Does Web Site Development Require Project Management?

Real Web Project Management: Case Studies and Best Practices from the Trenches
Thomas J. Shelford and Gregory A. Remillard
Addison-Wesley
2003
ISBN 0-321-11255-5
336 pp., US$44.99

Just a few books related to project management issues of Web site design and development exist. Web project managers often come into this role suddenly, when a project becomes more complex and developers or content managers find themselves unable to manage it. Knowledge of general project management is important, but as with other areas, it can’t be applied as is. Real Web Project Management: Case Studies and Best Practices from the Trenches by Thomas J. Shelford and Gregory A. Remillard gives project managers an opportunity to learn how to manage Web projects, review issues related to Web project management, and apply their existing project management knowledge and experience to dynamic Web site development projects. Case studies and interviews illustrate what can happen in such projects. The book reflects the authors’ tremendous project management knowledge and practical experience.

When I saw this book’s title on IEEE Software’s “Bookshelf” Web page, I was pretty curious. What projects are considered Web projects? What’s the role of the term “real” in the title? (I believe that all projects are real and require real project management.) The authors consider Web site development projects as Web projects. This concentration on the Web site development process management markedly influences the book’s content, which focuses on team roles, workflows, project definition techniques, and change management. In other words, management and content design are the main issues.

Any book devoted to management should take a systematic approach to presenting topics in language adequate for project managers. And this book does, although I expected it to have more pictures and diagrams. It’s well organized, with each of the 13 chapters starting with a list of key topics and ending with a summary. “Key points” throughout each chapter serve as guidelines for quick lookup of the main issues.

The authors discuss issues related to Web team roles, communication cues, common organizational structures, meeting organization, and Web site development management processes, such as defining the project, planning, managing change and the design phase, and quality assurance. It also contains a chapter about technical issues. The authors have simplified these so that managers can understand them, and they offer good insight into software engineering-related issues. However, prospective managers could easily misinterpret and subsequently oversimplify these issues.

Although the book is intended primarily for new Web project managers, I believe experienced project managers in different fields could also benefit from reading it, because it could provide them with a unique opportunity to reflect on what they’ve experienced during past projects. I’ve also used it as a textbook in a Management in Software Engineering course. The students valued its style—easy to read, with a little humor mixed in—and the case studies it presents.

A CD-ROM, including examples of project plans, Web page layouts, project checklists, and other documents, accompanies the book. All content is also available on the book’s Web site. Unfortunately, a portion of the CD’s content is compatible only with Microsoft Windows, which excludes readers using other operating systems.

Real Web Project Management serves its purpose of introducing novice project managers to Web project management. Just one warning: although the book offers insight into Web project management, don’t expect it to provide expert knowledge. The writing style is perfect for novices, but experienced project managers might get a little bored with the wordy style. One size can’t fit all.

Mariá Bieliková is an associate professor at the Institute of Informatics and Software Engineering at Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava. Contact her at bielik@fiit.stuba.sk; www.fiit.stuba.sk/~bielik.