Return to Answer

I think your question is perhaps more "How do I manage a project without a Project Manager"

My answer to that is:

• Break stuff down into small tasks that you are very confident about estimating time for. This is key
• Focus on minimal functionality first - login, logout, visit home page, etc. before the real features.
• Use an Agile methodology.
• Talk to your client daily
• Use software that you, the client and programmer can share for tracking everything (features, bugs and Chores) such as Pivotal Tracker(which is my favorite), Trello, Jira or MS Project.
• Make sure you have a contract.

I recommend:

• Demonstrate your application to the customer often, and get feedback early.
• Break stuff down into small tasks that you are very confident about estimating time for. This is key.
• Focus on minimal functionality first - login, logout, visit home page, etc. before the real features.
• Use an Agile methodology.
• Talk to your client daily.
• Use software that you, the client and programmer can share for tracking everything (features, bugs and Chores) such as Pivotal Tracker(which is my favorite), Trello, Jira or MS Project.
• Make sure you have a contract.

No software is bug free (NASA's might be the closest) and all programmers try to not have bugs so remove that stuff.

I think your question is perhaps more "How do I manage a project without a Project Manager"

My answer to that is:

• Break stuff down into small tasks that you are very confident about estimating time for. This is key
• Focus on minimal functionality first - login, logout, visit home page, etc. before the real features.
• Use an Agile methodology.
• Talk to your client daily
• Use software that you, the client and programmer can share for tracking everything (features, bugs and Chores) such as Pivotal Tracker(which is my favorite), Trello, Jira or MS Project.
• Make sure you have a contract.

I think your question is perhaps more "How do I manage a project without a Project Manager"

My answer to that is:

• Break stuff down into small tasks that you are very confident about estimating time for. This is key
• Focus on minimal functionality first - login, logout, visit home page, etc. before the real features.
• Use an Agile methodology.
• Talk to your client daily
• Use software that you, the client and programmer can share for tracking everything (features, bugs and Chores) such as Pivotal Tracker(which is my favorite), Trello, Jira or MS Project.
• Make sure you have a contract.

No software is bug free (NASA is the closest) and all programmers try to not have bugs so remove that stuff.

I think your question is perhaps more "How do I manage a project without a Project Manager"

My answer to that is:

• Break stuff down into small tasks that you are very confident about estimating time for. This is key
• Focus on minimal functionality first - login, logout, visit home page, etc. before the real features.
• Use an Agile methodology.
• Talk to your client daily
• Use software that you, the client and programmer can share for tracking everything (features, bugs and Chores).
• Make sure you have a contract.

No software is bug free (NASA's might be the closest) and all programmers try to not have bugs so remove that stuff.

I think your question is perhaps more "How do I manage a project without a Project Manager"

My answer to that is:

• Break stuff down into small tasks that you are very confident about estimating time for. This is key
• Focus on minimal functionality first - login, logout, visit home page, etc. before the real features.
• Use an Agile methodology.
• Talk to your client daily
• Use software that you, the client and programmer can share for tracking everything (features, bugs and Chores) such as Pivotal Tracker(which is my favorite), Trello, Jira or MS Project.
• Make sure you have a contract.