Content for Everyone!

It's been a long week and an even longer month, which puts me in the middle of the longest year on record. Global Lengething is real and quantifiable. I'm in the middle of a battle royale project which is a project that is supposed to end and even has milestones, deadlines, cut off dates, fixed budgets, etc, but which feels like it never, ever will. My developers are pushing back, the client is pushing forward, and that puts me in the middle and in the hot seat.

The project was slated to take approximately six weeks (keep that ambiguity in mind during your tenure as a PM because it comes in handy at times) and has gone over by a few days at this point because of content not being finished and delivered to me, and because some contract workers haven't been able to get their work done without content. Content as it turns out, can make or break a project in more ways than one.

First, if it's not in on time, the project is on hold in many cases. Second, if it's in on time but not organized, the project timeline just extended because someone has to organize it in a logical structure for the development or content team. Third, if it's in on time and organized but not what you were expecting or what your developers had planned on, the project can be in jeopardy. It's always crucial to know what the content is and in what format it will be delivered i.e., PDF's are great unless they contain content that needs to be Copy+Pasted, and Word documents are fine unless the client embedded all of their images inline and didn't include anything that would delineate styles. Bleh.

We're working on content for this project, and have been handed upwards of 500 images and textual content that we are adding via our homemade CMS, which rocks by the way. The point here is that there's a lot of content and so we made sure to have resources scheduled that will be able to handle it. As a PM, I don't want to spend my weekends and evenings entering content, but instead spend even more of my time surfing the inanity of the web while listening to Rogue Wave while someone else does the dirty work. It is my job however to make sure it's done right and on time, and as Ronald Reagan was fond of saying, Trust but Verify. Let's review:

1. Content needs to be in on time, period, or the client needs to understand that the timeline of the project will be impacted, no questions.
   
2. Content structure and type should be discussed at the beginning of the project so there aren't any surprises. It's best to not even start the project until content is delivered.
   
3. Content should be organized by the client. If by you, add this to the estimate, and make sure they are involved as it's organized.
   
4. Images should be sized and optimized and not embedded in a Word document. Bad.
5. Schedule resources in advance - you don't want to be left holding the bag and spending your evenings and weekends saving the project from your bad management.