A few tips from the Indian P4 project that will make your implementation go smooth

 

Get your hands on all the documents.
As I write this to all you folks eager and gearing up to launch P4, I must say – Read this Handbook thoroughly. May it be your holy grail before you go live. If you feel certain concepts need clarity – reach out to Luca, Lilian, Koyan, Kelli, Laura and the wider P4 team anytime. They are patient, quick to clarify and always ready to help.

Make sure you have all your lead roles identified for the project. All of them.
Even if not, it’s not impossible to launch on target date. But, you’ll be working crazy hours, giving up weekends, stress eating and not loving it. So trust me on this. Then, get a core team to represent the entire organisation. Build a space for everyone to bring ideas and co-create on the project together. Involving departments other than digital will play a key role in making this less of a digital project and more of an organisational one.

Have a fair idea of what campaigns your office will run in the next year or two at least.
This part of the planning phase needs a high level of clarity. It will have a direct influence on how you shape taxonomy and consequently content development itself. Take time to map out the overarching issues your office is/will be working on in the near future. And while you’re at it, if you’re pushed to rethink the way your office runs campaigns, that’s alright. Don’t hesitate to dare into that undefined space.

Understand the changes coming your way.
It’s very easy to underestimate how long content creation may actually take. It’s not an easy migrate-everything-from-P3-to-P4. Think strategically and wisely as you move and create content. Look at what the insights of P3 tell you about your audience. The content on P4 needs to be user-centric and highly engaging. And finally, make your campaign story as simple, clear, and direct as possible.

Draw a site map.
It will give you a bird’s eye view and a rough picture of everything you need – what kind of blocks, where they come in, how the design, campaign story, and content structure will fit into the larger puzzle. It will also help you in setting deadlines.

What else? Some handy tips

  1. Make sure to identify past and future projects
  2. Visualize the taxonomy
    1. Make sure the URL is readable and clean
    2. Focus more on upcoming future campaigns
  3. Adapt a project management technique
  4. Delve deep into the handbook
    1. Understand content types
    2. Understand blocks
  5. Have a daily stand up meeting for 30 minutes
    1. Plan the pages
    2. Identify the bottlenecks
  6. Start prototyping evergreen pages
    1. Draw, draw and draw on whiteboard
    2. Visualize and use the engaging blocks
  7. Adapt SCRUM and AGILE
    1. Make sure you complete one page before you jump on to the next page
  8. Prioritise using the MoSCoW Rule
    1. M- Must have
    2. S- Should have
    3. C- Could have
    4. W- Would have
  9. Have a central repository for all your content material
  10. Finally
    How does a project get to be a year late? One day at a time –Frederick Brooks

    1. Try not to procrastinate

And don’t worry too much. You’ve got this. Just remember, there’s help on the other side.
Always.

Grace and Shiva for the P4 India team