Learning from a Project "Post-mortem"

About 6 years ago I was hired as a webmaster for the hospital / research wing of a major University. The website needed to be redesigned inside a new Content Management System (CMS). A content management system (CMS) is a system used to manage the content of a Web site (e.g. web pages and images). I wanted to clarify that it is not a Course Management System (e.g. BlackBoard) that we discussed in our previous Distance Learning course. The project was 2 fold, I first needed to work with our design vendor to create the new web site design. The next step was to role the new design into the CMS. The design phase of the project was rather smooth with some minor delays. (Portney et al, 2010) describes in our text that Project Managers should deal with unknowns by anticipating delays and creating contingency plans.

The second phase of the project was to take the new design that our vendor created for us (e.g. HTML templates and style sheets) and role that into the software (i.e. the CMS). One of the main reasons that I was hired for this position was that they needed someone who could meet their strict deadline (around 9 months from the time I started – the website needed to launch with the new redesign). The website redesign launch had to be created before a major audit conducted by one of our funding agencies (the research wing of our hospital relied heavily on Federal grants). The University’s IT Department was handling the launch of the CMS. The University had an existing CMS but they would not allow anyone to use if for new websites or newly redesigned web sites. So, we had to use this new CMS which not even in the beta testing stage. I should also mention that the University had many other Departments who needed to use the new CMS. Our hospital / research wing had first priority. The CMS kept on getting delayed for one reason or another. Three months before our absolute deadline, I knew that I had to make alternated plans. I simply could not rely on the IT Staff to stay with their promised deadlines.

The writing was on the wall that the IT Department could not deliver and I knew that I had to act fast and create alternative plans.

Using an alternative approach, I was successful in launching a static website using Adobe’s DreamWeaver HTML editor. So, I abandoned using the CMS and just used static web pages for the redesign. I won’t try to talk over my classmates’ heads but I used a lot of Javascript and I used of DreamWeaver’s template system (DWT) to massively rollout the roughly 1000 web pages. I got it done and on time. So, I considered the project a success.

To answer the question what contributed to the success? (Portney et al, 2010) describes that project managers need to respond to reality and sometimes, things change (p. 106). Moreover, another technology can emerge and a PM should use it. In my case, that technology was DreamWeaver’s static template system. Although the solution was not ideal, it worked. I was able to justify my solution because I had a deadline to meet.

To explore the question, what parts of the PM process would have made the process more successful? (Portney et al, 2010) describes that a process is a “series of steps by which a particular job function is routinely performed” (p. 3). Moreover, a process is defines how a job is done every time (Portney et al, 2010, p. 3). I would add that the University’s IT Department did not get their job done. Our text describes potential pitfalls to lookout for and one of them is weak team leadership. The leadership / management for IT Department was feckless (in my observation of their entire team). The IT Department was a steeped in a culture that missed deadlines were the norm.

Reference:

Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.