Digital Project Management

The project is developed for the final exam of the PM course at Talent Garden/KEA, composed of a business case and a presentation. The company names and business context are fictive. The project’s goal is the development and creation of a website, the client is a hospitality brand, and the provider is an advertising agency.

Business Case

1. Company background 

The advertising agency S Studio (fictive name) is based in Copenhagen and was founded in 2000. In its 21 years of activity, the agency grew from 4 employees to an international team of 58 people. The agency works mostly with fashion and furniture brands, has an interdisciplinary approach and offers digital solutions in the form of UX / UI, e-commerce, and digital marketing. Currently, S Studio is looking for opportunities to expand to other industries where design and digital presence are vital. According to their strategy, automotive and hospitality are two of their priorities in 2021 and the marketing and strategic departments are working to attract clients from these two industries. One of their recent clients is a Danish sustainable hotel – Amann (fictive name), that will launch in October 2021. 

2. Description of the project

Amann plans to open in Copenhagen, before the Christmas season of 2021. The brand wants to target an audience that has an interest in high quality, sustainability and design. The company struggled with sales in the past 1.5 years, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and has high hopes for the performance of the new sustainable location. S Studio is tasked with the responsibility of creating and developing Amann’s website and has divided this project into 5 main phases (according to the plan-driven Waterfall methodology), with iterative checkpoints after each phase (according to the Agile methodology).

3. Project Manager’s role

In this project, the project manager’s role is to identify the stakeholders, to perform a stakeholder analysis and to ensure their needs are met, to create the project scope statement, to make sure S Studio and Amann are on the same page, to develop a communication plan and to ensure a smooth collaboration with the client the whole time, to create a WBS and a Gantt Chart and to ensure deadlines are met. Moreover, the project manager is the connection between the team and the client and ensures the client sees progress on the project.

4. Project Management challenge

How can S Studio make sure it delivers a high-quality project (website design and development) within the deadline? 

5. Methodologies

The project follows a Waterfall + Agile checkpoints/iterations + Kanban approach.
Waterfall allows the split of the project into phases and tasks and ensures a better experience for the client and the execution team. To ensure the project is delivered within deadline and at high quality, the Kanban methodology helps the project manager balance tasks with team capacity, ensure a good mood and motivation among the team, and have an overview of the tasks.
Having an Agile mindset keeps the focus of the project on the client and allows for iterative checkpoints and revision cycles, crucial for the goal of the project – website design and development.

The following methodologies are used: 

• Stakeholder analysis is used to make sure all the parts that have an interest in the project or are affected by it are included, and to understand what their needs are and how to best meet these needs.

• Project Scope statement - given the complexity of the project, it is important to specify the scope, to avoid scope creep. This also lets the project manager, and the stakeholders know what is going on anytime, anywhere, and allows the project manager to understand the business goal of the project, its purpose, tasks, deliverables and milestones, delimitations, obstacles and pre-existing conditions.

• Communication plan - to ensure clarity and transparency. The project needs a steady stream of communication to stay on track and to consolidate the relationship with Amann. Another reason for the communication plan is to cultivate collaboration between team members and to facilitates communication about the Kanban board(TO DO, IN PROGRESS, IN REVIEW, DONE tasks). The plan will ensure clear expectations, feedback, and alignment with the goals.

• WBS + Gantt Chart – they allow team members to know their roles and responsibilities, help in setting expectations and in creating accountability by outlining tasks and deliverables. The WBS will break down the scope of the project into manageable sections for the team, while the Gantt Chart will be used to plan the tasks and visualize the project timeline. They are crucial for within deadline delivery.

6. Bibliography and sources 

1. Adapt, https://adaptagency.com/ 

2. Talent Garden, https://talentgarden.org/en/ 

3. Lucidchart, https://www.lucidchart.com/blog/is-agile-waterfall-hybrid-right-for-your-team 

4. The Digital Project Manager, https://thedigitalprojectmanager.com/agile-manifesto/ 

5. The Digital Project Manager, https://thedigitalprojectmanager.com/kanban-vs-scrum-key-differences/ 

6. The Digital Project Manager, https://thedigitalprojectmanager.com/agile-project-management/ 

Presentation