Visual Cues

I love shops that have visual reminders of where each tool should live when its not being used.

I do the same thing on projects, especially when using placeholders. I make them really ugly and obnoxious, which makes them easy to find as you revise later on.

Even something simple like using italics can make it easy to find the text you need to clarify later. You scan the pages looking for italics, rather than reading for content.

Understanding how you work allows you to develop tricks to play to how your brain processes information. Leave mental breadcrumbs scattered in the project to flag things that need to be fixed.

Peter

Bulldog

I can see the value of a "Content Strategist" role in organizations, but the part of Scott Kubie's description that resonated with me is "Bulldog"; as in, someone who stays on people to get all the bits done on schedule.

Perhaps the image of a bulldog is a bit menacing, but tenacity is a handy skill in a project manager (to use a much less sexy job description- "Content Strategist" is so shiny and new!). There is a balance to be made between "just get something out the door" and "wait until everything is perfect", and having all of the parts be pretty good, or at least present.

In our new App World, users are accustomed to steady improvement of products, so go for incremental processes rather than all-or-nothing. Things get shipped.

Bring out some of your inner bulldog.

Peter

Checklists

I have had a run of projects that have a surprising number of questions unanswered at the start- things that would become expensive changes down the line.

Every industry has it complexity, but there is just a dizzying number of options in a video edit. With the news that using a checklist cuts down on surgical deaths, I imagine that using a similar, standardized format can reduce confusion, delays, overruns, and most importantly, looking like you don't know what you are doing in front of the client.

A checklist would be doubly beneficial for the sales department, who are usually long on enthusiasm but short on technical knowledge. In the excitement of a new sale, it would be very easy to not ask the important questions that the technical staff will need to know. What format is the project being shot on? By who? What are the deliverables? When are they due? Who gives final approval?

This doesn't have to be a twenty page legally binding document- projects always change a bit from beginning to end. A simple one or two sheet summary of the important details will answer 95% of the questions, and will hopefully cut down on the email loops one gets sucked in to.

What would you put on your checklist?

Peter