Project Management is – fundamentally – a simple process

You simply:

• Define what you want to accomplish
• Determine how you are going to accomplish that, who will help, and how long each of those tasks will take
• Do it
• Enjoy the results.

Unfortunately, it isn’t that easy. It is complicated by people.

• Personalities,
• Overly optimistic and pessimistic estimates, and
• CYA plays.

For marketing projects involving technology it is further complicated by people.  The technology may be a billing system enhancement, an interactive web-based ad, or a new product.  One way or another you are pitting your red/yellow/green hat marketing personalities (energetic, creative, emotional, positive) against your black/white hat technology personalities (critical and facts). 

The way through this is to use a defined project methodology that enables the Marketing people to generate creative solutions and to know when they will be able to actaully use them, and the IT people to know what they need to do, and how to deliver it.  That methodology might look something like the following: