Very few shops use the purest version of any project management style. Whether it is Waterfall, Agile, or Cowboy - web development requires flexibility. Waterfall simply doesn’t work in most cases – “ fixed scope” is the Holy Grail of project management. Meanwhile, Agile lacks the level of predictability most clients or employers seek. Cowboy is effective in prototyping and extremely rapid development but drives stakeholders crazy. The truth is, project management requires a blend of techniques and tools to effectively shepherd projects from ideation to release.

We’ll explore and discuss different tools and methodologies that can help make your project successful.

Saunders has worked in project management at a variety of shops ranging from the Western States Arts Federation as Senior Director of Technology, pingVision as Senior Web Producer, one of several Principals in Vintage Digital, and most recently as Director of Technology at Examiner.com. He writes at Dogstar.org regularly - mostly on the business of open source and Drupal.