We’re happy to continue our small Inside Project Management series today with Well Placed Cactus, a team of enthusiastic and experienced developers focused on providing superior creative solutions, including games, apps, interactive art installations, AR & VR solutions, as well as training and education programs. I spoke to Jack Gillespie, their CEO, who gave us some great insights into their company workflow.
Tell us a little bit about Well Placed Cactus
Well Placed Cactus was founded in 2011 by its three directors. Since then, the team has grown to 7, with workers all over the eastern coast of Australia. We are a team of creative digital developers who work on a variety of projects including virtual reality, augmented reality, mobile and web apps, video games, and interactive installations.
What workflow challenges do you face in your daily work routine?
Our company is completely remote and so we face some fairly nontraditional challenges. Communicating project and company information effectively and efficiently throughout the team; co-working to solve issues remotely, and monitoring workflow are typical challenges we face.
How does Paymo help you in your business?
Paymo has allowed us to manage and evaluate our project work: creating and assigning tasks; defining milestones; organizing multiple projects; accurately measuring how much time was spent on projects, on what tasks, and by whom; and generating detailed reports for project reviews and meetings.
In addition, Paymo’s system of invoices and timesheets helps us generate accurate pay-by-the-hour invoices and calculating employee overtime.
If you could share 3 tips for better project management, what would they be?
- Communication. This is key. Always being a button click or phone call away from your team members and clients, and sharing relevant information in a timely manner is essential.
- Planning and Routine. Projects are not all the same and the work isn’t always the same, but fore-planning and creating routine will save a lot of stress and provide the whole team with a sense of normality.
- Trust. This comes down to having the right team. If you trust the abilities and decision of your team members, you avoid unnecessarily micromanaging and stress. You don’t want to be a Project Micromanager, after all.
Finally, what do you guys do to take the edge off work?
We love two things: Games and Beer. Nothing beats stepping away from the monitor to talk, play video games, or unwind with a cold one. Doing both at once is preferable though 🙂
Camelia Zoica
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