The Rock Creek Blog

True Life: I’m a PMP

2013-05-22T13:59:15+00:00

Project plans, team meetings, client calls, budgets, scope creep, LOE, FFP, SOW, QA… OMG?!? These terms sum up a typical day in the life of a project manager. We’re tasked with keeping projects moving within scope, budget, and a strict timeline, while ensuring that we’re meeting the clients’ needs and our own strategic and creative goals for the project. As they say, “PMP’n ain’t easy,” and we are always looking for ways to improve the process.

The Project Management (PM) team recently presented during a Rock Creek Academy about a few ideas and theories we learned while studying for the Project Management Professional (PMP) exam. We focused on topics and practices we thought our colleagues could incorporate into their own day-to-day workflow. For today’s post, we thought we would pass along some PM best practices from the presentation.

MANAGING CONFLICT

Conflict is an inevitable consequence of interactions within any organization, but it can be beneficial as it pushes us to work more collaboratively and strategically. It should be no surprise that the three most common sources of conflict on a project are schedules, project priorities, and resources.

With pressing deadlines and ever-changing priorities, it’s no wonder these concerns are a source of contention.

As a PM, it’s important to identify the root cause of the conflict and resolve it as quickly as possible. The Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK) a.k.a. the “PM Bible”, identifies 6 approaches to conflict: Confronting, Compromising, Withdrawal, Smoothing, Collaborating and Forcing. A project management best practice is to always confront the situation head on and get to the root of the problem. This approach allows you to find the optimal solution, as opposed to reaching a decision that brings some degree of satisfaction to both parties, but may not ultimately solve the problem at hand.

MANAGING RISK

What is risk? The Project Management Institute (PMI) defines risk as any uncertain event that can have an impact on the success of a project, such as schedule slippage due to a change in requirements. At the start of any project we try to determine what risk factors are present, how likely they are to occur, what the impact would be, when they could take place, and how frequently. To ensure you’ve captured all risks, it’s often helpful to brainstorm with the collective team.

Once you’ve identified the risks (both positive and negative), it’s helpful to create a risk register outlining the list of risks, any potential responses, and the root cause of the risk. When possible, share this with both your internal team and the client as a way to proactively manage issues that could arise. And of course to close the loop, as a best practice share any lessons learned to inform other teams and mitigate risk on future projects.

Until next time…

There is a lot to consider when managing a project and we’ll be back to share more project management best practices. In the meantime, we would love to hear from you! Comment below or tweet at us!

Improving Process - Reviews From the Field

2013-05-14T14:39:15+00:00

These days, I spend less time perfecting my work, and more time improving my process. At least thinking about how to improve it…and sharing those ideas with my colleagues.

Here at Rock Creek, we are starting to work on company-wide workflow enhancements, and it seems like we’re in good company judging from the abundance of process-related events and articles in the communications industry.

At a recent Refresh DC event, sponsored by iStrategyLabs, Creative Director Zach Goodwin gave a great presentation on process, planning, and persuasion. He acknowledged that imperfect information and crazy deadlines will always be constraints. But, he also shed light on the important, if few, opportunities we have as creatives to steer projects in the right direction. Goodwin advocated for “disappointing clients early” and acknowledging when a design is “75% there.” As a whole, Goodwin’s talk centered on building greater transparency and credibility into the process.

Back in February, another Refresh DC event focused on the processes underpinning USA Today’s revamped digital experience. Composed of in-house talent as well as external consultants, the USA Today team was tasked with executing a new brand and advertising strategy, while harmonizing multiple web properties. The success of their process involved strategists, designers, and developers working side-by-side (literally). This approach allowed the team to work together effectively and produce better products in less time.

In a thoughtful article, WSOL’s Creative Director Dennis Kardys, offered some insights into his firm’s adjustment from a waterfall to a more flexible workflow. While Kardy delves into the nuts and bolts of workflows (complete with Gantt charts), what he really emphasizes is effective expectations-setting, internal collaboration, and testing — all of which are echoed in the above talks.

We hope to share our process evolution in future posts, and invite you to share yours with us — whether it’s your personal experience or a good video or article.

Download Zach Goodwin’s Refresh DC presentation.

Stop, Drop and Code: The RCSM Coders’ Playlist

2013-05-09T17:54:11+00:00

What does every coder have in common? A good set of headphones. No one is more conscious of the office distractions than Rock Creek’s coders. Concentration is key when rattling through lines and lines of code.

For the second installment of the Rock Creek playlist series, I asked our tech team and coders to compile a list of songs that help them crank out functional, complex websites at work.

Here’s what they had to say:

John: “It’s almost too crazy for coding, but when you are in the middle of a caffeinated sprint Pharaohs is a good track to have on. “

Michelle: “Here is a list of some of our recently-played in-office (over loudspeakers) albums. We tend to listen to full albums on Rdio.”

Steve: “The music’s high bpm keeps me in the groove as I watch hex values and type styles transform the site, letting the design emerge.”

For the web-based experience, you can find this playlist on SoundCloud along with some other Rock Creek work-inspired playlists! Stay tuned for more!

What kind of music do you listen to when you’re coding? Tell us in the comments below or tweet at us!

The Power of Analytics

2013-05-06T13:51:42+00:00

No matter what industry you are in, you’ll probably agree: companies are increasingly challenged to do more with less. This, unfortunately, is easier said than done. But what if I told you that there was a tool with the power to identify cost saving measures, improve efficiencies, and develop new strategies? You might ask, “What is this magical tool that he speaks of?” Well, folks, I’m talking about website analytics.

At the core of any successful company is an understanding of your clients’ needs, as well as an appreciation of why you are best equipped to fulfill those needs. Today, a company’s website is not only a client’s first touch point – from providing contact information, to explaining your company values, to converting visitors – but it is also a tool which can offer valuable insights into your clients’ needs. What are your clients looking for? How do they navigate through your website to find the information or product that they are searching for? Are these offerings readily available to them? The answers lie in the analytics.

Companies that properly leverage web analytics enjoy many benefits, but certainly some hold greater weight than others. At the very least, use your chosen analytics platform to get a better handle on these three focus areas:

Take the guesswork out of the equation – Using data from analytics programs means that you don’t have to base business decisions on anecdotal evidence. Web analytics give you the cold hard facts on how and why clients are using your website… and you can’t argue with the facts! You can, however, use them to streamline or enhance your offerings.

Improve your online presence – Your website is an important extension of your brand. If visitors have difficultly using your website to find what they’re looking for, chances are they won’t be visiting your website again anytime in the near future. This reflects poorly on your brand and can severely impact business performance…and nobody wants that. Instead, brands should leverage web analytics to build brand affinity.

Manage resources and provide value – An effective website requires time and resources, both which are scarce commodities. By using an analytics platform, however, you can provide physical evidence of actual return on your investment, as well as anticipated ROI. This can also help ensure that future investments and resources are effectively allocated between various business initiatives, whether that be a campaign to promote online purchases, or a push to promote a new service.

The above are just a few of ways that digital analytics can help drive business decisions. While Rock Creek primarily uses Google Analytics, a wide variety of useful services exist–both free and paid services, that is. It’s important to find a reporting service that works for you, but we can chat more about that in a future blog post!

Did this post help you understand the benefits of incorporating web analytics into future projects? Let us know in the comments section or tweet at us!

Earth Day 2013: Rock Creek in Rock Creek

2013-04-22T20:26:41+00:00

It’s a cool and sunny Saturday morning and Rock Creek-ers are slowly starting to gather in a Chevy Chase area of Rock Creek Park. Bright yellow and blue bags in hand, they wander through the woods and near the river to pick up trash and debris that pollutes the park.

In honor of Earth Day, we participated in the Rock Creek Conservancy’s 5th Annual Rock Creek Extreme Clean Up, a volunteer effort to make a difference and help restore Rock Creek to health, along with the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. Our cleanup was one of over 50 locations along the 33-mile stretch of Rock Creek.

After several hours of picking up trash, we reconvened to discuss our adventures and to tally up results.

We collected six bags of trash and six bags of recycling, and found some interesting “treasures” along the way. Animal skulls, a Samurai Lego man, rusty car parts and colorful glass bottles were among the top finds.

A few snakes decided to make an appearance at the cleanup, but were quick to dive back into the creek after witnessing the alarmed reactions of the cleanup crew.

Rock Creek-ers enjoyed a beautiful Saturday morning spending time with coworkers while helping clean up a piece of Rock Creek Park.

Rock Creek will be participating in several other community service activities in the following months. Stay tuned for the next event, and let us know what your organization did to celebrate Earth Day!

You Know You’re a UXer When…

2013-04-19T19:08:30+00:00

When it comes to the Rock Creek UX team, we are a pretty well-rounded bunch. By day, you will find us sketching interface experiences, but elsewhere, you can catch Virginia at a Kennedy Center performance or an E Street Cinema film. John will be redecorating his home – it was recently featured in Apartment Therapy! Try to catch Jess on her bike on the weekends or check out planes with Andrew at an aviation show. And don’t be surprised if you see me doing sound production for a DC ska band. Yes, we may be individuals, but there are some telltale traits that all of us, UXers, exemplify.

1. Your office looks like this.

2. You find yourself comforting friends when they get frustrated with a site.

3. You constantly click and drag the corner of your web browser to see if (and how) a site is responsive.

4. Sharpies hold a special place in your heart.

5. You dream in storyboards.

Do you or your UX friends sound like this? Tell us what it’s like to be a UXer in the comment section or tweet at us!

(Note: Pictures 2 and 5 drawn by our very own UXer, Jess Hang.)

Divine Inspiration: The RCSM Designers’ Playlist

2013-04-11T20:08:47+00:00

Meetings. Open-plan office. Multiple clients. Shifting deadlines.

With limitless distractions around the office, it can be hard to focus. While the lucky few have offices with doors, some of us only have our headphones. Whether you use it to block out your neighbor or keep you focused, music can help you get lost in your work and even inspire you to create.

I asked our designers to send the songs that help them get through the day while reigning in their creative brainwaves to translate them into show-stopping designs.

Some notable words of work wisdom from the design team:

Patrick: “While working I like a mix of movie soundtracks and scores. It helps me create with a bigger feel. I want to be dramatic with my designs and the theatrical music helps.”

Susan: “Depending on the day, the upbeat nature can be inspiring—some days, the mellow nature is what helps. Depends on my mood or my project. I tend to like more Indie kind of stuff though, generally—as you may be able to tell!”

Matt: “Clear-the-head, start-from-scratch music that makes me tap my desk, to the annoyance of everyone around me.” (in reference to Calvin Harris)

For the web-based experience, you can find this playlist on SoundCloud along with some other Rock Creek work-inspired playlists! Stay tuned for more!

Tell us what inspires or helps you design in the comments below or tweet at us!

How Does an Accessible Website Benefit All Users?

2013-04-02T15:36:08+00:00

Generally speaking, when people think about web accessibility, more often than not they imagine blind users who are accessing the web from a computer and using some sort of a screen reader. While this is one audience that benefits from an accessible website, it’s far from the only one.

An accessible website is one that simply works for all visitors – regardless of whether they’re viewing the site from a laptop in a home or office setting, a tablet device during their commute, or checking their mobile phone to verify an address while walking down a city street on a bright, sunny day.

Here are three web accessibility considerations that are likely to help you – even if you haven’t thought about accessibility for your site:

• Well-structured headings make it easier to scan a webpage and find the information you need. While not an accessible site, per se, craigslist.org offers a heading that shows you the city you’re viewing and uses headings to divide listings into categories such as “community,” “housing,” and “for sale” – making it easier to find the posts that are the most relevant to you.

• Adequate color contrast (and font size) improve your experience when viewing a website on your phone. Text that appears in a color that is significantly different from its background is far easier to see. Consider the difference between viewing black or dark gray text on a white or beige background in comparison to, say, yellow on white. Ample font sizes will lessen the need to zoom in on the text – and using actual text rather than using text in an image will help to ensure that, if someone does pinch and zoom, there isn’t a loss of clarity.

• Clear anchor text for links helps you decide whether or not to follow through to additional content. Given the choice between “click here” (without much context), a URL written out as “http://www.somewebsitename.com/some-page-specific-but-not-necessarily-meaningful-path.html” or “Visit the Rock Creek Facebook page,” which one are you most likely to visit?

Creating more accessible websites can be challenging, but it gets far easier when you start to see the value for all of a site’s visitors.

Did this post help explain how an accessible website benefits all users? Do you have any other tips on making websites more accessible? Let us know in the comments section or via Twitter @RockCreekSM.

Rock Creek Academy: Writing Winning Proposals

2013-03-28T19:32:16+00:00

Developing compelling and winning proposals is critical to expanding our business and showcasing our capabilities to new and current clients. Our dedicated team of proposal professionals is trained in the Shipley Associates methodology for proposal development. We are also members of the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP) to stay current and to expand our knowledge on industry best practices through events and workshops.

To ensure our proposals are hitting the mark on technical requirements, we often reach out to our technical and subject matter experts to help review, edit, and write proposal material. At the latest Rock Creek Academy, we shared a presentation with our colleagues to help them better understand the proposal process and to provide helpful tips and guidelines for writing winning proposals.

Supporting a variety of government, nonprofit, and commercial clients, Rock Creek responds to many different types of solicitations. Having to read through a lengthy solicitation document can be a daunting task. To help our colleagues better understand how to dissect a Request for Proposal (RFP), we outlined typical section titles and descriptions. We then highlighted some of the important sections to go to in order to find information on scope of work, instructions, and evaluation criteria.

Next, we provided an overview of our proposal development process starting with a bid/no bid decision; including a kickoff meeting and planning, composing questions, writing and review cycles; and ending with production, submission, and clarifications. And then hopefully… a win!

When developing content for a proposal, we remind writers to demonstrate several things to the client:

• Understanding – We understand the client’s issues and requirements
• Approach – We have a proven approach to meet the requirements
• Substantiation – We can substantiate our technical approach and expertise through relevant past performance and experience
• Personnel – We have the staff and staffing capabilities to perform the work
• Benefit – Our approach will result in a benefit or innovation to the client

To emphasize the importance of pointing out the benefit to the client, we conducted a group exercise. We asked everyone to think of a project they’ve worked on and write down a feature of the service Rock Creek provided, an advantage of that feature, and finally a benefit to the client. We then asked a few people to share what they wrote down, which resulted in a lot of great examples of how Rock Creek has provided beneficial services to our clients. It also helped our colleagues enter the mindset of proposal writing.

We closed the presentation with some writing guidelines including compliance, and using active voice, clear language, and concise sentences.

We were excited to find out that we broke a new Rock Creek Academy record with 28 Rock Creek employees in attendance! Everyone had a lot of great questions to ask, and we were glad to see our colleagues were interested in learning more about writing winning proposals.

Are there any other techniques you or your company has used to discuss proposal writing to your peers? Post your reply in the comment section below or respond via Twitter @RockCreekSM.

The Times They Are A-Changin’

2013-03-25T18:01:42+00:00

Much has changed in the last few years at RCSM. A lot has changed online too.

Where We Are

RCSM is now 60+ employees strong with full in-house web development, Accessibility and UX teams—not to mention our growth in the areas social media management and marketing campaign development. And there’s our program-level federal contracts from FTC’s website re-build to FEMA’s outreach campaign. To say the least, it’s an exciting time.

In the online space we’ve seen the explosive adoption of mobile and tablet devices, prioritization of social media as a first tier outreach channel and continued focus on performance-based marketing. And, even though it has taken awhile to get here, the acknowledgement that building communications to web accessibility standards is now not just a niche required for the federal government with the need for Section 508 compliance, but also a best practice that makes the web better for everyone.

Where We’re Going

Given these dynamic changes, in and outside of RCSM, we have known for some time that our website needs to re-habilitated. And not a new coat of paint, but a complete gut job. And we are on our way, in the next month or so you’ll see a completely re-imagined and redesigned RCSM website. An accessible website, that will better mirror the new RCSM—and be fully available to all visitors, including those who view the site from mobile and tablet devices.

Stay tuned for updates on the new Rock Creek website. We may even share a sneak peak of the site before it’s launched!