Building a Firebreak

Photo by Steve Nix

A firebreak is a method of containing wildfires. In fire prone areas, forest management services create a firebreak by clearing trees, brush and vegetation. This leaves a path of bare soil. Without trees or brush there is no energy to feed the fire and it burns out.

Like wildfires, web projects are susceptible to burning out of control. Projects that gain more momentum than the team can handle are seldom successful.

Momentum builds during the planning and early production stages. The energy of a new client or new project is usually positive. Likewise, momentum is usually good. However, left unchecked momentum and energy can overwhelm.

Building a firebreak into your project can be accomplished a number of ways. The challenge is doing it so that the client isn't put off. It's hard to reign in momentum without killing it completely.

That's where the firebreak comes in. Some projects have built-in firebreaks – a small budget, a strict deadline, or limited team resources. On those projects, it's easy to say, "We can't add any more features and still meet your objectives".

On larger, less deadline driven projects, it's important to build your own firebreak.

Break a large project into two smaller projects. Convince the client that they'll have a more successful website if you split their budget in half – build half the site and launch it. Then use the other half of their budget to build and launch the next half.