Project Management

Overview

This is where we have to get into the boring management stuff, but do read; this is incredibly important for creating successful projects. Most projects break down into phases. Typically the phases of production are:

Properly planning for each phase of the production cycle is crucial when you need to deliver a project that is on time and works as expected.

When working on projects, you need to plan appropriate schedules, manage time, communicate, and collaborate. Even if you're working on a project independently, it's likely that you'll be communicating with others at some point in the production process, especially when engaging in user testing. Let's explore some guidance for successfully completing and delivering projects, as an individual or member of a larger team.


Documentation and Tracking

Documentation plays a critical role in project management. Our wiki and official docs act as central information hubs where you can record the specific requirements for whatever you want to create. When managing projects, consistently use design documents in the following ways to guide the design and development process:


Time Management

Effective time management is critical to the delivery and completion of the project. When managing projects:


Communication

Without clear communication, collaboration is challenging at best and impossible at worst. Communication is one of the most important skills for working with others in any capacity and is vital for effective project management. When communicating with others on your project:


Respect and Professionalism

Even if you're completing a project for personal development or fun, when working with others it's important to respect them and have a professional attitude in your work. When collaborating on a project with others:


Tracking a Project

Once you have your project clearly scoped out, it is time to start planning how to manage a project by planning appropriate schedules and managing a project plan. While the project plan is usually created in pre-production, it is used and iterated throughout the production phase to track the project's progress.

The project plan takes the elements identified in the documentation and sets specific tasks and deliverable dates. If you don't create and follow a project plan, the result is usually scope creep: the continuous adding of new ideas and features to your plan which can lead to being late or worse - failing altogether. Some guidelines to successfully track projects, for both individuals and teams, include:


Operations Activities

The final phase of the production cycle, operations, includes work typically done after a project has been released to keep it running. Although operations activities generally don't start until the release date, they should be identified and planned during pre-production. These activities include ongoing updates, fixes, and continued maintenance.


Project Retrospectives

Finally, a retrospective should be planned once the project is released so that you (and your team, if there was one) can reflect back on the design and development process. Retrospectives help you identify areas that went well, areas that didn't go well, and ways to improve for future projects. The simplest approach to conducting a retrospective can be to make a chart with three columns and identify things that you think you should start doing, stop doing, and continue doing.


Revision #2
Created 29 January 2025 02:56:53 by Bog
Updated 29 January 2025 03:04:40 by Bog