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Every software project has bumps in the road. At Amplified, our project managers have seen it all and learned from these challenges. Here are a few challenges we’ve faced, and what tips we’d give to other PMs for overcoming them.
It happens to the best of us — we’re in the middle of a project or a sprint and we realize our team won’t be able to meet its deadline. Maybe you underestimated a task’s complexity because at first glance it didn’t seem so interconnected with other features, or the feature had vague requirements and needed research and lots of trial-and-error in order to find the right solution.
What you should NOT do is keep this fact from the client. You also shouldn’t wait for the scheduled meeting to let them know. Instead, be honest and let them know as soon as possible that there will be a delay. If necessary, you can go deeper into what caused the delay in the scheduled meeting.
To avoid this situation from happening at all, you can do a few things:
As PMs, we also need to deal with non-technical clients. They may be curious about how we process their app’s sensitive data, e.g. how we store their user’s payment details, or how we would restore their data in case of a breach.
In these situations, we as PMs need to put ourselves in our client’s shoes and make sure we provide them with all the information they need to understand how we handle these situations. It’s important to translate complex processes into familiar terms and ideas that the client can imagine and easily grasp.
While a more interconnected world means your team can work on projects for clients in any country, this also creates challenges. Regular communication is crucial for the project’s success, but it can also take a toll on the team and your client. The client may be waking up extra early to attend the meeting, or the team may be joining calls at 6 or 7 PM. This is not ideal.
The best way to manage this is to speak to the client honestly about the situation and come to an agreement that works for both. Set boundaries with them, for example, limiting the days your team stays after hours to 2 times a week or establishing a minimum heads-up time for the calls, so people can schedule around them. This will keep your team happy while also satisfying the client’s needs.
Having a conversation about what went wrong or what you don’t agree with can be difficult, and even more so when your developers are introverted or quiet. If you’re not getting much out of your retrospective, there’s a few things you can do to get the conversation going and help your team open up.
You can use the start-stop-continue method to get a range of answers from the team. Ask them to name one thing they want to start doing, one they want to stop doing, and one they want to continue doing. This helps them talk about the good as well as the bad. If necessary, you can do it anonymously.
Sometimes, you might realize that the design you were given just can’t be implemented. Maybe it doesn’t make sense, or it’s just technically not going to work. In this case, it’s important to remember that the collaboration with your designer isn’t over once the developer’s working on the project.
Ask designers to involve you and the developers during the design process if possible, so you can ensure designs align with the technical aspects. Also, ask for advice and feedback from the designers partway through the project, so you get their insights as well.
Not every team member will adapt easily to an Agile style. Often new team members come from freelancing or from companies where everybody works more independently, and they’ll be initially resistant to you asking for updates and organizing their time with them.
Getting your team on board with Agile may take some tough love at first. Show them the benefits of timeboxing, giving updates, and providing estimates. Make yourself available to them, but also be firm that you need them to communicate with you and adhere to the plan.
Software development is a fast-paced and exciting thing, but as PMs, our job is to manage the changes and curveballs as best we can while keeping our team on track and the client informed. Ultimately, all of these challenges can be tackled when PMs do what they do best: organize, plan, get creative, and look out for their team.
