How we work

Contents

1. Methodology
2. Our area of expertise
3. Project steps
4. Project meetings
5. Project delivery kit
6. Effective meetings
7. Define boundaries
8. Timesheet

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Methodology

We offer a project-based approach to clients who want to engage our services for a specific project. This type of contract creates a legally binding agreement between the client and our company, which outlines the details of the project including the scope, timeline, and payment terms.

The project type contract serves as a comprehensive document that sets out the expectations and responsibilities of both parties, defining the roles and responsibilities of the company and the client. It ensures a clear vision of the project requirements, and it protects the interests of both parties.

We prefer project-based contracts because they give us the flexibility to plan and execute the project in a way that aligns with our client’s goals. We see ourselves as partners and as true main actors in the project, not just service providers, and we work closely with our clients to define clear goals, milestones, and deliveries that ensure the project’s success. This approach helps us build strong, long-term relationships with our clients and deliver high-quality work that meets their needs.

Another solution we offer is a capacity-time-based approach (not to be confused with a standard time and material contract) for clients who need flexibility in project requirements. With this method, the customer has access to a variable amount of our company’s resources, which can be used at the most convenient times, such as during workload peaks or between project validation phases or when it is necessary to use external resources . We have some rules in place regarding how the client can allocate our time and what roles may be required, this approach can be a strong and viable alternative when the project is not fully clear or defined yet.

Our area of expertise

At Volcanic Minds, we are committed to creating the best products for our partners, and our team of experts specializes in a range of areas to achieve this goal. Our expertise includes:

• tailor-made solutions
• CX / UX / UI design
• web and mobile applications
• devOps and system integrations
• strategy & CIO / CTO as a service

Our strengths lie in our attention to detail, ensuring maximum efficiency in everything we do. We have a mobile-first approach to hybrid app development and an SEO-oriented approach to building digital solutions.

We have more than ten years of experience serving customers across a range of industries, including banking and finance, manufacturing, advertising, digital evolution, and services for citizens.

Briefly, our team has ability to deliver superior products that meet the unique needs of each of our partners. We are Volcanic Minds.

Project steps

Managing a new IT project requires careful planning and execution to ensure that the project is completed on time, within budget, and meets the desired outcome. Here is how Volcanic Minds operates when dealing with a new IT project:

• Engage: This step involves engaging with the stakeholders and understanding their requirements, objectives, and goals for the project. The project manager should conduct in-depth documentation and analysis of the requirements, including gathering information on the scope of the project, the expected timeline, and the budget.

• Mockup: In this step, the project manager studies the target audience and creates a prototype of the project. This helps to identify any potential design or functionality issues and allows stakeholders to provide feedback on the project’s design and features.

• Creation:

  • Management: Team management and performance evaluation is an essential step that involves managing the project team, assigning roles and responsibilities, setting goals and targets, and monitoring progress. The project manager should ensure that the team is working effectively and efficiently and address any issues that arise promptly.

  • Development: Infrastructure design and technical development involve designing and developing the technical aspects of the project, including the hardware, software, and network infrastructure. This step requires technical expertise and knowledge to ensure that the project is built to specification and meets the requirements of the stakeholders.

  • Sharing: Incremental sharing of the development progress and change request management involves sharing the progress of the project with stakeholders and addressing any change requests. The project manager should communicate regularly with stakeholders, provide progress reports, and seek feedback to ensure that the project is meeting the stakeholder’s expectations.

• Evolution: Deployment, product evolution, generic, and release support is the final step in managing a new IT project. This step involves deploying the project, ensuring that it is working correctly, and providing support to stakeholders. The project manager should also ensure that the project is maintained and updated regularly to meet changing needs and requirements.

Project meetings

In Volcanic Minds, we use the Scrum methodology to effectively manage our projects. Scrum involves a set of meetings and rituals that enable the team to collaborate productively and deliver value to our clients.

The first step in the Scrum process is sprint planning, during which the team convenes to determine the tasks that will be completed in the upcoming sprint. The team then reviews the product backlog, which is a prioritized list of project features and requirements, and selects the items to be tackled in the sprint.

Following sprint planning, the team holds daily scrum meetings, brief stand-up sessions held every day at the same time. During these meetings, each team member gives a quick update on their progress and discusses any challenges or obstacles they are facing. This practice ensures that everyone is aligned and aware of each other’s work.

At the end of each sprint, the team holds a sprint review meeting, where they demonstrate the completed work to stakeholders and receive feedback. This feedback is used to further refine the product backlog. The team then holds a sprint retrospective meeting to reflect on the previous sprint and identify areas for process improvement.

Overall, by employing the Scrum methodology, we can achieve a flexible and adaptive approach to project management. Our team can collaborate effectively to deliver value to our clients on a regular basis while improving project efficiency, client satisfaction, and our ability to adapt to change.

Project delivery kit

At the conclusion of every project, our commitment to excellence continues. We provide our clients and partners with comprehensive documentation detailing the processes involved in the project, along with all the DevOps infrastructure set, if required. We also make sure to provide the client or partner with the source code upon receipt of payment.

This processes level documentation is invaluable, as it offers a detailed account of the development process, including every step taken and the decisions made. This thorough documentation helps our clients and partners understand the project’s development process and provides a useful reference for future endeavors. It also allows them to pinpoint areas for improvement, which can be instrumental in future projects.

In conclusion, providing detailed processes level documentation and the source code to our clients is a crucial part of our project delivery process. We are dedicated to ensuring that our clients have complete control over their projects and understand every aspect of the development process. Our goal is to enable our clients to maintain and adapt their projects as needed in the future.

Effective meetings

To ensure productive meetings, it’s essential to establish ground rules that apply to all participants, including partners, clients, and coworkers.

Before all, meetings should adhere to specific etiquette, taking place between 09:30 to 12:30 and 14:30 to 17:30. As a fully remote company, attendees are expected to keep their cameras on throughout the meetings and should join on time.

Only essential personnel should be invited to the meeting, as attendees should be informed of the discussed topics via summary emails when appropriate. This avoids wasting attendees’ time and ensures that only those who can contribute to the meeting attend.

To keep meetings concise, they should not exceed 50 minutes. Attendees should come well-prepared and informed about the topics to be discussed.

Finally, it’s essential to end each meeting by sharing established goals or a list of topics to discuss in future meetings. By following these guidelines, all attendees can ensure that their meetings are productive and efficient.

Define boundaries

Defining the boundaries of a project is one of the most critical aspects of determining project specifications. It serves to protect the client’s interests and ensure that we are working towards the right objectives.

Undoubtedly, it’s not an easy task. We continuously apply this quality throughout the project, ultimately benefiting our clients. While our clients may have a clear idea of what they want to achieve, it’s our job to continually analyze and validate these boundaries.

We are active contributors to the project, helping our clients not only with development and analysis but also by providing an external perspective. This is crucial because every business is unique and requires a different approach.

Timesheet

At Volcanic Minds, we believe in trust and autonomy when it comes to managing workload. We do not require employees to fill out timesheets unless they are working on specific projects or clients that require dedicated tracking of time spent.

This policy allows us to work efficiently without the added burden of tracking every minute of our time. However, for projects or clients that require dedicated tracking, we do require employees to fill out a timesheet. This helps us to accurately bill clients and monitor project progress.

We ask that our employees communicate with their manager if they have any questions or concerns about tracking their time. Managers are available to provide guidance and support as needed.

While we understand that filling out timesheets can be a tedious task, we ask that employees take this responsibility seriously and complete timesheets accurately and in a timely manner when required. This helps us to maintain our high standards of quality and efficiency as a quality-driven company.