206 - Delivering Tech Projects On-Time and In Budget with Ashley Campos

So talking about that adrenaline, I, have worked with software in the past and have supported clients with software.

And you mentioned with the third party drivers, you had to get into the software field and what you're doing today is in the software field.

That can be a pretty scary thing if you're not accustomed to it and you just have to go out and start building software.

Can you describe what that was like for you when you started and maybe a little bit about how it is today because you have a lot of technology and software in place, I imagine, to be able to deliver like you are.

Yeah, so I would say that I didn't have to do any of the really the hard lifting with the with the software, the technology, Chris did most of that.

And he's the brains behind, behind a lot of this, along with our wonderful engineers and all the people that make it work.

But i'll take a line out of him it's like my job is the easy part i just say we should do this and then someone else figures out to put the ones and the zeros and the codes and all that together so i don't know a lot about the technology piece it's just about what seems like it would work and then all the great people work their magic in the background and make it happen

i have been involved with a lot of technology projects that don't get delivered or they're over budget and they take twice as long.

It's kind of like building a house.

It's just a mystery.

It's going to be twice as long, three times as much.

What are maybe some of your tools that you've learned along the way when it comes to managing technology products to projects to deliver? I'm just speculating.

Can you get it close to being on time? Can you get it close to the budget? What are some things that you have found or maybe haven't found that when it comes to managing technology, I think there's a lot of people in that struggle zone.

Yeah.

So I think one of the biggest challenges, biggest areas for improvement i think in our end is really scoping out what the project is so you understand it from the very beginning i know i'm an idea person so when we come with this i want to create widget a it's like i tell the developers here's widget a but then when you are actually getting into widget a you want widget a to have this this this and this this and add it on to it just like building a house you know you want a house with With cabinets in the kitchen, well, now I want this kitchen to have this waterfall, whatever, and this and that.

So I think it's really taking the time up front to scope out what you want.

And then if you want to stick to the budget and timeline, stick to that scope for the MVP and then add on to it as you go rather than trying to add on in the middle of the project and then extending that project out.

Okay.

This is, it's a lot easier said than done.

I mean, there are a lot of people that start with, Hey, I just need my kitchen remodeled or I just need some software developed.

And I swear they just start chasing squirrels.

And like, before you know it, they got a field full of squirrels and they can't figure out, I might as well just do the bathroom and the kitchen.

And now they're focused on the bathroom.

So it's turned into a train wreck and it's too time consuming and costs way too much money.

Um, How do you surround yourself with the people who can stay focused on MVP?