Project management in 6D!

It all comes down to repeatable, reliable processes These are the “methodologies” you’ll hear being talked about in classrooms and businesses when project management is being taught and practiced.

Over the years I’ve been exposed to, trained in and qualified for a number of these methodologies. There are a bewildering number of techniques and names for the methodologies: waterfall, Agile, PRINCE2 … the list goes on. In my opinion, though, it’s all common sense (or it should be anyway).

Personally, I’ve found that any project has 6 distinct phases.

• Discover
• Define
• Design
• Develop
• Deliver
• Debrief

It seems pretty obvious to me what each phase represents but I’m often asked to explain them to clients and colleagues alike:

Discover

This is the shop where the need for a project is identified in the first place. As a service provider, such as a marketing agency, this is also where you should be asking all your questions; who, what, when, where, why, how, and so on.

After asking all these questions you should have not only a solid idea of what the project requirements are, but you should also be able to tell the equally important criteria of what the project requirements AREN’T. Added to this you should have also been able to gauge what the Client is expecting.

Define

This stage is where the solution starts to take shape, as does the make-up of the project team, the tools and skills needed, where they all come from, how long it’ll take and just what it’ll cost. It’s also where you figure out what success will look like and where you start planning to achieve it.

Design

Now you know what it is that needs to be done this is the stage where you start putting the detail into place. Whether it’s deciding on a look and feel, the materials to be used, what words will be needed. This is where the creative heart of the project lies. It’s not limited to just the pretty stuff either; this is the time that “how it works” is put together in detail.

Develop

This makes as much sense in a creative context as a technical one-at this stage you’re putting everything together in line with everything you’ve discovered, defined and designed.

It’s also the opportunity to over-deliver if you can, taking everything that little bit further than expected. If the previous stages have been done right you should be able to do this on every project

Deliver

Now you’re got your product ready it’s time to get it to your Client. In construction it’s the final snagging and acceptance, in web builds it’s deploying to the web server and going live.

Whatever your project is this is the point you’ve been aiming for.

Debrief

Not enough projects have this stage actually happen, but every single one should! It’s where your team, your suppliers and your Client should talk about what went wrong, what went well, whether you were on schedule, on budget, on quality.

It’s where you learn your lessons for future projects; what to do and what not to do, when you should and shouldn’t do it and what to expect when you do. It’s also where you take the opportunity to check if you achieved what you set out for a successful project

All project methodologies use variants of these stages. Some have additional ones, others not as many, a few have processes in parallel. At the core, though, you’ll find these steps.

Next time I’ll start describing how you use these steps in a digital marketing project.

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