As a company or project manager, it can be difficult to know which methodology is best for your project or team. Here at WebDevStudios, we have used a blended project methodology and really leaned into the client, project, and team to determine the best route to go when managing the project lifecycle.

Agile vs. Waterfall

Does your project need to complete one phase, such as design, before moving into any development? If so, then you will probably run the project using the waterfall methodology. Essentially, each phase of the project needs to be completed before the team can start working on the next phase of work.

Can the development team start building out the homepage while the designer continues on mockups for the events page? If so, agile is the way to go. The team can continuously be working on various phases of the project at the same time.

It is key that the team determine how they will run the project at initiation so that the overall project roadmap aligns with how the project will be carried out. There are benefits and risks to using either methodology, but comparing agile vs. waterfall should help to determine what is best for your website project.

Waterfall Methodology

Waterfall is historically one of the most well-known project management methodologies and, quite frankly, where my project management skills initiated straight out of college. I worked for a digital marketing and print production company and the project processes truly followed waterfall.

When using waterfall, your team will typically work with the client to define the requirements at project initiation that will ultimately align with the project completion expectations. The easiest way to think about it is that the project is broken down into phases. Each phase will be completed before the next phase starts.

Here is an example of our project lifecycle when using waterfall:

Strategy -> Design -> Development -> QA/UAT -> Launch -> Support

Benefits of Waterfall

Although many think of waterfall as an archaic way to develop software, there are many benefits. If you have a client who has a fixed budget, waterfall allows you to align the scope of work with that budget, while also setting a hard timeline.

It is also helpful to use waterfall when you have a busy external stakeholder who may not have the time to be involved in the project or give consistent feedback. Because the requirements are set up front, it allows the team to just get to work and bring the client back in the end for quality assurance (QA).

There are, of course, risks to this approach. In software development, not having consistent feedback can lead to change requests at the end when the client sees the product for the first time during QA.

Your client may feel all requirements were defined up front, but the reality is not all requirements can be fully defined up front. So, there are typically more change requests when working waterfall as the scope and budget are fixed. That means there isn’t room for ongoing refinement.

Agile Methodology

Because of these risks and challenges, many companies have moved to agile methodologies. We have been implementing the agile framework more and more here at WebDevStudios.

Do you need to work quickly, but are okay with continuous implementation and improvement? The key factor when using agile is being okay with not having the full project plan, budget, or timeline outlined at the beginning.

For example, the budget may be a range. There may also only be a general direction for the team on the end goal. Instead of strategizing the entire project, we start building the foundational product backlog based on high-level goals.

During the first week, the team can start sprint planning and refinement. They can dig into the requirements of the first milestone, build out user stories, and set the sprint goal. The team will only commit to what they can accomplish in the two week sprint.

During the sprint, the team meets daily for a quick standup to discuss what they completed and what they will work on next. Agile adds a level of team collaboration that you do not see with waterfall.

Here is an example of our project lifecycle when using agile.

Sprint Refinement -> Sprint Planning -> Daily Standup -> Sprint Review -> Sprint Retrospective… (Repeat)

Benefits of Agile

The biggest benefits to running software development projects using the agile methodology is that you are able to have more control of the project. Additionally, you can produce a better product that aligns more with client expectations every step of the way.

The other key benefit of agile is consistent communication with your team and your client throughout the project lifecycle. Through each agile ceremony, you are able to communicate status, risks, and challenges.

You can also easily collaborate with your team and your client. This helps avoid scope creep, miscommunication, and assumptions.

The risk with running your project agile is that you may not have the exact timeline and budget outlined up front. Although this can be difficult to explain to clients, the benefits of agile far outweigh the risks.

Which is best for you?

In the end, my vote will always be to run a project using the agile methodology when possible. I am a big proponent of consistent communication, team success, and client satisfaction. The agile methodology really promotes these key factors when implemented properly.

What do you think? Will you try implementing agile for your next big website project?

Or, do you lean toward waterfall? Whichever methodology you choose, agile vs. waterfall, contact us to help you implement the best methodology for your project.

The post Agile vs. Waterfall appeared first on WebDevStudios.

JOB TITLE: Director of Project Management Office

YEARS AT WEBDEVSTUDIOS: 7

Way back in 2013, I was looking for a new opportunity. I had been in project management and account management for about six years in various industries, like pharmaceuticals, advertising, etc., but was hoping to venture out into the technology space. A good friend of mine at the time had recommended WebDevStudios (WDS) to me after spotting a job posting on Facebook by a current employee. After a bit of research into the company, I was really interested in the open position for Project Manager.

Once I was hired as the first official Project Manager for WDS, I was excited to find out that I could help shape the position and create standard operating processes. Over the years, as the company grew in employee, project, and client size, so did the position, processes, and department.

After a few years, I was promoted to Account Manager, where I had the opportunity to work with clients on building relationships and growing the accounts. Then in 2017, I was asked to oversee and run the Project Management department. As Director, managing a team of six project managers and strategists, I’m grateful to have the opportunity to mentor, lead, and challenge my team. Here are a few of the daily tasks I do to help support my team.

Coordination of Resources

With a WDS team of 40+ and roughly 20+ projects running at any given time in various phases, it’s my responsibility to ensure our schedule stays updated at all times. Initially when a project comes in, I will forecast out the dedicated project team of engineers based on skillset and availability. Then during the active project, I coordinate with the designated project manager to ensure daily updates and changes to the overall schedule are made. Additionally, when an engineer has downtime, I will typically coordinate with the Engineering Manager or the Director to schedule an internal project/product work. It’s important that the schedule stays updated to inform anyone in the company what our availability looks like as new projects come in.

Direct Strategic Planning of Projects

As I oversee projects from initiation to completion, it’s important that I am involved in directing the strategic planning of projects. This will initially take place during our strategy phase of the project, but can absolutely continue throughout development, QA, and through to launch. Strategic planning can involve various decisions, such as investment of the strategy phase, timing to start the project, number of resources to assign to the project, how the project will be managed, QA strategy, etc.

As each project is different in size and type, each requires various levels of planning and management. The Digital Strategist and Project Manager both have control during their particular phase of work, and can make adjustments as needed, but as I oversee all projects, sometimes decisions need to be made based on other projects, resources, or timing, and that is where I come in.

Support, Mentor, and Challenge

A big part of my job here is to support, mentor and challenge my team of project managers and strategists. I provide daily support across all active projects and accounts. If a challenge or risk comes up on a project, it’s important for my team to know they can always count on me to be there to either listen or direct the situation. I always encourage my team to come to me with a problem, and their take on the best solution. Sometimes we roll with their solution, and other times we collaborate to come up with the best solution to resolve the challenge or risk.

Mentoring is also really important to me. I have monthly one-on-ones with each individual team member within PMO. This helps me to establish and maintain a connection to each individual so that he or she feels comfortable coming to me with any questions, concerns or issues. During these meetings we discuss their strengths and areas of improvement so that they can continuously grow throughout the year.

I challenge each team member throughout the year by setting annual goals that are specific to each individual. We track these goals throughout the year. I have also set up LinkedIn Learning courses for each individual for continued growth. We even did a few leadership book reads over the past few years. One of my favorite book reads was Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility by Patty McCord.

At the end of the work day…

When it’s the end of the work day (and that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s 5:00 p.m. because we’re 100% remote and everyone has adjusted working hours based on availability and timezone), one of my favorite things that I introduced to the department is “Wrap It Up.” Here’s what you do: at the end of your workday, specifically the last 15-30 minutes, wrap up your workday.

Here’s what this entails for me:

• Review my to-do list and all the things I completed that day. Yay!
• Start a to-do list for tomorrow. At the top, include anything I didn’t complete, in order of priority.
• Check email one more time.
• Check my calendar for tomorrow morning.
• End my workday on time, and say goodnight to everyone in Slack.

After Work

With a 6- and 8-year-old in school, I head out right after work to pick both kiddos up from school. When we get home, I typically make each of them a small snack. Depending on the day, we’re either running out the door again to sports practice or they get some after-school play time in while I get some relaxation in before dinner.

I make dinner, clean up, and then help with any homework either of them might have. After that is the bath, reading, and bedtime routine, which can sometimes go smoothly, and other days can be a real struggle. Once both kids are in bed, I usually watch one to two episodes of whatever show I’m currently obsessed with before I fall asleep.

To Sum It Up

I truly love being a part of the crew here at WebDevStudios. It has been an amazing seven years, and I’m so thankful that I applied back in 2013. I have learned so much from my peers about the tech industry, WordPress, and our community. I continue to be mentored, supported and coached by Brad Williams and Lisa Sabin-Wilson every day. I’m excited for what the next decade has in store for us here at WDS!

Are you interested in having days like Cristina’s at WebDevStudios? We’re hiring! Take a look at our job descriptions and apply now. Read more articles about our team here.

The post WebDevStudios Day in the Life of a Director of Project Management appeared first on WebDevStudios.

Strategy & Planning

Once we have a signed proposal/contract, our Strategy team is ready to start gathering requirements. The project strategy and planning phases is the information gathering process designed to dig deep into the details of what is important to a client’s business, target audience, industry, and the project proposed. This phase sets the momentum for the project life cycle of your new WordPress website.

Through a series of phone calls, our team outlines features, user stories, and technical requirements. Scope and depth of research will differ from project to project based on the proposal, but the results are the same: valuable information that will help to define the final project plan and budget.

Design

At WDS, the design phase is the process of envisioning and defining solutions for our clients via a sequence of steps to enable our digital designer to describe all aspects of the project/website. We partner with our clients to plan their products’ information architecture and user experience from the ground up through user flows, user personas, and wire framing.

The design phase of the project life cycle of your new WordPress website is thorough and will consider accessibility, scalability and performance when creating the style guide and mock-ups. Every client is unique and the digital designer will help to define the design phase per project based on client requirements and information gathered during strategy and planning.

Data Migration

If you are moving from another content management system, or want a fresh WordPress install, your website will require data migration. The data migration phase typically starts by providing WDS access to your database or your database files. With access to your database, our development team pulls together a data mapping document, writes a data migration script, and starts the import process.

Once we complete the initial import into our development environment, we do a quality assurance review against the data mapping document to ensure all content imported correctly. Our development team will be working with your actual data during the development process to ensure the launch process goes seamless.

Development

Once we have the final approved designs and project plan, our engineering team is ready to start programming your website. This phase for the project life cycle of your new WordPress website focuses on building all global elements, content modules, and/or page templates using WordPress coding standards. Our team will code custom features and functionality based on your project requirements using custom code and plugins. Additionally, throughout the development phase, our lead engineers perform code reviews on all features to ensure proper sanitization, caching, and security are in place.

Quality Assurance (QA) / User Acceptance Testing (UAT) Review

Once all development tasks are complete, our development team performs cross browser and device testing to ensure responsiveness and accessibility are in place. We run your new custom theme through our WDS theme check plugin. Our development team also runs a query monitor and report to ensure that the website is performant prior to launch.

Launch

Each new website project that we work on has a unique launch plan. Typically, the following steps are taken during this phase to move the site from our development environment to your staging and production environment:

• The lead engineer sets up staging and production environments on your host and sets up deployments.
• We will then request a content freeze in order to start the final data migration process.
• Once the site has been moved over to your environment and a quality assurance test has been completed, you will be ready to switch the domain DNS/cpanel.
• And… your new WordPress website is now live for your company and users!

Support

At WDS, we guarantee our development work by providing a support phase after project completion. We use this time to squash any minor bugs or issues that came up during launch and make certain that your company is happy with your new website. We also offer extended or ongoing support and maintenance options for our clients.

Overall, WDS has set the standard for managing website design and development projects. Our goal is to partner with your team and provide a quality WordPress website based on your goals and requirements. If you’re ready to start your project, contact us today!

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In a corporate office, far, far away…

Cubicles debuted in corporate offices during the 1960s and are now present in every high rise office across the world. I worked in a cubicle right out of college then moved to a nice corner office until about six years ago when I started at WDS.

Working remotely was completely new to me, but I quickly fell in love with this way of working. Now, I don’t think I could ever go back to a cubicle. Is it time for companies to change their thinking about how teams can work effectively and still be productive? The answer is yes! Our corporate world has had the ability to work from outside of an office for a few decades, yet working remotely is only now becoming an option in certain industries.

Could you do your job from anywhere and still be productive and successful? If so, then you should probably be on the lookout for a remote position. The concept of being on a remote work team is a massive shift in mindset of the typical workweek. Most folks get up at the crack of dawn, get ready, commute to an office, where they have an assigned cubicle or office, and are productive from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a short 30-minute break at noon for lunch. Then they get back in their car, sit in traffic the entire way home, and make it just in time for dinner. This traditional work life from the 1960s to the early 2000s is dying. There is no work-life balance, and our generation will not stand for it. We want the freedom to work when and where we want—in places where we can be most productive and successful in our work.

So how does WDS lead a remote team to success?

Our company culture is flexible.

Our employees are spread across four countries, and 20 states in the US. The flexibility to hire the best person for the job regardless of location is pretty amazing. Although our typical working hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday, that is not a hard requirement. We offer flexible working hours to all employees based on location or personal preference. Additionally, we have a flex policy in place that allows anyone to adjust those hours daily as needed. So if you need to take your dog to the vet at 10 a.m. on a Wednesday, you don’t have to take vacation time to do it. You just go take care of your pup and work those few hours you needed at your convenience. This type of flexibility allows employees to truly embrace the work-life balance everyone desires.

We trust the people we employ.

Flexibility and trust go hand-in-hand. If you are a manager reading this blog post and just cannot comprehend how your team could ever get the work done in a remote environment, then you may not have the best team employed. Here, we have full trust in our employees. We have solid processes, tools, and policies in place that benefit the employee. We provide everyone with what they need to get the work done successfully, while providing  all team members with ownership of their work. Not everyone can be successful in a remote position. You have to be a team player who is responsible, and has a sense of integrity over your own work.

We encourage wellness and professional growth.

Can you imagine if you didn’t have to sit in traffic while commuting to work? Instead, you got to wake up and work in your pajamas all day, if you wanted to. The stress of going into work is completely removed from my day at WDS. I now have the choice to work from home, the coffee shop, or next to the pool. I can wear what I want, when I want, with the only goal of being productive and getting my tasks done for the day/week. I personally love that I can have breakfast with my kids before they get on the bus to school. Then, I’m right at the bus stop after work when they come home from school. Instead of having one to two hours with them at night, I have about four hours. So, I have time to do so much more after work. There are many working parents that have to pay for before and after school care because of the typical work day hours, plus time to commute. Remote work not only saves time for parents, but it saves money, too.

Additionally, we’ve found that people interested in professional growth are able to take college courses or online professional courses without missing work deliverables. If an employee is thinking about going back to school to get their master’s degree, time is not something that stands in their way as a remote employee.

So what are the challenges with managing remote teams?

Remote work is not for everyone. These are some of the challenges.

Communication

If you are an employer, your communication policies and tools need to be fully thought through before going remote. Communication is absolutely key across remote teams, from management to production. Teams need to understand expectations around communication during the work day and on-task deliverables.

If you are an employee, you have to be able to communicate effectively in written and verbal form. Understanding how you are being communicated to, how you will communicate, and expectations around timing to communicate is crucial. If you are not great at communication, remote work may not be a right fit for you.

Time Management

If you are an employer, setting policies around expected work hours is essential. If you expect your remote teams to be available during certain hours of the day, that should be part of your company policy. A flexible company culture will prove to be beneficial, if employees understand what the expectations are around being available. This will set you and your business up for success.

If you are an employee, you must be able to manage your time effectively. If you cannot manage your time during the day to be productive and get your tasks done in a timely manner, then you will feel like you have to always be on and may experience burnout. Additionally, you need to communicate what your working hours are so that team members understand when you will be communicating, versus when you may not be available. For instance, if you take a one-hour yoga class every Monday at 2 p.m., block that time out on your work calendar and in your direct communication tool, so that your team knows you are unavailable during that block of time. Remote teams have to be 100% responsible for their own time, which means you have to be great at time management.

Productivity

If you are an employer, set those productivity goals for your remote teams so that it is clear what you expect during the work week from each employee. If you are an employee, it’s imperative that you can self-manage your time and be productive during the work day. Meeting productivity goals, deliverable dates on tasks, and communicating limitations and/or challenges to your managers and leaders are imperative to being a dependable remote worker.

7 tips for leading a remote work team:

• Require a direct communication tool for all employees, such as Slack. I cannot say enough about how crucial this tool is. It essentially replaces all the short back and forth emails internally.
• Ensure your company has solid process documentation in place for all employees to follow. The process guidelines should be reviewed during onboarding to set expectations around communication, processes, and tools required during the workday.
• Be flexible, but set boundaries. Ensure employees understand the company goals, their role and responsibilities. Ultimately, every employee does have a job to do during the workweek and it’s up to them to get that job done.
• Trust your employees and avoid micromanagement, by setting clear expectations.
• Have a set of project management tools that work for your company. We utilize Jira and Confluence for the management of projects, tasks, and documentation. This helps everyone to understand the status of a project and review documentation anytime from anywhere.
• Don’t forget about company culture. We have various activities and events throughout the year that we do together remotely as a team. For example, the last Friday of every month we come together to do Five for the Future. This allows employees to collaborate on something together from across states or countries.
• Managers should schedule monthly one-on-one meetings with team members. Talking to the people you work with remotely is pivotal. This helps to encourage employee engagement, performance and professional growth.

Taking advantage of working with and leading remote teams has truly changed my career goals and work lifestyle. There are so many benefits that outweigh any challenges, and most challenges can be overcome with the right tools, processes, or policies. If you enjoy flexibility, and can do your job remotely, why wouldn’t you? Apply these tips and it is absolutely possible!

Interested in joining a remote team? We’re hiring!

The post Successfully Leading a Remote Work Team appeared first on WebDevStudios.

What is WordCamp US?

WordCamp US (WCUS) is the national WordPress conference that brings together WordPress enthusiasts to a place of community from every background and industry. The event happens annually, and changes to a new city every two years. At the event, you have an opportunity to gather knowledge from various speakers and workshops that could help you improve your WordPress skills, positively impacting your business, be a better leader, and get involved in the community. Plus, there’s the networking. This event brings together over 2,000 attendees year after year!

Organizing WordCamp US 2019

This year was pretty special for me because the event was in St. Louis, Missouri, and I am a local. As soon as I found out the event was coming to St. Louis, I signed up to help organize. Being an organizer was always something I wanted to do, but wasn’t quite sure where or how I could help. Let me assure you that there is a job for everyone.

I was the co-lead on the Volunteers team, which helped to gather, organize and plan roles and responsibilities for WCUS volunteers. Yes, if you were wondering, the event is 100% organized and run by volunteers. It’s a huge deal. During the conference, I was running around from room to room, ensuring that each of the volunteers were there, had what they needed, and making last minute changes when required. It was really fun to be a part of WordCamp US 2019 and very rewarding to see the event to success.

This year, we had roughly 50 organizers who handled the logistics, budget and sponsors, design and programming, communications, plus all the things that go into making the attendee experience impactful. Special shout out to Jennifer Swisher, Angela Jin, and Kevin Cristiano for being the overall lead organizers for the event this year.

WordCamp US 2019 Report

WCUS took place at America’s Center in downtown St. Louis. Sessions, and workshops were held November 1-2, 2019. The State of the Word was presented by Matt Mullenweg on November 2nd. Sunday, November 3rd was all about Contributor Day and KidsCamp. Contributor Day was co-organized by our very own Christina Workman, who said it was a huge success! Here are some of my favorite things about WordCamp US this year:

• WordFest, the WCUS after party, was held at the City Museum, and WOW! Not only did the WCUS organizing team pick a great place, but they also brought in local food favorites like toasted raviolis and Ted Drewes famous frozen custard. No one left hungry.
• WDS-ers gathered together and we made great memories! We work remotely, so we don’t get to see each other that often in person. A portion of our crew traveled from all over the US to attend the event. I got to officially meet Mike and Scott from our team in person.

• We had an amazing BBQ lunch at Sugarfire Smokehouse on Saturday together. What’s better than brisket, macaroni and cheese, and vanilla pudding?! We pigged out!
• We really enjoyed the local brews from Schlafly Beer. Brad now loves their Pumpkin Ale.
• State of the Word is always one of the highlights of the event for me. If you missed it, you can watch it on YouTube.
• I love networking with folks from other agencies and gathering all the fancy swag from the Sponsor Hall. My favorite item that I picked up this year was the speaker and journal from Bluehost.
• There was a life-size Wapuu!
• The most talked about session was “How I Built WPBingo: A PWA That Uses Vue.js, Tailwind CSS, and the WP REST API,” by Brian Richards (a former WDS-er).

Overall, it was an awesome year at WCUS for the attendees and the WordPress community, which has left a long-standing impression for everyone involved. I’m already excited for next year’s event!

The post Post Event Report: WordCamp US 2019 appeared first on WebDevStudios.

Although the event organizing team is in full-on planning mode, we have already started to release some of the awesome details, making it worth adding this WordPress community event to your destination list this year.

What, When, Where

WordCamp US, November 1-3, 2019, will be located in the heart of downtown St. Louis, Missouri at the America’s Center Convention Complex. The convention center is super easy to get to, no matter whether you are a local or visitor. It’s 10 blocks from the historic Gateway Arch and many other local attractions. To find out more about hotels and the venue for WCUS, click here.

The Event

Information about WordCamp US is being released daily from the organizing team on what to expect this year at the event. Here are some exciting things we know so far:

• Networking – There are WordPress community members and friends attending from all over the US and beyond.
• Workshops – Workshops are new to WCUS this year and will include a variety of topics.
• Community Tracks – This is also a new activity at WCUS, and it will focus on WordPress community topics such as meetups, diversity, and KidsCamp.
• Speakers – Six rounds of speakers have been announced from various roles and industries.
• KidsCamp – Its official. KidsCamp is happening at WCUS this year.
• Contributor Day – Honoring contributors is a big part of this event every year.

Can You Volunteer?

If you are attending the WordCamp US, consider volunteering. The organizing team is looking for a significant amount of volunteers to help out at the event. It can be a small commitment of time, but every little bit helps the event run smoothly. Sign up to volunteer here.

You can continue to follow the WCUS blog to get more information on the event.

Exploring St. Louis

If this is your first time visiting St. Louis, you are in for a treat. No matter what interests you, there is something for everyone in this city. Autumn is one of the best times of the year to visit, too. As a local, I want to share some of my top spots around the city.

Sightseeing

1. The Gateway Arch – This is a must-see! Known as the gateway to the west, not only is it historic, but it’s just really cool. Bonus tip: you can ride all the way up to the top to get a stellar city view.
2. Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village – Are you a baseball fan? Whether you root for the Cardinals or not, the stadium is beautiful. A few years ago, Ballpark Village was built. It’s a cool spot for food, beer, and sports. If you want an awesome view of the stadium, take the elevator up at the Hilton to the rooftop bar.
3. St. Louis Zoo – First off, its free! It’s also just a really great zoo filled with lions, bears and tigers… oh my.
4. Anheuser-Busch Brewery – The brewery is massive. If you take a tour, you get two free beers at the end. Also, occasionally the Budweiser Clydesdales are there. (For beer drinkers interested in local breweries, there are plenty around the city to visit, such as Urban Chestnut, 4 Hands, Schlafly, and Brew Hub Tap Room.)
5. City Museum – This venue is essentially an adult playground. The great news is that WordFest is here this year.

There are many more places to visit while you’re in town for WordCamp US. Check out a pretty solid list here.

Food

Here are a few of my favorites broken down by category:

1. BBQ – Sugarfire Smoke House (Honorable mention: Pappy’s Smokehouse)
2. Deli – Blue’s City Deli (Honorable mention: Mom’s Deli)
3. Southern/Soul Food – Sweetie Pie’s
4. Pizza – Dewey’s Pizza
5. Beer + Wings – Syberg’s
6. Brunch – Shack Breakfast & Lunch
7. Tacos – Mission Taco Joint
8. Mexican – Rosalita’s Cantina
9. Cajun – Broadway Oyster Bar
10. Food Truck – Seoul Taco Food Truck
11. Bonus: Ted Drewes Frozen Custard

My favorite winery (and where I got married back in 2015) is Chandler Hill Vineyards. This is located west of the city in Defiance. Augusta is known as Missouri wine country. So if you are into wine and wineries, I definitely recommend staying a day longer and drive out to the country to enjoy some tasty wines.

IMO’s Pizza is also worth mentioning. It is not a personal favorite (as I am from the Northeast and New York/New Jersey style pizza will always have a special place in my heart), but the born-and-raised locals enjoy this St. Louis style pizza. You should start Googling ‘provel cheese’ now.

Bottom line, WordCamp US 2019 is going to be lit! It is a solid event in an awesome location. If you are considering attending, which you should, be sure to have a plan for all the fun places and restaurants you want to visit during your stay.

The post Why WordCamp US 2019 Is Going to Be Lit appeared first on WebDevStudios.

The target date is almost always important and firm. In managing website design and development projects for over half of my career, I have become very familiar with timelines that clients desire, especially tight timelines. As an agency, we’re always doing our best to hit and exceed client goals, but there are times when it’s a bad idea to rush your website project.

A website design and development project typically takes 12 weeks (or more) from initiation to completion. There are various phases throughout a project life cycle that are critical in ensuring a performant and secure website that delivers what the client is expecting. When you rush a website project to hit a particular goal date, you risk a lot.

Discovery is so important.

Rushing a website project typically means starting the development phase ASAP. This is a huge mistake.

The discovery phase of a project provides time for the Engineering Team to explore requirements with the client, research and plan. Planning is crucial to a successful project. We typically dedicate one to two weeks for the discovery phase a project.

The first week involves discovery calls with the client to gather information and requirements, as well as reviewing the scope and researching. The second week involves defining a development path, planning tasks and outlining a project plan for the client to review. Without a solid plan, you risk issues with development, confusion around client expectations, and ultimately not hitting the rushed timeline. Take time for discovery and planning, even when there is a hard deliverable date.

Processes (like code reviews) are in place for a reason.

Tight timelines on website projects usually force Project Managers and Engineers to look at the project life cycle, processes, etc., and see where they can cut corners in order to hit a date. Again, this is a huge mistake. Would you purchase a house that was built with steps skipped and corners cut? Of course, you would not. Why would you do that with your website?

The project life cycle is what it is. You have to plan, build, review the quality and prep in order to be successful with a website project. Similarly, the development phase standard processes are in place for a reason, and chances are they are well-thought through to make certain that the product produced for the client is successful. Cutting corners, like skipping code reviews, is not an option.

For example, we ensure every of line of code written at WebDevStudios follows the WordPress coding standards as well as our own internal standards, and we wouldn’t want our name on a product that wasn’t superb. We have a code review process in place that allows a Lead Engineer time to review the code and test features.

Every project timeline that we set, or agree to, guarantees that we allow time for this step. It’s important to verify the development work being done meets standards. Processes are meant to be followed even with tight timelines, and if there isn’t time to do things like plan or review code, then the timeline should shift to account for these key steps.

Quality assurance and testing cannot be eliminated in order to hit a target launch date.

It may sound crazy, but I have managed a few projects where the client wanted to wave the quality assurance and user experience testing in order to get a site launched for an important target date. If at all possible, please avoid this.

QA and UAT are extremely important. The QA phase gives the Engineering Team an opportunity to discover any design issues and development errors, while cross browser testing on a variety of devices. Additionally, it’s important to take time to run performance testing on the clients hosting environment before deploying to production. Without these quality assurance tests, you risk running into bugs post-production that can be costly.

We understand that project timelines are important. Consider the target date no different than a goal. When discussing the goals and target dates, be flexible. The Project Manager will always provide the best project timeline that works toward the goal, and if it doesn’t quite hit it that target date, they will have a valid reason why. Avoid rushing your next website project if possible, and I assure you, it will be more successful!

The post Why It’s a Bad Idea to Rush Your Website Project appeared first on WebDevStudios.

Once your project is ready to kick off, you will be introduced to your project team, which includes a dedicated Project Manager. The Project Manager will be communicating introductions, status updates, deliverables, requirements, and more. Communication is very important during a website project. The ultimate goal is for the Project Manager to ensure the client is fully aware of the project life cycle, timeline and status. The Project Manager will be asking various questions throughout the project discovery, development, QA and launch phase, but there are three key questions that you should always ask your Project Manager.

“How will we be communicating throughout the project?”

Typically, a Project Manager will plan how communications will take place between the project team and client well in advance of the project kick-off. Whether it’s via email, Slack, or a weekly status call, there is a primary way communication is delivered. At the initial kick-off call, you should ask the Project Manager to provide information on how communications will be managed. This will give you the opportunity to clarify the preferred communication method.

For instance, if the Project Manager outlines a plan to provide status updates every Wednesday via email, but you prefer a status call on Mondays, asking this question allows for the Project Manager to adjust the communication plan to accommodate your needs. Communication is extremely critical during the project. Both the client and project team must be aligned on communication to ensure that all of the client’s goals are met.

“What do you need from our team to help support the project?”

At various phases of a project, there are deliverables that are required from the client. Occasionally, clients will have a pretty good idea of things they need to provide (i.e., access to their current CMS), but every project is so different. Based on the scope of the project, there will absolutely be deliverables that the project team will need from the client.

Asking your Project Manager to provide you with a list of client deliverables to help support the project and providing those in a timely manner will help keep your project on time and on budget. In the early stages of a project, the Project Manager may ask for things like brand guidelines, database dump, login credentials, analytic embed codes, etc. When a site is closer to launching, the team will require hosting access.

Additionally, asking this question will help get the Project Manager thinking further about what might be helpful for the project aside from just deliverables. If you are a non-technical marketing lead assigned to manage the project, this question may give the Project Manager an opportunity to ask who will be the best technical point of contact for our Engineering team during the development phase.

It’s beneficial to build a relationship with the Project Manager and provide any support necessary. Support will ultimately benefit your project!

“What are the project milestones, and how will our team know if we are on track?”

This is a great question to ask your Project Manager once the Discovery phase is complete and a solid project development plan is outlined. The Project Manager will take the project development plan and set clear milestones for the development phase of the project, as well as the full project life cycle including QA and site launch.

These milestones will be clearly outlined in the project management tool, as well as the project timeline. You will have access to the project management tool which will make it easy to see where deliverables are in the development process and if they are on track. Occasionally, project timelines will shift because of scope, resources, etc. The Project Manager will update you along the project life cycle. This typically will happen via status update emails or weekly status calls.

Every update you receive should indicate if the project is on track or not. If not, you should have received details as to why, and an updated project timeline. Tools like Basecamp, Github, Trello or Jira are excellent in providing a clear picture of milestones and timing.

Conclusion

The role of a Project Manager is an essential one, and that person will be your main point of contact throughout your website development project. There are tons of questions that will come up throughout the project, but these three will help to establish a great relationship with your Project Manager and engineering team, making for a successful project!

The post 3 Questions to Ask Your Project Manager appeared first on WebDevStudios.

• Do we have an in-house web designer and developer who can handle the workload?
• Do we have the resources to manage the project?
• Have we considered how we will run user acceptance testing?

This is the moment you might consider hiring an agency. Don’t stress! There are many reasons companies outsource to an agency, especially when it is one that specializes in designing and building websites. Ultimately, we bring a level of expertise to the project. Let me walk you through what it’s like to work with our team here at WebDevStudios (WDS), and why you would want to choose us for your next project.

Every client and project we work with is different, and because of that, the specific WebDevStudios team members that you work with will be unique to your project’s objectives and will include specialists with various skill sets and knowledge. Each of our team members play a critical role on the project. Today, I’m going to give you a sneak peek into roles and responsibilities to give you a better feel for what to expect when working with our team.

Business Development

You will be initially speaking with a member of our Business Development team. They are responsible for taking your vision of the project, researching it, and converting it into a comprehensive proposal and project plan.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Project Management

A dedicated Account Manager will be assigned to your project that oversees the account, while a Project Manager will be assigned to manage the day-to-day objectives from initiation to completion of the project. They are responsible for managing tasks, scheduling, communication, etc.

Our Project Managers work closely with the Engineers during the project to ensure everything is on track, in scope and on budget. Through our project management tool set, you will have the opportunity to follow the progress of your project. The Project Manager will keep in touch with you at all times during the project; so if you have a question or concern, you always have someone to talk to.

Design

If your project consists of a design phase, you will have a dedicated UI/UX web designer who will focus on creating a prototype for your new site based on the requirements you discussed with Business Development, as well as your target audience. From detailed wire framing to prototyping, you will be involved at every step during the design phase to ensure your needs are met. This is one of the most exciting steps in the project, as our creative team is excellent at taking your vision and creating something visual that considers accessibility and responsiveness to ensure your site looks great on desktop and mobile.

Engineering

There will be various Engineers dedicated to your project. As I mentioned previously, every project is unique and requires particular skill sets. We have a wide range of Engineers on the WebDevStudios team who specialize in different areas of technical abilities specific to WordPress. Below, I break down the different types of developers you might work with on your project.
 
 
 
 

Lead Engineer

Every project has a dedicated Lead Engineer (some projects require more than one) who is responsible for taking project requirements and mapping out a development plan for our Engineering team. They will also review updates, do demos, and work alongside the Project Manager during your project.

Frontend Engineer

Frontend Engineers are responsible for developing elements on the frontend of the website—essentially, everything your users will interact with—usually in the form of either a custom WordPress theme or a child theme from a popular theme framework. Our WebDevStudios team of Frontend Engineers take the beautiful prototype from the designer and turn it into the frontend of your website.

Backend Engineer

Backend Engineers are responsible for building the advanced functionality that typically interacts with the server. They also handle any data migrations from your old site to your new site, create custom plugins and custom post types, and ensure WordPress is created and set up for your new website.

In addition to our project team of experts, we break the project out into various phases that will help to set goals for each phase and move your project through from initiation to completion in a timely efficient way. You can check out more details about our typical project process flow in this blog post about a project life cycle.

We understand that redesigning or building a new website can be difficult, maybe even a little intimidating, but we’ve worked with many clients and have put together a team and process that make it fun and efficient. If you have an upcoming project, we would love to talk to you more about how our WebDevStudios team can help. You can get a hold of us by submitting a contact form or directly by phone at 1-855-932-3380.

Our team can’t wait to work with your team on your next project!

The post What Does Working with the WebDevStudios Team Look Like? appeared first on WebDevStudios.

Project Managers are typically thought of as overhead to the website project. False. Project Managers are key in organizing the project, communicating between various stakeholders, overseeing the project from initiation to completion, and ensuring budgetary and quality compliance.

Let’s break this down even further. Here’s what our Project Managers accomplish at WDS:

• Initiate and organize the project up front
• Based on the proposal, define a plan and deliverables
• Organize all deliverables into milestones
• Outline a project timeline based on milestones
• Create tasks within the project management tool for the engineering team
• Manage standard outlines of time, delivery, user story and acceptance testing per task

Project Managers are the main point of communication between the customer and development team. They also provide thorough oversight throughout the project life cycle, including:

• Scheduling any necessary meetings with stakeholders, team members, etc.
• Creating agendas for meeting agenda and managing minutes
• Coordinating and staying on top of all milestones and tasks throughout the project life cycle
• Handling communication among team members, such as executives, developers, etc.
• Managing timeline throughout project development

Project Managers are responsible for budgetary compliance and supporting quality control compliance. We achieve this by:

• Managing the client’s budget from initiation to completion
• Planning resources based on budgetary expectations
• Managing change requests that fall outside of project budget and scope
• Scheduling and overseeing the quality assurance process, reviewing the completion of milestones against the defined project scope

Having a strong skill set is important for a Project Manager and key to the success of your website project. At WDS, we have a team of Project Managers who are highly-skilled leaders, communicators, and problem solvers. We are motivated by our team of engineers and clients to achieve success on each unique website project that we manage.

Does your organization have project management? If so, what do you value most about your Project Managers? We invite you to leave a comment below. We’d love to know your thoughts on project management.

The post Why Project Management Is Critical to the Success of Your Website Project appeared first on WebDevStudios.