Overview on Project Management

Project Management is a series of methods, frameworks, and tools that are typically owned by Project Managers (obvi), Production Coordinators, Production Managers, and Producers.    There is a lot of nomenclature that's used here  (particularly in corporate and DevOps settings).    This language might feel complicated, but it's really stuff you're probably doing anyway: ✅ Managing Calendars ✅ Managing Tasks ✅ Managing Workflow Project Management is a legit and respectable profession, but the culture surrounding it can feel opaque and career-coach adjacent. Don't be scared!

In Project Management, there are a bunch of traditional approaches that may sound familiar to you. Here's a hierarchical chart of how these things work. There are many other project management methods, but these are the ones that appear frequently in Creative Technology processes – at least, altruistically 😉.

• Overall Project Management Methods
  • Agile or Waterfall
    • Frameworks for Implementing an Agile Method (Flexible, Continuous Flow)
      
      • Scrum or Kanban
        • Sprints
          • Tasks
            • Tools for Managing a Method
              • Kanban Boards
              • Task Tracking Tools
    • Structures for Implementing a Waterfall Method (Phase Based)
      
      • Tasks within Phases
        • Tools for Managing a Structure
          • Gantt Charts
          • Milestone Trackers
          • Traditional Calendars

Contextual Example

You can use a series of approaches to project management within a single project.

• Gantt chart to manage the overall timeline of a project – this is a Waterfall approach to time (e.g., the pre-production phase is fixed timing of 2 months)
• Scrum Framework to manage the tasks, a Scrum approach to manage each sprint (e.g., the pre-production scrum includes the "locations search and locations acquisition" sprints)
• Kanban boards to manage the individual tasks (e.g., Jeff : scout Central Park then do a locations report. Tony : review all of Jeff's locations reports and create a summary for the EP. EP : confirm locations and get Jeff to confirm location acquisitions).

If this all makes sense to you, congratulations, you understand the basic concepts of Project Management. 

Task & Project Management Tools

The best way to stay organized is to manage your tasks as well as manage what you own (and what you don't). You can do this using a notebook. If you don't do that already, start with that. A small upgrade from there is a checklist in a notes app. Upgrading from there is a seeming chaotic wasteland with so many products to choose from! 

The tools to manage these tasks include the following software / methods :    Jira  Trello AirTable Miro Spreadsheets Shitty Notebook.    Most of these tools include all of the things you need to manage a project : Kanban boards, Gantt. task mgmt, etc.    Read more about admin and management tools here.

I (Cam) know the vibe here is cynical, but this software is actually pretty great. AirTable is incredible. Trello is a gateway drug. Google's Spreadsheets are more of a DIY but very flexible approach, and most people speak spreadsheet. Practically, I have used spreadsheets for most situations because of that accessibility. Also, some companies manage projects using Google Slides or Keynote decks because it's a presentable format. Seems wild right? In some situations, this is actually very functional! 

Methods for organizing tasks and managing projects is kind of like being a photographer. What's the best camera to use? The one you've got right now. What's the best tool for project management? Probably: the one your team is using right now.