Methods & ways of working: planning, organising and delivering

Short answer: which method should you use?

Choose your method based on how certain the outcome already is. If the end result is fixed and the order of tasks is known — a migration, for example — a bar chart / timeline planning works best: tasks, dependencies and a schedule.

If the outcome isn't sharp yet, such as a new website or campaign, short iterations work better: small steps, show progress quickly, adjust as you go. And before you start planning at all, it helps to first get loose ideas organised — for example with a mind map.

Outcome known, order fixed → timeline planning with dependencies
Outcome uncertain → short iterations with a review at the end
Lots of loose ideas → organise them in a mind map first
Always: one owner per task and a fixed moment to review

1. Organise before you plan

Most projects start messily: loose wishes, assumptions and opinions. A mind map is a quick way to make that visible — you put the central topic in the middle and branch out into themes, without judging anything yet. Only once the picture is complete do you decide what makes the cut.

2. Planning with a timeline

A Gantt chart puts tasks on a timeline together with their dependencies. It makes visible which task is waiting on which, and where the slack in a schedule disappears. Valuable for projects with a hard deadline or many people involved.

The pitfall is detail: a schedule with eighty lines simply won't get maintained. Keep it to the milestones and the tasks that block other work.

3. How a project runs with us

For website and marketing projects, we work in phases with fixed decision points: strategy and scope, design, build, testing, launch and further development. At the end of every phase there's something to see and a decision to make. That avoids the situation where expectations turn out to have diverged only once something is delivered.

4. Steering by numbers, not by feel

Agree what success looks like for a project before you start, and measure it with a small set of fixed indicators. Without that agreement, the review turns into a debate about taste.

Phase	What you record	What you steer by
Start	Goal, scope, owners	Expectations
Execution	Milestones and blockers	Momentum
Delivery	Test results and checklist	Quality
Afterwards	KPIs	Results over time

Read more about choosing and measuring KPIs.

5. Reviewing without it becoming a compliment round

Keep the review short and concrete: what worked, what didn't, what will we do differently next time. Record that third question as an action with an owner — otherwise the same point resurfaces a few months later.

See how this connects back to turning analysis into strategy.

Frequently asked questions about our ways of working

When should you use a Gantt chart and when not?

Use one when the outcome is fixed and the order of tasks is known, such as for a migration or a launch with a hard date. For projects where the outcome is still taking shape, short iterations work better.

Is a mind map more than just a list?

Yes — because you branch out instead of listing items in order, you spot connections and gaps that stay invisible in a plain list. It's most useful early on, when you don't yet know which parts belong together.

How do you stop a project from dragging on?

With one owner per task, fixed decision points, and a schedule that only tracks milestones and blocking tasks. Delays usually come from unclear ownership, not from a schedule that's too tight.

Do you work in an agile way?

We work in short cycles with fixed decision points, but without the ceremony around it. What matters is that you regularly see progress and can adjust course.