Digital Production Management - Risk vs Value

I'm currently reading Mike Cohn's book - "Agile Estimating and Planning", a very worthwhile read I'd recommend to anyone in digital production.

There are numerous gems I've learnt during the read, the one I'm going share today is actually an old concept to me, but a very valuable one. The process of risk vs value definition.

Using a simple diagram, which I've included below Mike describes the process of risk vs value assessment on a project.



Source: Mike Cohn "Agile Estimating and Planning"

Knowing this kind of information allows you to prioritise attention to your projects deliverables, with the high-risk/high-value items ideally being dealt with first. Perhaps low-value/high-risk items being dropped from your production schedule all together.

The arrow in the diagram illustrates the order of delivery priority, moving through three of the sections, but avoiding the high-risk/low-value section altogether.

The analysis of risk like this is usually most relevant on larger projects, although risk analysis in some form should always be considered when planning any project.

Risk can be broken down into many elements, but for the sake of the book Mike Cohn breaks risk down into the following types:

• Schedule risk - "We might not get this done by . . ."
• Cost risk - "We might not be able to buy/hire that resource for . . ."
• Functionality risk - "We might not be able to get that to work . . ."

I could write a whole post on risk, but I'm not going to go there today so back to the risk vs reward profiling.

I'm currently working with a very tight scheduled project of a relatively small scale, but prioritising tasks like this with this particular project was essential due to the immoveable delivery date. This can occur in web development often, usually when projects are just one element of a larger marketing campaign.

Larger projects can come with endless production wish lists that would deliver functionality beyond what was originally required. Sifting through these wish lists and matching them against the original project objectives and then classifying the risks against their delivery can be an invaluable operation.

The wish lists are not always just the creation of the client either; you'll often find development and design teams trying to add elements to a project they think might be desirable that could skew your delivery times.

Following this simple operation can ensure you deliver to your client what they originally wanted on time and to budget without being too distracted by "would be nice to have" additional elements that can be very time consuming.

Mike talks about this process in his chapter about prioritising themes. The other themes he covers when calculating project priorities are "New Knowledge" and "Cost", which combined with "Value" and "Risk" you should be able factor all elements of any project more accurately.

It's rare in any project we get the chance to include all the features and functionality that we might wish to, so considering these factors is essential.

It's simple process that a trained production/project manager can generally do by themselves at the early stages of a project kick off. But if your unsure of any element, go back to your team for further details.

Early stage planning like this can save a lot of worry later in projects; we should all take the time to consider risk vs value.


Related links:

Managing expectations - Keep everyone happy - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/06/managing-expectations-keep-everyone.html

Have you got time? - Project managing time - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/04/have-you-got-time-project-managing-time.html

Methodologies - Don't let yourself get boxed in by them - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/08/methodologies-dont-let-yourself-get.html

Stay calm and be patient - The inner calm of project & account management - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/10/stay-calm-and-be-patient-inner-calm-of.html

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Twitter - The global voice of the people

I'd started writing this post back during the Iranian elections when I was delighted to see the voice that Twitter was giving the oppressed voters of Iran.

Since then Twitter has gone on to prove as equally as powerful a tool and voice of free speech for numerous other causes.

Recently we've seen the Trafigura case and almost on the same day the Jan Moir story receive the Twitter megaphone treatment.

A publishing tool with the ingredients that Twitter offers has never been available before and it seems those components are ideally suited to the domain of public opinion and free speech.

I spoke recently of Twitter and other social media platforms power to enable human intrigue and self involvement. The adoption of social platforms in these other mentioned cases are tapping into similar elements of the human psyche, those that cause us to express outrage and opinion.

Twitter and it's brief format involves less cognitive involvement and effort to enable the expression of opinion than the writing of blog articles or an Amnesty International style fax campaign.

The viral nature of the RT and then promotion or highlighting of a news event in the trending topics creates a buzz about the network that encourages all users to investigate further and perhaps get involved in the process themselves.

Its multi-interface availability and relatively simple API and publish process allow it to produce content from locations that might otherwise be problematic, bypassing issues of political censorship or mobility.

The most commonly used applications and the Twitter web interface are simple to use, allowing most with even the most basic grasp of technology to get involved in a trending topic or developing news item quickly.

There is however a downside or at least another side to this simple and readily available functionality.

With the same ease that some people access a story in order to add a positive element to a campaign, others can access it to add not so positive input to a campaign.

Towards the end of the Jan Moir story, or the orchestrated campaign as she so named it, there was an uglier side to some peoples involvement. One driven by emotive passion, I suspect in most cases, with physical threats to Jan Moir apparently appearing. I didn't witness these, but I'm not surprised or alarmed that they did occur.

With this easy access will inevitably come other opinions that might not please all, but hey this is the nature of free speech. As with the printed press in this country, of which Jan Moir is a contributor, there are plenty of articles published that we won't all agree with.

The latest case of unfounded repute is currently doing the rounds, with Twitter seemingly reporting the demise of rapper Kayne West.

It is it's own beast. This is the beauty of Twitter that will continue to keep it in the public spotlight, much to the delight of many and the annoyance of a few.


Related reading:

Twitter - Use it as you see fit, but don't expect us all to like it! - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/09/twitter-use-it-as-you-see-fit-but-dont.html

Twitter link bait - Is it worth it? - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/04/twitter-link-bait-is-it-worth-it.html

Twitter - Just enough geek and plenty of cheek . . . - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/03/twitter-just-enough-geek-and-plenty-of.html

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There is no substitute for hard work

There's no getting away from it in my book, if you want to really excel at something, you'll struggle to do so without some hard work along the way.

We live in a generation where we've all heard stories of the vast wealth that some of the tech pioneers have managed to accumulate in a relatively short space of time by simply coming up with an idea.

Believe me there will have been nothing simple about this process.

Your Biz Stone's, Kevin Rose's and Mark Zuckerberg's of the world will have all put in many more days of hard work than many will care to imagine.

There is no golden egg to be found at the end of "Earn $10,000 a day" tweets and e-mails; generally they are all scams.

You'll need to make sure your hard work is focussed correctly and you're not just thrashing around in the dark.

Set yourself goals, hard goals, but achievable ones. Unachievable goals will help no one, all they will do is demotivate you in your actions.

Once you've these are set, get on with the work.

I speak for myself here, as always, but objectives that have been achieved through hard work are always far more rewarding than those achieved easily.

Just like a pint in the pub at the end of a big day out in the mountains, superb.

So work around your objective to ensure you have the background knowledge to support your idea or project development; greater insight will help you be successful.

Run that extra mile when you're out on your run, pushing your limits just that little bit further. The extra effort will pay off the next time you race or complete a running challenge.

Spend that extra hour completing additional tests before you release a product to your client for approval. The extra effort should ensure greater quality.

Then when you're done with all this extra effort, make sure you spend some extra time with your partner/family/friends making up for your absence!

This is a "note-to-self" as much as anyone else.

Now get on with it . . .


Related links:

Stay calm and be patient - The inner calm of project & account management - digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/10/stay-calm-and-be-patient-inner-calm-of.html

Creative thinking needs time and reflection - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/08/creative-thinking-needs-reflection-and.html

Have you got time? - Project managing time - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/04/have-you-got-time-project-managing-time.html

Passion, what value does it bring? - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/03/passion-what-value-does-it-bring.html

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Let human impulse do the foot work for you

Impulse, intrigue, curiosity and a requirement to feel involved and involve others in what is effectively gossip is a powerful force in our human nature.

I've recently been involved in a on-line campaign for a brand that harnessed the power of this need and combined it with social media to great effect. It got a serious message out to many people, which in turn did a great job of raising the awareness of the brand in question and their expertise in this area.

Social media is the perfect transport for this kind of interest and traffic generating work. It uses the conversational element of the technology to feed peoples intrigue and interest and encouraging them to involve others and share their personal facts or perspective on an issue.

The commitment required to manage a social media campaign can be one of the biggest turn-off's for marketeers considering using tools such as Twitter to promote a message or a brand.

It doesn't however necessarily require a vast commitment of resources and carefully worded on-brand responses to utilise the power of social media to your brands benefit.

All it can require is the careful generation of a perspective or perhaps statistical data that an individual can associate with themselves and then the functionality to share this with their community.

Intrigue and other human impulses that occur to us naturally will do the rest of the foot work.

Developing the idea that creates the perspective or data that others might want to share is the hard bit. Keeping it on brand and in tune with a brands key messages, also making the idea creative and interesting enough to entice people to get involved are a tricky combination.

Once achieved though there shouldn't be any need to start managing Twitter accounts or allocating resources to manage Twitter accounts, simply provide visitors the facility to tweet the result and let them promote the message for you.

Social media is still being treated very warily by some, sometimes you just need to take a step back and see what other approaches there may be, other than the obvious one that's staring you in the face.


Related articles:

What makes us social and is social media a good thing? - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/09/what-makes-us-social-and-is-social.html

A digital evolution for all agencies - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/09/digital-evolution-for-all-media.html

Why bother with social media - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/06/why-bother-with-social-media.html

Brands on Friendfeed - A different proposition to Twitter - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/08/brands-on-friendfeed-different.html

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Comments on blogs - An online visitors book?

I was up visiting my parents in the Lake District this weekend with my family. Lovely time had, I always enjoy returning there.

While up there my parents had to spend part of their time on Saturday cleaning their holiday cottage in Eskdale; I took the time to squeeze in a good fell run in the valley (how selfish of me I hear you cry!).

On my return, just before the new guests arrived, I spent some time reading the guest book they have in the cottage, what a rewarding experience.

My parents are very conscientious about the state of their holiday cottages and take great pride in the hard work and effort they put in to maintain a good level of service and return in value for the money people pay to stay.

This hard work and effort is reflected in some of the visitor comments they receive in their visitor books.

Reading the comments in the visitors book and talking to my parents afterwards reveals that the comments often fire the motivation they need to service the cottage week in, week out. They take great pleasure in hearing of great family holidays had and the peace and comfort found by visitors.

The Analogy.

You may be wondering what the hell I'm blathering on about here. Well a very simple analogy can be drawn between the purpose and resulting pleasure drawn from visitor book entries and comments on a blog.

Writing a blog can be a thankless task at times, but I have my own reasons for doing so, as my parents do with their holiday cottage.

However, once in a while you'll receive a comment on your blog that makes it all worthwhile and it can provide you with the motivation you need to push on and the drive to improve your standards further.

If I feel this motivation when receiving comments on my blog, I'd assume the feeling to be universal.

Take the time to comment on other peoples blogs, not only will it reward you with stronger community relationships, but it might just be the motivation that a blogger needs to continue with their work.

I've found myself using other forms of commenting on blogs recently, such as tweeting articles I've found.

While this may result in more traffic to the article, it still doesn't have the same value as a genuine comment on the article itself in my eyes. Comments generally carry the conversation further

As I close this post, no this isn't a cry for comments, just an observation, however . . .


Further reading:

10 personal branding habits of the professionals - Octane http://www.octane.uk.net/blog/2009/10/10-personal-branding-habits-of-the-professionals/

The benefits of comments - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/01/benefits-of-comments.html

9 great blogs I enjoy reading & find inspirational . . . - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/04/9-great-blogs-i-enjoy-reading-find.html

Blog knowledge - The importance of titles - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/06/blog-knowledge-importance-of-titles.html

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Stay calm and be patient - The inner calm of project & account management

We all need patience in our jobs, but to some it comes naturally and to others it will never come at all. That's just the way it is.

As a project or account manager it comes with the territory that you'll have to learn how to have patience.

You'll be expected to stay calm and to have patience when a client rolls through a whole new round of changes to a website, when you've just finished that last round of changes.

Equally you'll have to be patient when the your production schedule doesn't allow a minor change to be completed until others larger items are finished.

Minor mistakes will be made on all projects by everyone from the project manager, client or production team; some won't be so minor. You'll need to be patient with the person responsible and work to find the best solution, calmly.

Being patient shouldn't be confused with agreeing to changes outside of the original scope of a project. Being patient should just avoid you getting too stressed as you see the final hurdle of a project moving, once more, further away.

Being patient is key to your ability to manage stress when involved in complex projects or projects where elements are seemingly outside of your direct control.

Managing your stress levels is key to delivering projects successfully. There are a number of emotions that I often feel are a waste of energy. Anger, which often stems from stress, is one of them.

If you can feel yourself getting stressed about a particular aspect of a project, try and take a step back, reflect and re-evaluate the issue and try and define a solution.

Allowing yourself to become wound up by an issue will never create an effective production process or allow you to act effectively.

Instead, in the case of a client project change, allow the change to be conveyed, being patient as reasons for the change are explained. Then take some time to step back and review what was proposed rather than responding immediately, tell them you'll call them back in a moment after you've had time to think the change through.

A calm state of mind will allow you to push back on a project scope change far more effectively than trying to do it in the heat of the moment, no matter how alarmed you may feel during the initial conversation.

Taking a break and calling back later also illustrates that you've taken the time to consider the change properly and then considered your response; rather than just the possibly knee jerk response of "no more changes!".

This isn't, I must emphasis, an agreement to accept all changes as that would be foolhardy to say the least and goes against all project and account management principles.

More, just a encouragement to take your time when making decisions about project deviations, production issues, mistakes that are inevitably made by all and other things that can crop up on every project.

Reacting immediately can sometimes cause further stress and issues. Instead, pause, reflect and then respond.


Things that have helped me stay calm:

1. Music - I've always found comfort in music. The right music can encourage my idea generation and problem solving skills and keep me level headed.

2. Fell running/Mountaineering - These past-times have always given me lots of time to reflect in a quiet and inspiring environment.

3. Family - My family and friends I've always found a great point of reference/focus in times of stress, whether that be at work or even when climbing.

4. Honesty - This might seem a strange one to add, but I've found when I'm under pressure being honest can save a lot of time that might otherwise be spent beating around the bush.

5. Humour - Keeping conversation light hearted in the heat of the moment can help others relax. This, however, is a fine line and can annoy some. You need to ensure the humour is combined with a feeling of control at the same time, reassuring others that you aren't belittling the commitment that might be required to resolve an issue.


and breath . . .

Related articles:

Managing expectations - Keep everyone happy - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/06/managing-expectations-keep-everyone.html

Creative thinking needs reflection and time - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/08/creative-thinking-needs-reflection-and.html

Have you got time? - Project managing time - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/04/have-you-got-time-project-managing-time.html

Communicate and define - Basic rules of any project - Digital Signals http://www.digital-constructions.com/blog/2009/03/communicate-and-define-basic-rules-of.html

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