Technology Project Management

High quality project management is at the heart of everything we do and is one of the key drivers of our success as a leading full service media agency. Without it we would not be able to deliver on two of our core competencies – delivering on-time, delivering on-budget. Two core competencies that have been and will continue to be fundamental to the long term relationships we have built with our clients and the reason they turn to us time and again.

What do we mean when we say: “High quality project management”?

We mean that we maintain close control of projects, ensure quality of information flows, reduce risk of miscommunication / misunderstandings, ensure that we stay on target for both budget and delivery time scales, monitor development progress closely to ensure code quality, manage project risks, ensure regular communication with the client, respond to change requests from the client in an effective and efficient way etc. There are many factors in delivering complex software projects, we have experience in all of them.

Agile, scrum or traditional project management?

We like to take the best bits of all these project management styles and combine them to come up with a winning combination.

• Scrum: Short, daily meetings to determine current status of the key parts of the project   
• Agile: We believe in the following core aspects of Agile from the Agile Manifesto:
  • Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
  • Working software over comprehensive documentation
  • Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
  • Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

• Traditional / Waterfall: Works better in fixed price project scenarios, enables close control of costs and deliverables, ensures that the end result matches the original specification.

What can customers expect when they commission a project with us?

• Clear lines of responsibility: A single person with ultimate responsibility for each project and reporting directly to the client. The Project Manager will "own" your vision of the project on our side, and will take the responsibility for delivering it. Clear responsibility means that our customers always know who to go to in the case of a problem, if they have new information and need to make a change, etc.The Project Manager is best placed to handle changes and disseminate information down through the team.
• Constant communication: At the start of the project expect to have to deal with us a lot as we nail down the requirements and start production. We work best when we have a close working relationship with the client (or client representative), as projects develop details always arise that need clarification, it is sometimes the case that the way that was imagined that a functionality would be implemented during the specification phase is not actually the best way – factors like these require that we have good communication with the client to resolve the issue and move forward rapidly. We thoroughly believe in the value of communication, and ensure that the client is fully informed at every step of the way. Classic communications methods such as emails, phone calls, video conferences and meetings are reinforced by excellent web based collaboration software which forms the backbone of our communications and facilitates rapid communication amongst project participants - our clients, our managers and our fulfilment teams.
• Understanding their own role in the project success: It’s impossible for us to do successful projects without the collaboration of the client. Depending on the exact type of project and how you want us to go in providing you with a turnkey solution, will depend on how involved you need to be, but you can depend on us to clearly communicate your role in the project, what we will need from you and when. This element alone provides a lot of reassurance to many of our clients that they don’t need to be thinking of everything themselves!
• Change management: it is inevitable in any project that requirements evolve and that new ideas surface, reacting to new information, prioritizing and modifying plans where necessary always with one eye on deadlines and budgets requires experience and practice. Experience and practice which we can bring to your project.
• Working with a great team: our team are our greatest strength because we focus on selection and training. We are dedicated to making our task as project managers as easy as possible by making strong teams available to our clients.
• On-budget, on-time results! We pride ourselves on our ability to set targets and agree budgets with the client, and then to stick to them!