This article from the A List Apart site raises some good points on the issue of the number of staff required to maintain a web site. My experience is that most clients just don’t understand the number of hours it takes to build and maintain a site. And, as the guy who is responsible for defending the costs, it is easy to feel picked on. But I have found a similar myopic tendency on other publishing projects, such as a newsletter or annual brochure. These things just don’t write, edit and display themselves — as those involved in working on them know all too well.
I find that the most effective way to build an argument for adequate staffing and funding is to break out the specific tasks. For instance a writer, graphic designer and programmer are required. Even a technically-dense boss can understand these designations. Its better if you can define specific staff/contractors to fill these roles, as again the boss/client can visualize what each will do. From this you build a schedule of when deliverables are needed, a maintenance schedule, and calculate hours. Then put a price tag to it. This is standard project-management stuff (although often neglected in the real world), and can be time consuming to generate, but builds an effective case for the staffing and funding the project requires. Using this plan as a basis for discussions you can more effectively match the scope of the project to match the available staff and funding resources.
The article provides some helpful suggestions on project size and suggestions on required team members, but in a very general sense. Its helpful as a reality check on your plans, but a more complete planning process will give you a better basis for resource allocation.
A List Apart: Articles: How to Plan Manpower on a Web Team
It can be tricky to identify the right levels of manpower for a web team. Indeed, many organisations badly underestimate the amount of work required to keep their sites operating smoothly?they perhaps imagine that once a website is put live, it magically looks after itself. As a result, only the barest bones of proper staffing are put in place.
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Randall Rode's online home for thoughts, notes, and experiments with a wide range of technology topics. Visit the about page for info on my recent projects and professional background. I welcome your comments!
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