We do big projects all the time. These big projects can be improvements to Onlinejobs.ph. Or when I launch new products like OutsourcingLever.com, OneVAAway.com, OFSGuide.com, or VAsMadeEasy.com. Or just stuff that I’ve always wanted to try because I know they’d be good for business, like making a podcast.
We have so many ideas we have a long list of them on our Basecamp.
We all have ideas for projects. This creative part is something I know a lot of business owners love to do. Coming up with ideas is easy. The hard part is implementing these projects.
Implementing is easier when you have a team of Online Filipino Specialists.
This is how I usually start a project:
- I create tasks,
- tag the right people,
- give instructions, and
- ask for input.
We communicate on the task in Basecamp for as long as the project keeps going.
Because more people are involved, I admit managing them can be tricky. It was easier when I had a small team of 10 people. Ten years and 40 employees later, it’s gotten to the point that I had so many projects going I needed someone else to keep track of them.
So, I promoted Joven to be the overall project manager of OnlineJobs.ph. He’s overseeing all our website work. Managing developers, designers, copy, bugs, features…
Joven mainly handles the website and app. It involves a lot of troubleshooting and changes depending on how things work—so having everything in one place works for him because it’s easier to track changes that way.
I’m used to how Joven works because that’s how I usually do things. But it doesn’t work for all projects. In the cases like the podcast or VAsMadeEasy.com, where we need to create and update content regularly, things have to be done differently.
This is where Julia comes in and how she runs the podcast.
Julia is a list person. When I look at her task list on Basecamp, it overwhelms me because there are so many tasks. But it works for her because that’s how she keeps track of things. She created an assembly line system where my newsletters are turned into blog posts, social media posts, podcasts, and videos to keep things going every day.
It looks like a lot to me. But I can see why her system works here because we need to deliver content regularly. Having groups lets me know what process is taking too long, which ones need to be ramped up, and what adjustments we need to make to publish on time.
Jessica, another project manager for us, does things differently than us both. She’s kind of an in between. She separates projects into tasks (more than me, fewer than Julia) and manages them throughout the project.
I’d love to know how you work with your OFS team when working on big projects.
What software do you use? How do you/your ofs handle it? Any specific insights?
John