Project Manager #

Responsibilities During Sprint: #

Facilitate sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and sprint review meetings.
Ensure the team has the necessary resources.
Track sprint progress and ensure it aligns with project goals.
Communicate sprint progress to stakeholders.
Identify and mitigate risks and issues.
Participate in sprint retrospective meetings.
Provide support and guidance to team members.
Review and adjust project timelines as needed.
Ensure that all sprint activities are aligned with project objectives and business priorities.
Monitor the progress of user stories and tasks, ensuring they are completed on time and meet acceptance criteria.
Communicate any changes or updates to sprint plans to the team and stakeholders.
Ensure that sprint reviews are conducted and feedback is documented and addressed.
Facilitate collaboration and communication between team members, ensuring that any issues or blockers are resolved quickly.
Ensure the sprint board is up-to-date and accurately reflects the status of all tasks and tickets.
Manage and address bugs reported during the sprint by team members and users.
Collaborate with the support team to gather additional information on reported issues.
Facilitate demo meetings to present sprint scope to the stakeholders.
Train stakeholders on new functionality delivered during the sprint.
Engage in communication channels to clarify and explain functionalities and their expected behavior.

The Role of a Project Manager in Every Stage of the Development Lifecycle #

Project managers oversee the entire project, ensuring that it stays on track. Their involvement is critical for coordinating between different teams, managing resources, and handling risks. They ensure that the project objectives are met and that all stakeholders are aligned with the project goals.

1. Research and Analysis #

Activities:

Requirements Gathering: Gather and document detailed requirements from stakeholders.
Requirement Validation: Ensure that requirements are clear, complete, and feasible.
Risk Analysis: Identify potential risks and dependencies.

Integration:

Facilitate requirement review meetings with stakeholders, QA, frontend, and backend teams.
Ensure all team members understand the requirements and their roles.
Address any ambiguities or concerns raised by the team.

2. Planning #

Activities:

Project Planning: Develop a project plan, including timelines, milestones, and resource allocation.
Scope Definition: Define the scope of the sprint and create a detailed work breakdown structure. Ensure the sprint backlog is accurate, up-to-date, and actionable.
Ensuring Completeness and Clarity: Ensure that sprint backlog item is complete and clearly defined - includes sufficient detail, acceptance criteria, and any necessary documentation. This helps the development team understand the requirements and scope of each task.
Risk Management: Identify and mitigate potential risks.

Integration:

Work closely with product owners and stakeholders to prioritize backlog items, clarify requirements, and break down large tasks into manageable user stories or tasks.
Collaborate with QA, frontend, and backend teams to ensure alignment with the sprint plan.
Ensure that the sprint schedule is realistic and achievable.
Communicate the sprint plan to all team members and stakeholders.

3. Design #

Activities:

Design Supervision: Oversee the design phase to ensure it aligns with the requirements and goals.
Design Validation: Ensure that design documents are created and reviewed.
Design Risk Handling: Address any design-related issues or risks.

Integration:

Facilitate design review meetings with UI/UX Designer, QA, frontend, and backend teams.
Ensure that all team members are aligned with the design and understand their roles in implementation.
Provide support and resources as needed to address any design challenges.

4. Development #

Activities:

Progress Monitoring: Monitor the progress of development activities to ensure they are on track.
Status Check-ins: Facilitate daily stand-ups and regular progress meetings.
Blocker Resolution: Address any blockers or issues that arise during development.
Branch management supervision: Regularly monitor the adherence to contribution guidelines, including naming conventions, usage policies (e.g., when to create a branch), and merging procedures (e.g., code reviews, pull request requirements, tests pass, etc).
Facilitating Code Reviews: Ensure that all code changes undergo thorough peer reviews before merging and designated reviewers examine the code for adherence to standards, functionality, and quality before approval.

Integration:

Ensure continuous communication between QA, frontend, and backend teams.
Provide support and resources to the development teams as needed.
Keep stakeholders informed of progress and any changes to the project plan.

5. Testing and QA #

Activities:

Testing Supervision: Oversee the testing phase to ensure coverage and quality.
Test Efficiency Monitoring: Ensure that test cases are executed effectively.
Quick Testing Feedback Fasilitation: Axelirate reporting and addressing of any issues identified during testing promptly - in real-time, if possible. It helps to avoid developer’s context switch.

Integration:

Coordinate with QA to ensure thorough testing of the application.
Facilitate communication between QA, frontend, and backend teams to resolve defects quickly.
Keep stakeholders informed of testing progress and results.

6. Deployment #

Activities:

Production Readiness Check: Ensure that no large-scale promotions, product launches, or other high-traffic activities are scheduled that could conflict with the deployment.
Deployment readiness: Ensure that all stories are fully implemented and meet the acceptance criteria, no blocker & critical issues arised. Ensure that production is ready
Change Management: Manage any changes to the release scope, timeline, or resources. Assess the impact of changes on the release plan, make necessary adjustments, and communicate to all stakeholders.
Release Preparation: create checklist of production configurations, migration script runs, and any other manual actions, if needed to be done post-launch. For each action there should be assignee.
Release Coordination: Plan and oversee the deployment process.
Deployment Documentation: Ensure that all deployment steps are followed and documented.
Deployment Troubleshooting: Address any issues that arise during deployment.

Integration:

Coordinate with business and marketing teams to confirm no major events or campaigns are planned around the deployment time.
Communicate any change of the release scope or timeline to stakeholders.
Collaborate with the development team to ensure the sprint scope is ready for deployment.
Collaborate with the development team to understand and document all manual actions, if needed to be done post-launch.
Coordinate with the development team and ensure all team members are aware of their roles during deployment.
Serve as the primary point of contact for all stakeholders involved in the release. Provide regular updates on the status of the release, including progress, issues, and any changes to the plan.
Coordinate with DevOps and development team to ensure a smooth deployment.
Monitor the deployment process and address any issues that arise in real-time.
Communicate deployment status and any issues to stakeholders.

7. Maintenance #

Activities:

Production Monitoring: Monitor the production environment for any issues post-deployment.
Feedback Collection: Gather feedback from users and stakeholders for continuous improvement. Make sure all feedback is addressed.
Documentation: Ensure that any necessary documentation (user guides, release notes) and training materials are prepared.
Enhancement Addressing: Ensure that any new requirements or changes are documented and communicated effectively.
Periodic Backlog Review: Regularly conduct backlog review to check for outdated, irrelevant, or duplicated items and ensure product backlog’s accuracy and relevance.
Process Improvement: Facilitate continuous improvements.

Integration:

Coordinate with development teams to address any production issues.
Work with the development team and product owners to reassess the prioritization and estimation of product backlog items based on changing project dynamics, resource availability, and stakeholder priorities.

Project managers are the glue that holds the project together. By managing resources, risks, and communications, they ensure that the project meets its objectives and is delivered on time and within budget.