This blog shows how I have managed my last project delivered for one of my clients.
The task - design a couple of web sites for one of Toronto's colleges that models the registration process for the students and/or the agents registering the students.
Each site contains several modules that have to be implemented and delivered over a period of one year.
A few of the challenges specific to these projects are listed below:
take over an existing web site created by a different vendor, asses the solution and integrate it with the newly created work
use only open source technologies - Angular on the client and NodeJS on the server
have the applications deployed in Azure B2C
deliver a solution that implements single sign-on
manage a team of co-op students, coach them and review their work
The project was conducted in sprints of 3 weeks duration.
I have used Microsoft Teams and created a team where I have stored the projects artifacts:
Roadmap for each year - contains the tasks agreed with the client to be delivered for each sprint, listed weekly
Daily work progress per resource
A list of tasks updated constantly and used as a pool of work for defining the sprints
The project's artifacts (requirements documents, project's plan, designs, code reviews, etc.) were stored in the MS Team's Files
At the beginning of each sprint, I have asked and obtained by email the sprint approval from the client's PM.
At the end of each sprint, I have emailed the status for the sprint's tasks to the client's PM.
Managing the project in an Agile manner allows delivering a module every 2 months with the following resources: 2 senior developers, 3 co-op students. The feedback from the requirement manager and the stakeholders was constantly integrated into the project.
At the same time, I have created a long-term project plan to have a better understanding of the milestones and overall deliverables.
A free tool you can use when you do not have access to the MS Project is GanttProject:
The long-term project plan allowed me to estimate the work for the next contract's terms (periods of 3 months), monitor the implementation, and understand where the risks are.
Once the risks were identified, I have informed the college's development director and proposed a mitigation strategy.
As a result, all the project's milestones have been achieved.
An application developed using Angular Material and NodeJs