Now that the project has been finished I will be reviewing the project management, the overall outcome and evaluating things that went well and not so well.
My task was to re-design the existing website of Faversham Miniature Railway so that the layout was more eye-catching and the website was easier for users to navigate around. There were quite a few tasks that would be involved in this process and to ensure everything was done correctly I needed to ensure I did a good plan and made use of some project management techniques.
To help with my project I chose to use the waterfall methodology, I created a critical path analysis and I produced a Gantt chart. I found the waterfall methodology to be a good choice as I had ensured that I had written down all the tasks that needed to be completed and that I had agreed with the client exactly what was going to be produced, this meant that my project could flow nicely through the different stages. My CPA diagram was also useful as it allowed me to see all of the tasks laid out and helped to make me aware of the critical path. Seeing the critical path of my project was useful was it meant that I knew which tasks needed the most attention and what ones could suffer a bit should I run into any problems. The Gantt chart was also very good as it allowed me to see how I was progressing through the project and because I was keeping the blog updated with them, it meant that I client also knew where about in the project I was.
I think that in the project I produced a good plan and that I managed to follow it through correctly. This is clear because the project was completed on time and did not suffer too many delays. The best part of my planning was that I managed to estimate the time that it would take to complete the tasks correctly. Although at some stages such as the Analysis when I was researching and learning various new skills it did take a little bit longer than what was intended. I ensured that I kept my Gantt chart updated regularly as this showed me and the client how up to date I was and allowed me to calculate how I would get back on track should anything take longer than what was originally planned. This project has also helped to develop my skills in using Microsoft Project and made me think about the other things such as predecessors and resources that are involved in a project. Being made to think about dependencies in a project, made me realise that when I am working in a team in the future, if I don’t complete my part on time then the whole project will suffer.
My communication for this project has been improved as during the project I have had to inform the client what is happening, what has been completed and what isn’t running to schedule. I have done this in person when reviewing the project and via the blog which I ensured that I kept updated. I feel that in the early stages of my blog such as when the project was in the analysis stage, my updates weren’t as good or professional as they could have been. Although they told the client about my progress I don’t think they gave enough information about any problems I had encountered or what I was moving on to start next. A good thing about my communication is that it steadily improved throughout the project. Once my project reached the Implementation stage I think that it was at a good level and that I was giving good all round information about the progress, problems and what was going to be completed next in the project. This is something I will ensure I will take to other projects I do in the future as it will ensure that my communication is good from the start to the end of the project.
Now the website is fully finished I am extremely happy with how the website has turned out. It matches the plans that I produced and looks as good as I thought it would. When I was creating the final specification for the client I ensured that I was 100% sure about what needed to be done and that everything was written clearly. Having a good specification has enabled me to meet the needs of the client effectively and I don’t think that they will be unhappy with the end result. I am very happy with the outcome of the project and I don’t really think it’s possible to improve how I met the client’s needs. I just need to ensure that I have a good project brief every time I undertake a project.
All of the above; planning the project, communication and meeting a client’s needs go together. So without one of them my project would not have turned out as well as it has. I think I was already good at them before but I will try to improve them for future projects I work on.
I think the best part of my project was that I created good plans and designs for the layout of the website. This made the implementation stage much easier and also meant that should someone else needed to they could have easily finished creating the website. Although in future I think I need to plan out exactly what images will go on a site and what the hyperlinks to different pages will look like.
In my project I think the part that went less well was not planning for the half term that we had off. Towards the end of the project during the testing and documentation stage we had a week off. I did try to complete work but did not mange to complete as much as I would have liked. This was a mistake on my part as I did not look ahead and see that there was a half term when I was originally planning my project. This has taught me to look ahead when planning something and is not a mistake I will be making again. Although I did suffer this set back I work harder once we returned from half term and managed to finish all the work that was left and complete the project on time and to a good standard.
Doing this project has been extremely enjoyable and it has allowed me to develop my planning, communication skills and has helped to teach me some new skills and techniques regarding websites. I also learnt that although testing is extremely boring, it is vital as it found a couple of problems with my website.
