‘Real-Life’ Mistakes in Project Management: Part 1

April 11, 2017

Part 1: Content and Stakeholders

At The Bridge we both manage and consult on website and software development projects for many industries, including financial markets, media, automotive, and government.

Whatever the industry, I’ve noticed a number of recurring pitfalls. Note that I’m assuming at least a basic level of project management, for example a plan, structure, stakeholders etc. If you don’t have those, then there are plenty of publications you can refer to, and if course there is just common sense.

The mistakes I’m going to describe in this series are from our real experiences with website and software development projects we’ve seen over many years.

Content not considered early enough

This relates particularly to websites. Requirements are gathered, followed by beautiful designs created and approved for the developers to build. Templates are set up in the Content Management System, and filled with Lorem Ipsum (dummy text), to be replaced with the real content some time later.

The problem with this is that different content will influence which designs will work best. A simple example is where the amount of text doesn’t match the space provided for it in the template.

So content needs to be an integral part of the design. Designers and content providers need to work together early on in the project.

All Stakeholders not involved early enough

This issue occurs in all types of software development. The project is set up to include relevant stakeholders, and everything appears to work smoothly, with decisions made along the way to the final release.

Then someone, normally a senior manager for client, sees the nearly finished product for the first time. He or she had previously approved the project to go ahead, and had delegated the details to someone, but not spent any time at different stages of the project cycle. This is fine, but if the senior manager doesn’t like what they see, then substantial rework may be required.

This is particularly an issue with public facing technology such as websites and mobile applications, where the company image is at stake.

Once again, early involvement is crucial, with the right people.

If you’d like to discuss your website or software development options with The Bridge at no cost or obligation, feel free to call Lawrence on 02 9993 3300 or email lawrence@thebridgedigital.com.au