Checklist for Beginners: How to Manage Web Development Projects
Project management is really important in every organization. It’s especially important when creating and organizing web development projects. It involves thorough planning and research. Professional teams and strategy work are always standing behind successful web development projects. The main objective is to fulfill customer requirements, solve their issues and provide solutions that meet their “pain.” A good project management strategy saves time and reputation in the market.
This article discusses some of the most effective tips on creating and organizing web development projects and the best tools to help you manage web development projects successfully.
First, before we discuss the tips on managing web development projects, let’s consider some facts and surveys.
- In a study conducted by Wrike, only 64% of projects meet their goals. Poor web development management is one of the major reasons for the failure.
- According to Gallup research only 2.5% of companies complete 100% of their projects.
- Geneca found that 75% of project participants don’t feel confident in their projects’ success.
The studies and numbers above prove the importance of using resources effectively and managing web development projects to meet stakeholders’ requirements and users’ needs. So, working on web development project ideas mainly addresses two major requirements - meeting the criteria of clients who are supposed to use the product or project and the resources you need to get the job done. With that said, let’s move to the first point of our checklist.
Web Development Projects [Checklist]
1. Equip yourself with a web development kit
Every experience web developer will agree that planning and managing web development projects get so much easier and more effective when you keep all the essential resources in handy. These may be premium and free digital products, website templates, plugins, web development tools, etc. Such platforms as TemplateMonster digital marketplace provide ultimate toolkits for web designers, web developers, and marketing professionals. They provide free and premium subscriptions and a couple of plans that vary based on the projects you mainly work on. For example, you can choose from a creative plan that mainly includes graphics and presentation templates or opt for the all-in-one pricing plan that includes everything needed for launching a competitive website, no matter what platform you or your clients choose.
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2. Create a business plan
A web project manager needs to document the following things as clearly as possible to have a clear mind about the next steps he and his team should take.
- Creating simple yet precise explanations of problems and opportunities a web development project addresses.
- Analyzing various solutions and making up a list of alternatives.
- Analyzing the budget and scheduling the start of the project.
- Creating short explanations of different solutions for the problem a project addresses and a quick process on how to apply them.
- Understanding business advantages and potential risks.
3. Feasibility test
After the business plan is created, the web project manager needs to create a business case and list possible solutions to the problem. At this stage, it’s important to analyze different solutions and test if the solution is feasible or not.
4. Choosing a project team
The choice of the project team depends on the specific requirements needed to complete the task and the team that has all the essential skills required to finish the job before the deadline. If you are a solo web developer looking for a remorse team to complete a specific project or a group of people with whom you can work together in the office, take your time to create the job description that would help you find the right people with the required skillset to complete the project. The job description should include the required qualification, role objectives, major responsibilities, salary, and additional perks.
5. Set up the office and resources
The following things play significant importance if you wish to deliver a successful web development project:
- Set up the location where the team will work.
- Take care of providing your teammates with the resources, tools, and equipment needed for work.
- Define the roles and responsibilities of every member of your team.
6. Plan wisely
Creating a good plan is especially important for complex projects. A web project manager needs to create a roadmap and communicate with the team using detailed information. It’s important to define the goals and scope of the project. Estimating costs, identifying milestones, and a step-by-step plan for proper project execution is vital. The roadmap needs to be clear and specific. The proper planning should include risk management, along with many other things.
7. Project execution
Once the planning is done, a web project manager needs to manage the team and assign tasks to the team members. It’s important to figure out who will be responsible for completing specific tasks. Businesses commonly use software like Slack and Trello for proper team collaboration and communication.
8. Monitoring the project’s progress
Monitoring lets project managers ensure each team member is performing well and gets the job done on time. Monitoring lets the project manager check the quality of the work done by team members and ensure that every piece of work is done within a set timeframe along with the needed output.
9. Establishing communication
Scheduling daily or weekly meetings with the team members is always a good idea. Whether it’s the beginning of the web development journey or you are already somewhere at the end, it’s important to speak to the team, listen to their achievements or pains, and find solutions to get the job done more effectively. There are many tools used for video conferencing in companies of all sizes. Some of the most popular solutions are Zoom and Google Meet.
10. Project delivery
The project closure phase includes successfully delivering the web development project to stakeholders. The project delivery stage involves taking feedback from the stakeholders/clients to ensure all goals and objectives were successfully met or not. A project manager should receive a detailed review of the project to ensure the team showed its best and applied the maximum effort to launch a successful web development project.