BitWise is more than just the projects we work on and the sites we launch. We are a team of individuals who bring a wealth of personal experience and interests with us every day. Our passions are varied and far-reaching and make us better citizens, employees and friends. When I was interviewing for the PM opening with BitWise about 18 months ago, I had a set of criteria I felt needed to be met by my new employer and position. Among the professional opportunities I needed, I sought to work with a group of people who realized the world extended beyond Web design and development and existed outside 8am-5pm.

Community Service

Over the years, BitWise and the people who work here have given time, money and talents to better the local community and serve those who need our help the most. As with many companies, we participate in holiday Adopt-a-Family campaigns, food drives, and the United Way’s Backpack Attack. We’ve also given of our professional services and knowledge individually and as an organization. What set BitWise apart in my mind was the quiet commitment of individuals to make a difference without seeking praise or recognition.

The People Make the Difference

I’ve seen Ron commit countless hours working on behalf of Ball State’s Entrepreneurship program and to lead the way on local charter school initiatives. Laura has selflessly given Saturdays and evenings to review business plans and hear presentations from Hamilton County high school students. Along with championing women in business, Nicole has worked with College Mentors for Kids, a program that pairs college students with at-risk youth for tutoring and mentorship. Tim coaches and mentors wrestlers each year at a local high school to make them not only better athletes, but better young men. The Children’s Bureau has been served repeatedly by Curt who has donated time and professional expertise to advance their mission of providing child welfare. …just to name a few.

Personally, I feel fortunate to be surrounded by so many who feel the desire to leave the world a little better than they found it. I’m inspired by the work they do and the stories they share. I feel incredibly lucky that BitWise encourages such undertakings and affords us each the time to make an impact. Over the years I’ve served on the local board and am now on the national board for Active 20-30, served on advisory boards and committees for the Girl Scouts, and have done what I can to support local foster families.

I was recently recognized for these public service works as a finalist for the Jefferson Awards [http://www.jeffersonawards.org/], which was a huge honor and a humbling experience. As I sat in the awards breakfast, surrounded by friends, co-workers, and even a client who was also a fellow nominee, it became apparent that there were some amazing people in that room who deserve an equal acknowledgment. I realized that each is responsible in some way for my ability to touch others. Whether it was BitWise allowing me time off to travel to an Active 20-30 meeting or co-workers stepping up to donate manpower and money to a project I was chairing, the sincerity of their commitment to the community is apparent. It is truly a luxury to find a company who sees the world as more than the bottom line. One that enables us to make an impact and allows us to be more than just our work.

Over the years BitWise has developed a reputation for the many close working relationships we have with clients. Specifically, I've had the chance to work in many different fashions with our clients. While the majority of my work is done behind the scenes and without a lot of interaction with the client there are times when you will see me or other Web developers on staff at BitWise wheeling their desk and computer through the office to have a hands-on meeting with a client. As a matter of fact, I spent two days not too long ago working with a client in one of our meeting rooms.

Although much of what I do is behind the scenes, I have found there are a few instances where it is most helpful to sit down and work in person with a client instead of trying to rely on back and forth E-mails and phone calls:

• Finalizing the small details to get a project wrapped up and completed;
  
• Getting a project going again after a stall or rapidly approaching project closure;
  
• Capturing the clients full attention outside of their office is far more productive and makes the project much smoother and makes them more satisfied in the end;
  
• Our office has become somewhat of a “haven” for clients to get out of their office and away from some of the responsibilities at their office. We have wireless internet and plenty of room for clients to come and do what they need to do, whether its related to a project with us or not!;
  
• Lightly defined areas of a project typically go smoother with face-to-face interaction. Often times a project can get hung up on the relatively undefined areas and back-and-forth E-mail communication can slow things down even more.

Web developers often times have a reputation for being “recluse” kind of people who would rather be left alone but I can say that if face-to-face interaction means a smoother project and a more satisfied client, then we are all about it!

So come on over to our offices sometime and experience the BitWise atmosphere, even if it’s completely unrelated to a project you’re doing with us!

Get the right people at the table early.

As a rule of thumb, the “right people” are those who (1) have a vote and (2) believe they have a vote on the project. These are the people who will make or break project. If you wait until launch or testing to say, “what do you think?”, I will guarantee that you will be made aware of a new need, a shortcoming or a critical nuance that was never thought of before. This can be costly in time, money and reputation. Get buy-in early on the purpose of the project and the general roadmap for achieving your goals. With this, your project lead will have the full support and faith of the larger team. He will be empowered to move forward with decisions about details without being micromanaging by those who feel they’re on the outside looking in. If you wait until your proposal is signed to bring stakeholders together you’ve waited too long.

Define your needs, goals, and measurables.

Why do you want to undertake the project? What will it accomplish? How will you know whether it’s been a success? These are three questions I try to ask at project kickoffs and ones you’ll want to make sure your “right people” are in agreement with. If you can’t answer all of them, there’s more planning that needs to be done. Don’t worry, we know they aren’t easy questions; it’s our job to help you get to the answers.

We have a number of techniques that can be employed to get the right answers from the right people. From FASTTrack facilitated brainstorming sessions to stand-alone business and technical requirement projects, there are solutions that will set you up for almost-guaranteed success. Use the tools that make sense for the project at hand to answer these key questions.

During the project, we’ll continually look back at these answers in making decisions. If a feature doesn’t serve the needs of the project, does it really belong? If a need or goal is not being served, what needs to be added or changed? This helps to keep everyone on the team focused on the real needs and allows us to make decisions quickly and effectively. Keeping our eye on the prize, to use an old cliché.