parties involved in the process. This is very important especially when you near the completion of a project and suddenly have to deal with development issues, changes to the requirements, managing delivery dates and keeping the team positive.
With over 25 years experience we’ve seen many different ways to manage complex projects. None of them seem to get it quite right but by using the right tools to measure the work, track the progress and cost the remaining work ahead we believe we have the right middle ground whilst staying agile to the project requirements.
Managing an IT project is just part of what we do right from the start
- Understanding requirements
- Identifying the appropriate technical options
- Managing the resources and the processes
- Designing the system
- Building the software and unit testing
- Measuring the time taken to build software elements and test the solution
We track and measure resources as the project moves forward on a daily basis. Together with our experience we are then able to spot opportunities where development can be fast tracked as well as becoming more accurate in our estimates for project completion and delivery.
We take this approach on all projects but to a much finer level of detail on the most complex so that you fully informed of progress.
Dynamic Desk will help to keep your IT Project on time and on budget
- Our projects are carefully planned and costed.
- These plans are reviewed each week to ensure that we stay on track.
- We use our own custom time management tools to measure what we do and how long it takes.
Working across diverse market sectors for many years it became clear to me that most managers simply did not understand the complexities of their IT projects. Software delivery had to run to time no matter what the cost although additional resource was not an option. Testing the final solution used to be the last step in the process so you can guess what was sacrificed to hit the target date. Quality is always the loser and ultimately your business is impacted and ultimately your customers.
Some plans do have to change as a matter of emerging requirements but the sooner that you realise the impact, the sooner you can manage the process effectively. Working your team longer and harder is not managing the process effectively. All you’ll achieve is working your team far too hard and product quality will drop as a result.
As part of what we do, Dynamic Desk will have detailed delivery milestones to ensure that deadlines are met. We can also be flexible to help you to scope for additional work and revaluate the delivery timescales.
- Our detailed project plans help us to communicate what we’ll do, how we’ll do it and when it will be done.
- This is the real world, no-one is perfect and unforeseen challenges do occur but we manage them effectively to keep you aware of any impacts to your business.
- Our unique approach has enabled us to become adept at estimating our projects.
- When changes need to occur we can forecast the impact to the delivery with confidence.
In my early career my work colleagues were often been asked to estimate how long something would take just to find that someone else who knows little about the process then committed them to do more than was originally asked or in less time, sometimes both!
Timescales and plans are there to be challenged. In fact we welcome it just in case we missed something. But you can be sure that we will know the requirements, we will understand the business and we do have the ability to deliver.
We can scale the numbers of people dedicated to your project and also work with your own team of people to achieve your business goals.
- We use regular progress meetings to ensure that development bottlenecks are resolved quickly.
- Different staff members have different core strengths so we use them in the most cost effective manner.
- We manage the development process and the deadlines to keep developers focused on delivery.
- Motivation is key to all of this. We employ seasoned professionals with a thirst for technology and its practical application for your business.
It can be very disheartening to see that an IT solution is not going to plan. Often people feel at a loss to identify what went wrong. Deep into a project it can seem impossible to get it back on track. Worse still, this affects motivation which can be far more disruptive.
Wherever you are in the path of development, until you deliver; there is work to be done. If mistakes were made early on in the project lifecycle we’ll help to identify them and move the project forward. Effective management of the project and the process is critical to all of this.
Sometimes there is a need for additional commitment from all staff to help reach a final delivery date but this should be the exception, not the rule. More importantly this should only become an issue as you approach the point of delivery, not months in advance. If you’re under pressure right from the start there is more that can be done to mitigate the pressure and keep the team positive and focussed on delivery.
