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Project Management

Project Management is balancing between "the project scope" and "the time, resources and budget" you have. Manage "the time, resource and budget" to cover "the project scope". It includes planning process like requirement gathering, planning, solution design, code, test, deploy. We need to break down the project into doable work tasks. Once broken, estimate them. Finally assign them to get started. It can include the steps below

Steps for End to End Project Management

1 Initiation and Ideation

  • Business Requirement Gathering
  • What are you solving and how will you solve it? The business use case.
  • Define use case, scope and expectations. This is very high level and covers the business problem.
  • Project should have a definite end - a product or a service. It should have definition of done.
  • Above can result in Business Requirements Document

2 Defining - Goals and Objectives

  • What needs to be done? How it can be done? Define the goal and objectives.
  • Goal - should clearly and simply define a state considering most important factors.
  • Objectives - they sould be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-related. Documented. Also specify the category of aobjective:
    • qualitative - improve experience. measure by survey rating
    • financial - inc revenue by 15%
    • operational - reduce number of notifications
  • Definition of Done. This will help breaks down the problem into sub-tasks and defines what is expected.
  • Above can shape the High Level Document
  • Identify the Stakeholders and in the document add their:
    • objectives requirements and interests
    • contribution
    • what are they concerned about
    • their line mangers, eg, if you need somoeone from finance team then take approval from their line managers.
  • Be precise, take what matters and drop what doesn't. Clearly define what is in and out of scope, write it down.
  • It can take several rounds with stakeholders to get correct objectives and scope.

3 Planning - Choose a Strategy

  • Brainstorm with group and let ideas flow in.
  • Write possible options to achieve an objectives. Then pick one of the option that covers all scenarios and meets all objectives and goals.
  • Considerations to be made
    • is the strategy feasible, achievable?
    • are the risks acceptable: security, load balancing, new technologis challenges etc?
    • culture - does it fit the org pattern?
  • above can shape Low Level Document
  • Get a F2F sign-off here, over email and treat it as approved.

4 Solution Design - Modules, Tasks, Sub-Tasks, Deliverables

  • Break the objectives/goals in to modules, technical work tasks and sub-tasks using the strategy and define deliverables.
  • Tasks - Add business understandings, definitions and calculations.
    • Sub-task - Add definition of done. Managable and doable tasks.
    • Deliverables - Identify them, clearly and quantifiably measure them
  • Define Scenarios and map expectations - the above tasks should cover all scenarios and expectations.
  • This sould define the Software Design Document can be planned on Jira and documented on Confluence.
  • Take a technical sign-off and approval if required.

5 Delivery Plan - Estimate Assign

  • Arrange work tasks in sequence, link them with dependencies, add duration.
  • Resource Allocation - assign the tasks to resources. These can be done in Jira. Look out for blockers and unavailability.
  • Make a realistic schedule - include holidays, dependencies.
  • Deadlines - Management can set a deadline, you need to adjust schedule to meet it. Add resource, or break into phase. Do phase analysis - define the MVP to deliver early. Do Phase II enhancements etc.
  • Gantt Chart - optional reporting.

6 Risk Assessment - Clarify Assumptions

  • Avoid risks that are based on assumptions, like someone will do the deployment, access would work.
  • Will the business stop if solution is down? What if resource not available?
  • What if data gets corrupt?

7 Other optional documents/plans

  • Budget - Add costs, include resources, softwares.
  • Communication plan - scrums, weekly, daily
  • Change Management Plan - approvals, what changes when, impact
  • Procurement plan - to buy software, resources, contracting

8 Execution - Development

  • Write code and document it.
  • Do pilot delivery - a quick delivery and test. If works, keep expanding by adding features.
  • Monitoring and Controlling - evaluate and get it back on track if lagging or deviated.
  • Keep unit testing the code.
  • Deliverables - code files, reports, documents. All should be in one place and version controlled.

9 QA Prepration - Testing

  • Make test cases and test scenarios as you go.
  • Identify Testers from Stake Holders.
  • Make a bug tracker where any one can report bugs and it can be tracked.
  • QA Document - add test cases and their results.
  • Get a UAT Sign Off of the deliverables.

10 Deployment

  • Deploy in prod. Test it.
  • Prod Env is secured and hence may require many access permissions. Please see this in advance.
  • Change Management may be required here.
  • Once deployed, do a Prod Testing.
  • Finally release the product

11 Handover - User Training Socialisation

  • Prepare a Training Guide - for end users. This can be video as well.
  • Make a Handover Document - if this need to be handed over to maintenance team to work on manual tasks.
  • Manual tasks - include scope, work required, frequency, risks etc.
  • Contracts - get signed-off if required.

Best Practices

  • Deliverables and Documentation - All files and documentation at one place and all have access. Confluencem, Jira Boards and Shared Drives.
  • Estimation - Set clear goals. Manage Workload.
  • Communication - 1-1 meetings weekly. Daily Updates.
  • Change Management - if change is required in between, follow a change management procedure and redo all steps and sign offs.
  • Reviews - Doc, deliverable. Continuous review helps.
  • Opennes - Be open, let them choose tool, let them choose way, keep them foucsed. Trust them.
  • Risk Management - each team member is accountable to explain risk in their task to entire team. Don't let people assume the work, ask them and clarify it.

Documentation

Step 1: Plan the documentation

Step 2: Prepare the document

Great user documentation should include:

  • Plain language
  • Simplicity
  • Visuals
  • A focus on the problem
  • A logical hierarchy and flow
  • A table of contents
  • Searchable content
  • Accessible content
  • Good design
  • Feedback from real users
  • Links to further resources

Step 3: Test the document

Step 4: Keep it upated.

Spinx

  • Sphinx is the de-facto documentation tool for Python.
  • version controlled, sourced from repo
  • read everywhere, confluence, wiki, PDF
  • Also lets document functions and classes

Talk - Product Strategy, Systems, and Frameworks with Sachin Rekhi

  • Sachin built LinkedIn Sales Navigator, $200m in 1.5yr, 0-500 employee
  • Learn to write and sell code.
  • How to be in Product Management path?
    • Adjacent role, keep coding and start managing the product. Add values, show interest, then keep moving to product role.
    • Be a domain expert, like expert in sales tech, expert in education-tech, med-tech, sports-tech.
  • Sales Navigator story
    • he built connected, personal CRM, it was acquired by linkedIn.
    • showed delivering product quickly, initial traction, showed internal credibility in linkedin, then got the bigger and riskier bet.
    • Credibility and Social-Capital is required to take new bigger opportunities.
    • Share your aspirations with manager, but show credibility too for that.
  • Strategy to build a product - product should answer these quesitons, and in a compelling way
    • what is the problem you are solving? separate from solution? what is the pain? Exact knowledge helps
    • who is the audience, as psecific as possible. understand exactly who the are, mroe specific more success
    • value, benifit from solcution
    • competitive, better than competitors, why? who will compete in long term and short term.
    • growth strategy, how to get customers?
    • buiness model, profit?
  • how to make it compelling?
    • does the problem resonates with audience?
    • business model has growth strategy?
    • have strong interplay in between these, specially when starting new product.
  • Growth Startegy
    • paid ads, then is customer giving that value, think of LTV, lifetime value or customer acquisition cost, CAC. Have greater LTV to afford CAC.
    • product should be expensive enough to support sales team.
  • Framework / process for buy in (convincing)
    • get team of 8-10 engg, work as a venture
    • do prod research, come with PPT, having screenshots and client feedback
    • have detailed compelling customer feedback, is it compelling?
    • have convincing facts for capitalists
    • 6 convincing style
      • framing - narrative in a way, set a context
      • goal seek - align to their goals
      • citation - ab tests, voice of customer
      • narration - compelling story
      • find which style will work
  • Entrepreneur journey
    • idea of product came form office work
      • we dont have info we need, 90% info is not in wiki confluence, hence notejoy
    • earned secrets, give you start up ideas
  • Hurdles
    • fewer resources, no research team, less marketing team
    • no client base, make your own customers, build growth strategy from day 1, share virally
2025-01-12 Jun 2022