What's involved in iMedia Project Management?

As we have noted, a project can't or shouldn't start until there is a clear understanding of what the people are trying to produce. The commissioners should provide a clear brief.

Many developers criticise commissioners because they don't do this and it makes the task harder if not impossible. Many developers have to spend a lot of time and effort upfront clearing up the specification of the project just to get to the point of quoting how long it will take and how much it will cost.

To avoid this, the actual definition of the project should begin and reach strong guidelines before developers are involved, or, the developers should be commissioned to help in this process on a paid basis. Unfortunately this hasn't been common practice for the industry. This leaves developers in a vulnerable position since the people who liaise with the clients (commissioners) at the very beginning of the project need to be very skilled at defining the time, cost and quality boundaries of the proposed project. Again, historically this has not been the case. Often the developer has been squeezed to offer more than they would like - just to win the business - especially if the company is involved in a pitch/tender situation.

We'll cover getting a better specification and how to avoid the muddled beginning of projects later in the course.

If the parameters of the project are successfully defined - in terms that the clients and their business can appreciate - then the developers can work out the time, cost and features/content that they will produce and show how their product meets the business objectives. This work can be broken down into chunks of effort that involve certain people (milestones).

So, the project manager or team leader manages the process of developing the project to a timescale and for a cost, using known resources, working to a clear specification. This is the theory and if followed it does make projects easier to manage.