The slides address the application of basic tools of project management to digital media projects. Many social and digital freelancers run their business by the seat of their pants. The introduction to these methods, and automated tools, will give digital publishers an view of an organized way to responding to client needs and tools to deliver products and services on time and within budget. Examples of techniques include;
* Create a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS),
* Develop a schedule,
* Prepare a cost estimate,
* Status your progress towards completion, and
* Access free online project management tools.
Achive success for digital media campaigns by using project management tools
1. Project Management
for Digital Media
Cleveland Digital Publishing Users Group
February 27, 2014
Dan Yurman
djysrv@gmail.com ~ @djysrv
1
2. Keeping Digital Media Projects on Track
• Railroads use timetables to tell
riders when trains arrive and
depart
• Digital media projects use
schedules too
• This presentation is an
introduction to project
management tools for digital
media including mainstream and
social media channels
2
3. Tonight’s Agenda
Two Parts
• What are the key elements of project management
•
•
•
•
Work breakdown structure
Schedule
Gantt Chart
Resource estimate
• Walk through of a practical example
• Social media campaign for a jazz band’s five city tour
3
4. Creating a Work Breakdown Structure
• Purpose
• Identify all the tasks in a project
• Use
• Defines the structure of the scope-of-work of the project
• Sets up a foundation for estimating duration of each task and time to
completion for the project as a whole
• Provides a structure for estimating costs and schedules
• Supports monitoring progress that a project is on time and within budget
4
5. Why Bother?
• Any project which does not have
well defined objectives will
produce results that are
randomly distributed
• Just because you are having a
crisis doesn’t mean your clients
will have one too
• Have a plan. Keep your
customers. Be a master of your
universe
5
6. Why Bother?
• The project plan is a wise
investment in time.
• There is no single rule of thumb for
the time it takes to develop a
project plan
• The 80/20 rule is a reasonable set
of boundaries
• No more than 20% of the time to plan
and track the status of a project
• At least 80% of the time to get the
work done
• Your mileage may vary
6
7. Why bother with a WBS?
• How often at the end of a project, you hear people say if they’d
known all the work that was involved, they would have had a better
chance to meet the schedule dates and deliver the product / service
within budget
• A WBS will get you there.
• A schedule will tell you when you’ve arrived
• A budget will tell you what the trip will cost
• The examples shown here are not exhaustive. The point is to illustrate
the art of the possible for people new to project management
7
8. Success factors for a WBS
How much detail is enough?
• Tasks must capture meaningful blocks of work without burying the
resulting schedule in unnecessary details
• Tasks must have a beginning and an end
• Don’t include “open-ended” tasks. Focus on “deliverables,” the endproducts of tasks
• Rules of thumb – no task less than eight hours or longer than a status
reporting period, e.g., one week or one month
• Combine like tasks under summary level milestones
8
9. Example of a WBS
• Put in a lawn, shrubs, fence, and sprinklers
• Acquire all plants and materials
• Install sprinkler system
•
•
•
•
Set locations for sprinkler heads, hose connections, pumps, and controls
Dig trenches
Install pipes & hardware; wire controller
Cover trenches
• Plant grass & shrubs
• Prepare site, remove construction debris
• Spread top soil, fertilizer, lawn seed
• Plant shrubs
• Build fence
• Dig post holes
• Hang fencing wire
• Set sprinkler schedule and run it
9
11. Developing a Schedule
What’s in a schedule?
• Tasks define the work and are in the correct order over time
• Unique v. parallel (concurrent) tasks are spelled out
• Covers the durations of all tasks
• Task relationships are made clear. What comes first, second, third, etc.?
• Durations are realistic given the available people, skills, materials, and
equipment
• Uses summary milestones to group completion of a group of related tasks
• Completion of all tasks meets customer’s deadline
11
13. What is a GANTT Chart?
• A Gantt chart illustrates a project schedule including the start and
finish dates of the tasks, summary tasks, and milestones of a project
• It is a type of bar chart, developed by Henry Gantt in the 1910
• You don’t have to use project management software to create one
• In this presentation we will use Excel. There are numerous tools,
techniques, and tips online to do this
• http://www.gantt.com/
13
15. Estimating Resources
• Every task has work associated with it
• Every task has work units composed of labor hours, rates, materials,
and services.
• Some tasks have more than one kind of resource
• Tasks without resources are not real work
• If you can’t measure the work, it’s not going to happen
• Costs for simple projects can be estimated with a spreadsheet
15
16. Examples of Resources
Landscaping Project Resource Items
• People (labor)
• Contractor crew (3 people)
• Materials (procurement)
• Grass seed, shrubs, fence posts, fence wire, sprinkler hardware
• Landscaping project resource (units of measure)
• Labor hours at rates per hours for each person on the job
• Dollar cost of materials
16
17. Estimating Resources
• Custom business templates are used for specific industries, e.g.,
construction, manufacturing, shipping, etc.
• What these templates have in common are repeatable processes with
well understood tasks and costs (based on experience)
• Where social media is different is that most projects are one-time
efforts with unique elements
• What’s a social media campaign project manager to do?
17
18. Shifting Gears
Applying What We Know to Digital Media
• Work Breakdown Structure
• Schedule
• Resource Estimate
• Keep your eye on the ball, follow
a star, but get it in writing
18
19. Digital Media Project Management
A Practical Example
• Cleveland’s world famous Euclid Ave. Jazz Band is going on a five city
tour in two months (Not a real band. Don’t look it up in Scene)
• You have just been put in charge of the media campaign for the tour.
Social media is a big element. What are you going to do?
• Options
•
•
•
•
Disappear; Run away to Costa Rica
Stay home; Call your cousin Vinnie to make excuses for your panic attack
Take a deep breath and prepare a project plan
Follow the steps in this presentation to achieve success
19
20. Next Steps in Digital Project Plan
• Where to Start? Ask fundamental questions.
• Where is the band going? What cities, dates, venues?
• Five cities in five weeks
• Cincinnati, Memphis, St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver
• How much social and mainstream media does the band want?
• The tour is a capstone event for the band which has just released a new CD
• It wants to pull out all the stops
• What kind of tools do you need for the project plan?
• A spreadsheet that runs on a desktop or laptop computer
• You can do this at home, but don’t try this on a tablet or mobile phone
20
21. Review of Tools
Examples (Not a complete list)
Digital Media Tools
• Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Email, etc.
• Google Plus (Hangouts / video chat)
• YouTube videos of highlights of band’s prior tours
• Outreach to entertainment blogs, fans
Mainstream Media
• Paid display advertising, radio ads
• Earned media coverage (reviews of performances)
21
22. Jazz Band Five City Tour – WBS 1
Work Breakdown Structure
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Euclid Ave Jazz Band Five City Tour
Level 4
Activity
Tour Cities
1.1
1.0
* Cincinnati
1.2
* Memphis
1.3
* St. Louis
1.4
* Kansas City
1.5
* Denver
22
23. Jazz Band Five City Tour – WBS 2
Tour Publicity
2.1
2.0
2.2
2.3
2.11
2.12
2.21
2.22
2.23
2.24
2.25
2.26
2.27
2.31
2.32
2.33
2.34
2.35
* Update Band Information
* * Band Bios
* * List music to be performed
Update Internet Information
** Web Site Updates
** Facebook Page Updates
** Twitter feed updates
** Social media engagement with fans
** Outreach to Entertainment Bloggers
** In venue coming attractions promos
** Email campaign
Media Buys & Outreach
** Cincinnati
** Memphis
** St. Louis
** Kansas City
** Denver
23
24. Jazz Band Five City Tour – WBS 3
Post Tour Lessons Learned
3.1
3.0
** Ticket sales data by location
3.2
** Social media & email analytics
3.3
** Earned media coverage & reviews
3.4
** Lessons learned for next tour
24
25. Jazz Band Five City Tour – WBS Full
Level 1
Work Breakdown Structure
Level 2
Level 3
Euclid Ave Jazz Band Five City Tour
Activity
Level 4
Tour Cities
1.1
1.2
* Memphis
1.3
* St. Louis
1.4
* Kansas City
1.5
1.0
* Cincinnati
* Denver
Tour Publicity
2.1
2.0
2.2
2.3
3.0
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
2.11
2.12
* Update Band Information
* * Band Bios
* * List music to be performed
2.21
2.22
2.23
2.24
2.25
2.26
2.27
Update Internet Information
** Web Site Updates
** Facebook Page Updates
** Twitter feed updates
** Social media engagement with fans
** Outreach to Entertainment Bloggers
** In venue coming attractions promos
** Email campaign
2.31
2.32
2.33
2.34
2.35
Media Buys & Outreach
** Cincinnati
** Memphis
** St. Louis
** Kansas City
** Denver
Post Tour Lessons Learned
** Ticket sales data by location
** Social media & email analytics
** Earned media coverage & reviews
** Lessons learned for next tour
25
26. Jazz Band Five City Tour – Gantt & Schedule
Follow the colors in the WBS
Level 1
1.0
Work Breakdown Structure
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Euclid Ave Jazz Band Five City Tour
Activity
03/01/14 03/08/14 03/15/14 03/22/14 03/29/14
GANTT Chart Dates by Week
04/05/14 04/12/14 04/19/14
04/26/14 05/03/14 05/10/14 05/17/14
Tour Cities
* Cincinnati
* Memphis
* St. Louis
* Kansas City
* Denver
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
Tour Publicity
2.1
2.0
2.2
2.3
3.0
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
2.11
2.12
2.21
2.22
2.23
2.24
2.25
2.26
2.27
2.31
2.32
2.33
2.34
2.35
* Update Band Information
* * Band Bios
* * List music to be performed
Update Internet Information
** Web Site Updates
** Facebook Page Updates
** Twitter feed updates
** Social media engagement with fans
** Outreach to Entertainment Bloggers
** In venue coming attractions promos
** Email campaign
Media Buys & Outreach
** Cincinnati
** Memphis
** St. Louis
** Kansas City
** Denver
Post Tour Lessons Learned
** Ticket sales data by location
** Social media & email analytics
** Earned media coverage & reviews
** Lessons learned for next tour
26
27. How the Pieces Come Together
• Work Breakdown Structure (tasks)
• Schedule of Tasks (time)
• Resources (people, things, services, and what they cost)
• What comes first (tasks in order over time)
• Using a free project management tool (Gantter)
• http://www.inquesttechnologies.com/
• Example on next slide
27
29. Estimating Costs
What you need to create a budget that matches the tasks in the
schedule
• List of available staff, specialties, work assignments
• Labor rates for each person based on what they do
• Hours for each staff member assigned to each task
29
30. Estimating Costs
Alternative approaches
• Use a spreadsheet calculating costs using an average labor rate
• Use a spreadsheet calculating costs based on actual labor rates
• Use project management software to allocate costs by staff, hours,
and rates
• Note that when all labor rates are within a range of $5-10/hr, using an
average labor rate produces a “good enough” cost estimate
• In the example on the next slide, the difference for $9,100 in costs is $25
30
32. Track Spending
• Clearly communicate expectations regarding scheduled costs to team
members, especially if you are using freelancers
• Written contracts
• Change order process
• Keep track of the time it takes to complete scheduled tasks
• Don’t wait for monthly invoices
• Compare hours from timecards by week to budget
• By position and by rate
• Calculate differences between costs and budget
32
33. Lessons Learned Phase
• Why do it?
• Band tours seven times in ten months
• Continuously improve use / value of mainstream and social media boosts
tickets sales
• Build fan base for CDs sales and future performances in better venues
• Numbers matter (selected examples)
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•
•
•
•
Social media clicks by channel by city for each tour
Conversions of clicks to sold tickets
Ticket sales by venue / city and CDs sold at performances or by mail
Number of views of YouTube videos prior to / after each venue
Update social media campaign for each new tour based on numbers
33
34. Free and Low Cost Tools
• Gantter
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Google Chrome application for scheduling tasks
Works with Google Drive or on your desktop
Free and paid versions ($10 from Google Play Store)
http://www.inquesttechnologies.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxVkeK9j3Wg
Compare to Microsoft Project cost of $500
• LucidChart
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•
•
•
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Google Chrome application for flow diagrams
https://www.lucidchart.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/lucidchart
Free and premium packages
Compare to Microsoft Visio cost of $250
34
35. Free & Low Cost Tools
• Open Office or Libre Office
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•
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Free “open source” desktop productivity suites
Word processor, spreadsheet, presentation software, drawing, etc.
https://www.openoffice.org/ or https://www.libreoffice.org/
Compare to Microsoft Office Home Edition at $140
Suites compared in computer trade press
• http://www.infoworld.com/d/applications/review-apache-openoffice-4-vs-libreoffice-41224280
• Google Docs
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•
•
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Cloud based office productivity and online collaboration suite
Includes word processor, spreadsheet, presentation software, calendar and email
Google Drive for all your data and a huge library of add-ons
$50/year per user http://www.google.com/enterprise/apps/business/index.html
Compare to Microsoft Sharepoint and Exchange (expensive; price varies)
35
36. Free & Low Cost Tools
• Social Media
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•
•
•
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•
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Facebook page – free (fans in every city)
Twitter – free (fame in 140 characters)
Email – Constant Contact; free for first 1,000 names
Blog – Google Blogger or Wordpress with custom domain name ($)
Google Analytics – free
YouTube – free video hosting
Google Plus & Hangouts for live, online video chats with fans and band
members (free)
36
37. What to Read About Project Management?
• The Fast Forward MBA in Project
Management
• Author: Eric Verzuh
• Includes downloadable templates
for various kinds of projects
• http://www.amazon.com/EricVerzuh/e/B001IGORE0/ref=ntt_athr_
dp_pel_pop_1
• Isbn: 978-1-118-07377-3
• Kindle or paperback editions ($15)
37
38. What to Read About Project Management?
• Making Things Happen:
Mastering Project Management
• Author: Scott Berkun
• Paperback from Amazon $36
• Isbn: 978-0-596-51771-7
38