FRONT - A Strategy, Design and Technology Studio

When pressures and deadlines are bearing down and resources are short, it’s tempting to delegate responsibility for a web project to a single member of staff – a swashbuckling Jack Sparrow who can steer your ship, plot the map and, at the end of journey, find the hidden treasure. But unfortunately, that’s fiction. Really successful web projects aren’t run by a single person; they require a collective of skills, experience and attitudes in specific roles.

If you don’t fill these key roles, you face two realities:

• things won’t get done and your ship will sink without trace; or
• your supplier will end up back filling them with their own staff (which will cost you more dubloons).

If you’ve downloaded our Project Planner, you’ll know that we make a distinction between the project team and the delivery team. For now, let me share a few ideas on the type of people that I think make a successful project team.

The senior crew

If a project were a ship, your project team would be the captain, quartermaster and sailing master all rolled into one. This is the small group of people that decides where the project needs to go, keeps it pointing in the right direction, oversees the work of the delivery team and is responsible for its success. They’re the project leaders.

Project teams come in all sizes, but I think it’s better to keep the team small and focused so it can be agile throughout the delivery process. That’s not to say your delivery team won’t be larger, or that staff with an interest in the project won’t get a chance to contribute. They will. But if you want a project to sail smoothly, you should plan for the involvement of the wider team so they can feed into the project team but not surrender all decisions to majority rule.

Seaworthy qualities

In my experience, there are three roles that need to be filled on a project team, each characterised by specific skills, strengths and attitudes for success:

The Visionary
This is someone with a bit of clout in your organisation who also really cares about the project. They understand that the web is one of many tools that can help your organisation implement (and influence) its business strategy.

Their job is to keep a firm focus on your project’s business drivers, but they’re able to stay open minded about how to achieve success.

A strong Visionary is also interested in proof. From the outset, they will want to know how success will be measured and what evidence will be gathered to demonstrate that the business drivers for the project have been satisfied.

It also helps if they control the purse strings, to ensure resources are spent on the things that will have the biggest impact on success.

Good qualities: Decisive, strategic, focused

Bad qualities: Unwieldy, unrealistic, constantly changing their mind

The Guardian
A brilliant Guardian cares deeply about the brand and really understands its audience/users. They have excellent judgment when it comes to deciding what is most important. I’d expect them to be more heavily involved in daily decisions than the Visionary, but onlookers should be able to see clearly the Visionary’s objectives trickling down into the Guardian’s priorities and decisions. 

During projects, the Guardian often has to make some tough decisions about what makes it into scope and what doesn’t. So whoever fills this role needs to understand your organisation’s internal politics and be clued up enough to involve the right people at the right times to avoid conflict, procrastination, and other nasty behaviours that can derail a project.

A good Guardian can give sound direction and is able to fight their corner if that direction is questioned later.

Good qualities: Pragmatic, influential, articulate, excellent judgment, resilient

Bad qualities: Precious, tunneled vision, distracted/spread too thin, stubborn, ignores business drivers

The Organiser
A lot of work is needed in a web project, and this is the person who gets things done. An expert in organisation, prioritisation and coordination, this is the person who never stops going but also never loses their cool.

It’s their job to lead the delivery team – who’ll be preparing content, managing online communities, testing prototypes, etc. They also have the challenge of balancing the wants and needs of different people with the strategic objectives driving the project. As one of our clients eloquently put it: “Opinions are expensive.” A great Organiser is able to differentiate between opinions and genuine needs plus manage internal discussions well, so the project team only spends their time on high-value discussions.

Good Qualities: Great attention to detail, can multi-task, can delegate, good at communication and getting things done on time

Bad Qualities: Just collates input from everyone; doesn’t apply judgment or scrutinise; doesn’t question, challenge or seek clarity; treats all tasks equally

Like most things in this world, the success or failure of a web project comes down to people more than any other factor (process, technology, budget, etc).  When delivering a web project, it’s no different.  So, when planning your web voyage, who in your organisation will you invite aboard?