Glad to hear folks might get some use from this.
This second post is going to be remedial for anyone already in the industry, but my experience is many people have trouble envisioning what PMs do or why they’re necessary, so I wanna put some meat on those bones before I start talking about landing clients or project life cycles.
Part 2
2.1 What does a digital PM do?
![[Image: HWEVoOk.png]](http://i.imgur.com/HWEVoOk.png)
My mother asks me this all the time.
The answer is, a lot of different shit, but I’d distill it down to three points:
1) Cut deals with clients, which consists of...
—Finding clients and convincing them they need a new web site
—Determining high-level site goals, features & functionalities, and page templates
—Agreeing on a price & payment structure
2) Creating project plans, which consist of…
—An hours / dollars budget ("XX hours for design," "YY dollars for coding," etc)
—A timeline ("design will finish January 1, coding finishes February 29,” except in far greater detail)
3) Making sure the goals are met within budget and on schedule, which consists of…
—Monitoring designers / coders, prodding them or getting them help as needed
—Requesting more time / money from the client, as needed
Running my own shop means I also handle general administrative tasks that would apply to any small business owner (invoicing, payroll, ordering business cards…). Since they’re not particular to a PM’s job, I’m leaving them out of this write up—but if you’re considering this path, bear in mind those things do eat a sizable chunk of time.
2.2 I still don’t know wtf a PM does (A Day in the Life)
That’s fair. Until you actually do the job, it’s hard to picture what “determining high-level site goals” or “prodding coders” means on a day-to-day or hour-to-hour basis.
To give a more concrete idea, here’s a rough “two days in the life” which are based on how I actually spent yesterday and today:
Tuesday
9 am - Log onto Skype, which I use to chat with developers. Bullshit a bit, then get updates on progress since I went offline Monday evening. Give some instructions: “Finish the bug queue by 2pm so we can launch the test site by 6pm”; “Client emailed about an issue with Drupal's Twitter module; look into it and estimate how many hours to fix it; ping me when your estimate's ready”; “Today, make these adjustments to the checkout page…”
10 am - Review development and test sites. Pass notes and ideas to developers.
11:30 am - Presentation at client’s office to show latest round of wireframes (outlines of page designs).
1 pm - Gym
2 pm - Lunch with Creative Director of an agency that might hire us to code a project they’re designing
3 pm - Back online. 30 minutes of chatting with developers and reviewing their work
3:30 pm - Call with designer to ‘kickoff’ a new project and give direction for first wireframe concepts.
4 pm - Call with a client to discuss a written ‘design spec’ for their web app. Once finalized, the design spec will guide our design process.
5 pm - Head to another client’s office to discuss a ‘ballpark proposal,’ — essentially a preliminary estimate to see what they’re willing to pay. This client's business hinges on a proprietary web app that has great features, but late-90s UI. They want us to use the API to redesign the UI from scratch. Their budget turns out to be… whatever it costs.![[Image: banana.gif]](https://rooshvforum.network/images/smilies/new/banana.gif)
6 pm - Leave their office in a great mood. Read some blogs, chat with devs, start drafting R2 of that design spec. Email client to tell them their test site is ready for review.
7 pm - Sign off Skype. 90% chance my day is over; 10% chance a client emails with something urgent.
Wednesday
9 am - Log on. Morning chat with the developers.
10 am - Rewrite the previous day’s ballpark proposal into final format. Create a week-by-week schedule for the entire project, estimating hours and tasks per week. Call my lead developer to double check estimates. Obsess over my spreadsheet for 30 minutes to make sure I didn’t miss anything—I’m flat pricing this job, so underestimating could fuck me. Increase price 20 percent to be safe. Send to client.
Noon - Miscellaneous emails and roast beef sandwich
12:45 pm - Swing by bank to deposit a $12k check. Still makes me giddy. I can tell the teller thinks I’m an office boy running an errand for some Lord of the Universe (in fairness, I look 14).
1 pm - Gym; gotta be quick today, because...
1:45 pm - Call with client to discuss the status of their Magento project.
2:30 pm - Developer interview. He seems reasonable. Set up a time for him to meet the contractor I hire to vet potential devs.
4 pm - More client emails, more chatting with developers
5 pm - QA on small WordPress site that’s nearing launch.
6 pm - Pruning Asana (task management software) and checking Harvest (time tracking for contractors). Yell at devs for inputting crappy hours summaries (You spent two hours doing… “Drupal” ? C’mon son, the client is not paying us to “Drupal.”)
7 pm - Small project we’re launching today is running late. Cook dinner (chicken) while waiting for final update from dev.
7:30 pm - Call client to review & okay launch.
7:45 pm - Approved, launched, and verified that everything’s in order. Swig bottle of wine & out the door—girl from last Saturday’s party waiting for me in the West Village. Age 24; good ass, middling tits.
11:45 pm - Back home & all by my lonesome. Can’t win em all.
Unlisted but peppered throughout the working hours are quick calls / chats / emails with clients and designers / developers. When there’s a free moment, I try to squeeze in some paperwork too.
Two very typical days. Lots of talking, lots of writing. I might’ve looked at code for 10 minutes? I forget.
2.3 TLDR
At the risk of veering into complete bullshit... as an independent PM you’re trying to balance four quantities:
1) your personal management capacity (factoring in both ability and time of day)
2) your devs’ / designers’ productive capacity
3) your devs’ / designers’ actual output
4) your clients’ cumulative expectations
Meaning, if you’re exceeding client expectations, get more demanding clients who will pay you more.
If your team’s output is exceeding their capacity, then it’s shitty output and you’re pissing off clients.
If your personal management capacity is underutilized, then staff up or take on more complex jobs.
I know it sounds wishy-washy, but this four part framework governs 95% of my business decisions—the other 5% is me hiring designer chicks because they’ve got thigh gap—and I think it’s at the crux of being a PM.
I worry about the overall balance more than any particular deliverable or project goal—especially when making big decisions like hiring new devs or going after a client or expanding the scope of a big proposal.
You strike the right balance as a PM, and you can make great money and build cool shit and not stress too much.
####
Anyhow, that’s my best attempt to encapsulate what the job entails.
Next post I’m going to talk about how I broke in and what it takes to get your first job. Here’s a teaser:
![[Image: jwlN6S6.png]](http://i.imgur.com/jwlN6S6.png)
![[Image: wink.gif]](https://rooshvforum.network/images/smilies/wink.gif)
This second post is going to be remedial for anyone already in the industry, but my experience is many people have trouble envisioning what PMs do or why they’re necessary, so I wanna put some meat on those bones before I start talking about landing clients or project life cycles.
Part 2
2.1 What does a digital PM do?
My mother asks me this all the time.
The answer is, a lot of different shit, but I’d distill it down to three points:
1) Cut deals with clients, which consists of...
—Finding clients and convincing them they need a new web site
—Determining high-level site goals, features & functionalities, and page templates
—Agreeing on a price & payment structure
2) Creating project plans, which consist of…
—An hours / dollars budget ("XX hours for design," "YY dollars for coding," etc)
—A timeline ("design will finish January 1, coding finishes February 29,” except in far greater detail)
3) Making sure the goals are met within budget and on schedule, which consists of…
—Monitoring designers / coders, prodding them or getting them help as needed
—Requesting more time / money from the client, as needed
Running my own shop means I also handle general administrative tasks that would apply to any small business owner (invoicing, payroll, ordering business cards…). Since they’re not particular to a PM’s job, I’m leaving them out of this write up—but if you’re considering this path, bear in mind those things do eat a sizable chunk of time.
2.2 I still don’t know wtf a PM does (A Day in the Life)
That’s fair. Until you actually do the job, it’s hard to picture what “determining high-level site goals” or “prodding coders” means on a day-to-day or hour-to-hour basis.
To give a more concrete idea, here’s a rough “two days in the life” which are based on how I actually spent yesterday and today:
Tuesday
9 am - Log onto Skype, which I use to chat with developers. Bullshit a bit, then get updates on progress since I went offline Monday evening. Give some instructions: “Finish the bug queue by 2pm so we can launch the test site by 6pm”; “Client emailed about an issue with Drupal's Twitter module; look into it and estimate how many hours to fix it; ping me when your estimate's ready”; “Today, make these adjustments to the checkout page…”
10 am - Review development and test sites. Pass notes and ideas to developers.
11:30 am - Presentation at client’s office to show latest round of wireframes (outlines of page designs).
1 pm - Gym
2 pm - Lunch with Creative Director of an agency that might hire us to code a project they’re designing
3 pm - Back online. 30 minutes of chatting with developers and reviewing their work
3:30 pm - Call with designer to ‘kickoff’ a new project and give direction for first wireframe concepts.
4 pm - Call with a client to discuss a written ‘design spec’ for their web app. Once finalized, the design spec will guide our design process.
5 pm - Head to another client’s office to discuss a ‘ballpark proposal,’ — essentially a preliminary estimate to see what they’re willing to pay. This client's business hinges on a proprietary web app that has great features, but late-90s UI. They want us to use the API to redesign the UI from scratch. Their budget turns out to be… whatever it costs.
6 pm - Leave their office in a great mood. Read some blogs, chat with devs, start drafting R2 of that design spec. Email client to tell them their test site is ready for review.
7 pm - Sign off Skype. 90% chance my day is over; 10% chance a client emails with something urgent.
Wednesday
9 am - Log on. Morning chat with the developers.
10 am - Rewrite the previous day’s ballpark proposal into final format. Create a week-by-week schedule for the entire project, estimating hours and tasks per week. Call my lead developer to double check estimates. Obsess over my spreadsheet for 30 minutes to make sure I didn’t miss anything—I’m flat pricing this job, so underestimating could fuck me. Increase price 20 percent to be safe. Send to client.
Noon - Miscellaneous emails and roast beef sandwich
12:45 pm - Swing by bank to deposit a $12k check. Still makes me giddy. I can tell the teller thinks I’m an office boy running an errand for some Lord of the Universe (in fairness, I look 14).
1 pm - Gym; gotta be quick today, because...
1:45 pm - Call with client to discuss the status of their Magento project.
2:30 pm - Developer interview. He seems reasonable. Set up a time for him to meet the contractor I hire to vet potential devs.
4 pm - More client emails, more chatting with developers
5 pm - QA on small WordPress site that’s nearing launch.
6 pm - Pruning Asana (task management software) and checking Harvest (time tracking for contractors). Yell at devs for inputting crappy hours summaries (You spent two hours doing… “Drupal” ? C’mon son, the client is not paying us to “Drupal.”)
7 pm - Small project we’re launching today is running late. Cook dinner (chicken) while waiting for final update from dev.
7:30 pm - Call client to review & okay launch.
7:45 pm - Approved, launched, and verified that everything’s in order. Swig bottle of wine & out the door—girl from last Saturday’s party waiting for me in the West Village. Age 24; good ass, middling tits.
11:45 pm - Back home & all by my lonesome. Can’t win em all.
Unlisted but peppered throughout the working hours are quick calls / chats / emails with clients and designers / developers. When there’s a free moment, I try to squeeze in some paperwork too.
Two very typical days. Lots of talking, lots of writing. I might’ve looked at code for 10 minutes? I forget.
2.3 TLDR
At the risk of veering into complete bullshit... as an independent PM you’re trying to balance four quantities:
1) your personal management capacity (factoring in both ability and time of day)
2) your devs’ / designers’ productive capacity
3) your devs’ / designers’ actual output
4) your clients’ cumulative expectations
Meaning, if you’re exceeding client expectations, get more demanding clients who will pay you more.
If your team’s output is exceeding their capacity, then it’s shitty output and you’re pissing off clients.
If your personal management capacity is underutilized, then staff up or take on more complex jobs.
I know it sounds wishy-washy, but this four part framework governs 95% of my business decisions—the other 5% is me hiring designer chicks because they’ve got thigh gap—and I think it’s at the crux of being a PM.
I worry about the overall balance more than any particular deliverable or project goal—especially when making big decisions like hiring new devs or going after a client or expanding the scope of a big proposal.
You strike the right balance as a PM, and you can make great money and build cool shit and not stress too much.
####
Anyhow, that’s my best attempt to encapsulate what the job entails.
Next post I’m going to talk about how I broke in and what it takes to get your first job. Here’s a teaser: