The World Wide Web has become the preeminent information medium of the nineties. In just a few short years, it has had an unprecedented impact on education, government, business, and society at large (Doerr and Hecht 716). As the number of organizations, institutions, and businesses that use the Web increases, so will the demand for productive and creative people who can successfully collaborate and manage Web projects. Therefore, it is important to emphasize the two major factors that determine the success of collaborative Web projects; team and time management.

Since people are at the center of collaborative projects or team efforts, the individual team member's shortcomings or prowess will have a direct impact on the outcome of the project (Dinsmore 56). Therefore, it is important to carefully select team members who will contribute the most to the Web project's success, both creatively and technically. The following sections (1.1-1.3) are suggestions for selecting and managing a Web project team.

The person responsible for managing the team members, and all the other elements of a collaborative Web project are the team leader. The team leader's responsibilities may vary depending on the particular Web project's needs, but the overall responsibility for the failure or the success of the project rests with the team leader. Research conducted by John Henderson and Soonchul Lee of Boston University has shown that projects are more successful when a single person is charged with the overall responsibility (Henderson and Lee 759). Thus, it is crucial to designate one person to take responsibility for the management of the Web project.

If a team leader is not identified before the project is underway, power struggles among team members will often interfere with the project's progress. To avoid leadership problems, identify only one leader at the beginning of the project. In many cases, the team leader may already be pre-selected by the nature of the organization or the environment in which the project takes place. For example, if a person is already a manger for a computing department, that person may also be the logical choice for the Web project team leader. Whatever method of selection used to identify the team leader, it should be understood that the ultimate goal is to have one person in control of the project.

Once a team leader is identified for the Web project, it is important that the team members are aware of the role of the team leader as the project manager. The team should accept and respect the team leader's authority, and in turn the team leader should respect and accept the team member's suggestions and ideas for the good of the project.

Whenever possible, the team leader should conduct one-on-one interviews with potential team members. In essence, the collaborative Web project should be viewed as a business venture. The selection of the best people for the tasks involved is crucial. For example, a restaurant owner would not hire an accountant to perform the duties of a cook, and in turn the team leader should not select a team member to perform tasks that are out of his or her range of skills. In other words, the team leader should take every opportunity to match the team members' specific skills and abilities to the Web project's tasks.

After all the team members have been identified, it is important to take an inventory of each person's knowledge, skills, and abilities. The personal inventory will determine if the team member's skills are needed for this particular project. For instance, a person may not be familiar with the technical aspects of creating Web pages. However, if he or she has a strong background in graphic design, it may be advantageous to have him or her on the team since most Web pages are graphically based. The overall goal is to select people who have skills and expertise that will ensure the successful completion of the project.

If a team is pre-selected or assigned to a team leader, there are several techniques that can be used to ensure project success. One technique the team leader can use is to informally interview each team member to find out his or her individual talents and interests pertaining to the project. Another method is to state clearly the objectives of the project to the Web team. The identification of the objectives will help the team members identify with the team leader's managing role and thus maintain the focus of the project. The last useful method is group ownership. Group ownership can be established by encouraging the team members to contribute their ideas and opinions. This technique allows the team members to identify with the overall project objective.

Once the team leader has been designated, and a group of talented people have been gathered to work on the Web project, the next step is to devise an effective intergroup communication system. The method in which the team communicates with one another is important because any miscommunications may delay phases or halt the project momentum altogether (Stephanou and Obraovitch 299). Therefore, it is responsibility of the team leader or the group as a whole to select an effective communication matrix. The proper use and integration of telephones, faxes, memorandums, e-mail messages, or face-to-face meetings can make or break a collaborative Web effort.

Face-to-face meetings work best in the initial stages of a Web project, mainly because, in the beginning of the project the team leader and members are still in the initial brainstorming phase. Everyone on the team usually has his or her own idea of what information or graphics should be incorporated into the Web page or site. Usually, it is not until after the initial layout or task breakdown is completed that the team will have a tangible model of the project.

Once every team member has a clear understanding of the direction of the Web project, a combination of the other methods of communication can be used to maintain dialog among the team members. As the project gains momentum, asynchronous communication such as memorandums and email messages has been proven to work better than face-to-face communication (Meredith and Mantel 13). Asynchronous communication during later stages of the Web project is better because memorandums and email messages are less time-consuming to read and process.

Finally, the number of team members will affect the level of communication (Knutson and Bitz 33). In a larger team, it is more difficult to maintain intergroup communication. For instance, a collaborative Web team may have three people on it, and it takes sixty minutes a day to communicate information to all the project team members. If two more people are added to the group, then there will be more time spent on correspondence, up to two more hours depending on the project. Therefore, it is best to limit the Web team size to five or fewer people.

Time plays an extremely important role in a Web project's success. The availability of people and resources is sometimes solely dependent on time. Therefore, it is important that time is effectively used during a Web project. The following sections (2.1 -2.3) are suggestions for scheduling and managing time.

After gathering a talented team, the next step is to use scheduling to manage time, tasks, and people effectively. This step requires establishing a deadline. One way to establish a deadline is to select start and finish dates (Knutson and Bitz 40). Sometimes the project deadlines may already be established. However, choosing definite dates will help the team determine how much time is needed to get the work done.

Once the project deadline has been established, the team leader will be able to schedule and plan how the project will flow. Most projects will require coordination with facilities managers and computer administrators in order to get the technical resources needed to produce Web material. At this stage, the project manager should be able to plot a rough outline of the project tasks because most of the elements of the project are in place. Once the team leader knows the talents of the team mates, the time available, and the tasks at hand, he or she can begin to integrate the elements into a project schedule.

One technique that is used to ensure that the people and time are integrated effectively in a project management environment is a Work Breakdown Schedule (WBS). The WBS allows project managers to breakdown the whole Web project into smaller manageable parts (Knutson and Bitz 4). For example, writing the content for a Web page and creating the Web page banner could be divided into two separate tasks with even smaller sub-tasks under them. The main idea is to breakdown the tasks small enough to make the tasks manageable. The work breakdown schedule is the most difficult and time-consuming task of the team leader's duties, but if done correctly the work breakdown schedule can ensure the success of the Web project.

After the work breakdown schedule is completed, the next step is to plot the whole project from start to finish. Two popular scheduling methods can be used to manage Web projects: forward and backward scheduling. In forward scheduling, the tasks are scheduled in chronological order starting with the established start date and ending with the established finish date. In contrast, backward scheduling requires starting at the end and working backwards to complete the project at the start date. Both scheduling methods are comparable. Therefore, it is at the discretion of the team leader to use the method that is most compatible with the project environment.

It is important to keep track of the Web group's progress. Usually, a combination of written reports and flow charts is used to reflect the status of the project. This information is valuable because it is direct feedback of the group's performance. If there are problems, adjustments can be made in order to put the project back on task. In addition, if copious records are maintained throughout the project, a limited amount of work will be required to compose final reports and project analyses.

Although there are dozens of effective techniques used in initiating and managing collaborative Web projects, most techniques incorporate some variation of team and time management. The following model outlines the steps involved in managing collaborative Web projects using team and time management techniques presented in this document.

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Work Cited

Dinsmore, Paul C. (1990). Human Factors in Project Management (2nd ed.).New York, NY: American Management Association.

Doerr, Helen M., and Caroline G. Hecht. (1995). Navigating the web. The Mathematics Teacher , 88, 716 -719.

Henderson, John C., and Soonchul Lee. (1992). Managing I/S design teams: a control theories perspective. Management Science 62, 769-777.

Knutson, Joan and Ira Bitz. (1991). Project Management: How to Plan and Manage Successful Projects. New York, NY: American Management Association.

Meredith, Jack R. and Samuel J. Mantel, Jr. (1995). Project Management: A Managerial Approach (3rd ed.). New York : John Wiley and Sons.

Interfaces. (1993). People skills and how to improve the odds of a successful project implementation. 23, 85-7.

Stephanou, S.E. and M.M. Obradovitch. (1985). Project management: systems development and productivity. Malibu, CA: Daniel Spencer Publisher.

The, Lee. (1993). Project management for the rest of us. Datamation : 41-44.

James McKinley Brown, Jr. completed his Master's degree in Instructional Technology in the spring of 1997. Currently he also works as an instructional designer and programmer analyst for the Department of Information, Technology, and Communication at UVa. . Before coming to Charlottesville, James received an Associate of Applied Science degree in Radio and Television Production Technology from Virginia Western Community College and a Bachelor's degree in Communication Arts from the New York Institute of Technology. He can be reached via email at: jmb8c@virginia.edu