Blog

Introduction
Last June, the PMI-Central Illinois Chapter was one of the organizations that promoted the 48in48 Website Building Event to assist various deserving nonprofits. Florence René, VP of Publicity & Sponsorship, represented the chapter at the weekend-long event.

This article is based on my overall volunteer experience with 48in48, especially the June 2024 Build Event. I’m grateful for the opportunity to participate in the 48in48 website build events, including my latest one focused on social justice, affectionately referred to as SJE24.

48in48 is a fantastic organization that brings together volunteers to build 48 websites for 48 deserving nonprofit organizations in just 48 hours. The aim is to provide nonprofits with new websites by pooling resources from volunteers worldwide with various skill sets, including design, project management, and digital marketing. Don’t worry — 48in48 doesn’t require you to work 48 hours straight! As volunteers, you’re expected to balance your commitment to the event with your personal life over that weekend.

When I first discovered 48in48 a little over three years ago, I thought it was a novel concept and started to research them. Since I was looking for opportunities to volunteer and grow my network while in the confines of my basement office in Central Illinois, it was a no-brainer. During my first event, it was clear that I would volunteer again. This latest build event was my fifth. Make no mistake, these build events are hectic, especially since I’m not a developer or website designer — just someone who likes to tinker with various technologies and is a longtime student of Udemy and YouTube “University.”

To be transparent, in the professional realm, I’ve been part of various software development teams delivering multi-million-dollar solutions for over a decade, primarily as a Business Analyst and Product Owner. I use volunteerism to do things outside the scope of my day job while giving back to others. In addition to being a regular volunteer with 48in48, I also volunteer with the PMI-Central Illinois Chapter, where I am in my second term as the VP of Publicity and Sponsorship.

Like all build events, the SJE24 build event spanned from Friday (6/28) evening to Sunday (6/30) afternoon. I was thrilled to be the Project Manager for the team building a website for a Milwaukee-based nonprofit focused on community development through programming around the eight pillars of wealth. My team consisted of four roles: UI/UX designer, WordPress Designer, Content Manager, and Digital Marketer. The team was virtual, with members on the East Coast and even in West Africa.

Challenges and Setbacks
Unfortunately, even before the event began, my team encountered issues. The Content Manager dropped out. As the PM, I had to seek a replacement, and luckily, the Digital Marketer agreed to take on this additional role. Additionally, various schedule conflicts among team members prevented a proper kickoff meeting.

As the event commenced, it became evident that my team faced major hurdles. Internal communication was a significant hurdle. Another hurdle was team resources, as we eventually had two additional volunteers drop out, which is a huge hurdle when the goal is to create a website in just one weekend. Therefore, I, as the PM, officially stepped into multiple roles, handling tasks typically assigned to the Digital Marketer, WordPress Designer, and Content Manager to start and complete the project on time. I also acted as an Agile Coach for the team as needed.

Despite these challenges and setbacks, we remained focused on the goal: delivering a functional and improved website for our nonprofit.

Successes and Strategies
While my experience with this latest build event was far from ideal, it allowed me to stretch my skills and test my resolve.

To mitigate the communication and availability issues early, I sent the PPT slides for the kickoff and encouraged all team members to reach out with any questions via various means of communication. I also created a standing Zoom meeting for both the team and the nonprofit to hop on as needed, thus removing the additional tasks of creating and sharing ad hoc invites.

One key strategy that helped the team was utilizing AI tools like ChatGPT to generate content and streamline tasks. ChatGPT was instrumental in overcoming the lack of resources and technical skills within the team, enabling us to produce high-quality content efficiently. 

Another crucial tool was Trello, which kept the team on task and organized throughout the event.Trello helped track progress, assign tasks, and ensure that nothing fell through the cracks. This was particularly important given the communication challenges and the need to manage multiple roles. Slack was also a great tool; it really made communicating with the team, the organizers, and support staff seamless.

Stakeholder management was also essential. I maintained open communication with the nonprofit founder, using a pre-established or a standing Zoom call for regular check-ins. We — the team and the nonprofit — jumped in and out as needed once we confirmed the time via text so we could talk through our questions and/or conduct demos. For quick approvals, I would text the nonprofit photos/video clips of the site to ensure they liked the directions. So besides being a believer in “this could’ve been an email,” I am also a believer in “this could’ve been a text!”

I also made various executive decisions to keep the website development on track. Perhaps the most controversial one would be restricting the members who dropped out from accessing the staging site (where the website gets built) to prevent rework and non-priority changes, ensuring that any modifications were deliberate and communicated, as well as cleared by me.

While our team’s website did not win 1st place, it won our customer’s approval. Our nonprofit was appreciative of the work we did to turn their ideas into reality. They were excited about the future too; we set up the site in a way that will meet their future needs. Examples of future needs they wanted us to address included a page for their sponsorship program and a way to leverage the site to grow their social media presence. For their social media growth strategy, we added an additional button that can be updated with the Instagram URL once the account has been created and operational.

Lessons Learned
My build event weekends have each been a masterclass in resilience; the SJE24 event was no different but, as the Gen Z kids say nowadays, it was a masterclass in “standing on business.” The key lessons are bolded, followed by some quick additional thoughts for each.

1. Communication is Crucial: Transparent and frequent communication is essential to keep everyone aligned and informed. It’s important to proactively manage customer expectations and provide regular updates, as well as hold product showcases. Showcases/demos with customers should not be optional. However, the need to communicate or to be transparent does not mean pulling the customer into internal issues. Customers should not be burdened by whatever is going on within the team. It would be wise to shield them from team issues unless delivery of the project is in jeopardy. Even then, the best practice is to keep these discussions at a high level and positive as well as solution oriented.

2. Adaptability: Being able to step into multiple roles when needed is crucial. This flexibility ensures that the project moves forward despite known and unforeseen challenges. If you and others on the team don’t have the skill set needed, the sooner you adapt and/or seek out other resources, the better your odds are for project success.

3. Leverage Technology: Utilizing AI tools like ChatGPT can significantly enhance productivity, especially when resources are limited. These tools can help generate content and provide solutions to complex problems.

4. Utilize Project Management Tools: Tools like Trello are invaluable in keeping tasks organized and ensuring that all team members are on the same page.

5. Stakeholder Management: Open communication with stakeholders, such as the nonprofit founder and the organizers, is critical. Establishing regular check-ins and using various communication methods can help ensure alignment and satisfaction.

6. Address Obstacles Early and Head-On: Team members may sometimes hide their knowledge gaps and time constraints to avoid appearing unprepared or uncommitted. While a “learn as you go” mindset can foster growth, it also poses risks to the project’s success if not managed properly. Acknowledging and addressing these issues early is vital. Address these issues with empathy and firmness whenever they surface.

7. Balance Benefit of the Doubt and Wishful Thinking: I believe most people mean well and that things happen. While it’s important to give team members the benefit of the doubt, it’s equally important to recognize when it could slip or has slipped into wishful thinking. Both have the potential to hinder project success. Being realistic about team capabilities and readiness can prevent delays, ensure more accurate planning, and facilitate moving from initiating/planning to the rest of the project lifecycle at a rapid rate.

8. Requirements Review is Ongoing: Keeping all the requirements in mind is essential. Reviewing requirements is not a one-and-done activity; it’s a recurring task. This ensures that the project stays aligned with the initial goals and any changes are managed effectively.

9. Prioritize Work but be Agile: Clearly distinguishing between priority work and “niceto-have” features is crucial. This helps manage time and resources effectively. While nice-to-have features can be left for future enhancements, they should be kept in mind so they can be pulled forward if an opportunity arises. An example of balancing priority and nice-to-have requirements was a letter of support from a religious organization that the nonprofit founder wanted to include on the site. While this was initially categorized as a “nice-to-have,” I kept it in mind. After clearing the priority tasks for the testimonial page, I got creative and found a way to incorporate the entire letter. Instead of just pulling a paragraph to create a typical testimonial, which would have lost the full context, I included the whole letter. The nonprofit founder loved and approved this twist to the testimonial page after watching a 12-second clip I texted them.

10. Incorporate the Scrum Values: Scrum values are fundamental principles that guide Agile teams towards successful project completion. These values—Commitment, Focus, Openness, Respect, and Courage—are not just theoretical concepts but practical guidelines that can transform the way teams collaborate and achieve their goals. My personal view is that these values have no boundaries in terms of project methodologies (Agile vs. Waterfall) nor the type and scale of the project at hand as in the case of the 48in48 build event, a volunteer event. Ideally, all team members should know, understand, and embrace the Scrum values to build a cohesive team culture to achieve project success. A deficit in any or all these values will be painful and can jeopardize project success.

Conclusion
Despite the challenges, this latest 48in48 website build event was another valuable and enjoyable experience. It tested my leadership skills and adaptability, ultimately leading to the successful delivery of a new website for a deserving nonprofit. Thus far, my volunteer experience has served as a reminder that even in the face of adversity, staying focused on the goal and leveraging available resources, including AI, can lead to meaningful outcomes on our projects — whether it’s for our day job or an organization that we volunteer with as project professionals. Another reminder is that volunteering is not just something to do or kill time; it can be an awesome way to network, build your resume, (re)discover who you are, and get clarity on what you are supposed to be doing next.

About the Author
Florence René exemplifies resilience, empowerment, and continuous growth. With a 20-year career in the financial services industry, Florence is a seasoned professional passionate about project/product management, tech, marketing, volunteering, and more. She holds an MBA, a B.S. in Marketing with a Minor in Women’s Studies, and certifications including Project Management Professional (PMP), Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP), and AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner.

Florence’s commitment to volunteerism is evident through her work as a Virtual Build Events Volunteer with 48in48, where she helps nonprofits establish their online presence. She also serves as a Board Member for the Project Management Institute-Central Illinois Chapter, overseeing the Publicity/Sponsorship Office as Vice President. In this role, she has led transformative efforts to elevate the chapter's visibility and support the continuing education of its nearly 600 members.

Florence believes in continuous self-examination and improvement, not perfection. Originally from Haiti, she moved to New Jersey at age 11 and currently resides in Bloomington, Illinois with her family.