Project Management for PhD Research
•Download as PPT, PDF•
3 likes•5,824 views
The Digital Arts and Humanities structured PhD programme hosted its annual Institute in University College Cork, 3-4 September 2014. The theme, "Reflecting on Transformations: careers, disciplines, and methods" reflects the significant transformations that have taken place in the arts and humanities over the last number of decades. This two day event included presentations by students as well as international and national speakers from the digital arts and humanities community as well as practical sessions on digital preservation and project management. Paddi Leinster, Project Management
Recommended
More Related Content
Similar to Project Management for PhD Research
Similar to Project Management for PhD Research (20)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Project Management for PhD Research
- 1. Paddi Leinster Programme Manager, Digital Repository of Ireland Royal Irish Academy Project Management DAH Institute, UCC 2014
- 2. What is a project? A project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result. Temporary means a definite beginning and end Unique means different in some distinguishing way Projects can involve: •A single person •A single organisational unit •Multiple organisational units
- 3. Multi-disciplinary team: software engineers, designers, social scientists, humanists, archivists, librarians, policy, Irish language, education & outreach, legal, project management.
- 4. Stakeholder Advisory Group International Advisory Group Management Board Core Implementation Team Strand 1 Management, Operations Strand 3 Infrastructure Rollout Strand 2 Policy, Requirements DRI Structure Strand 4 Demonstrators, E&O RIA, NUIM, TCD, NUIG, DIT, (NCAD)
- 5. Metadata Guidelines DRI Task Forces Workflows IP & Copyright Data Protection Sustainability Models TDR – Trusted Digital Repository Irish Language Launch Committee
- 6. Project Management defined… Application of... ...to project activities to meet project requirements Knowledge SkillsTools & Techniques Copyright 2013 Institute Project Management
- 7. A project can create… 1. A product that can be either a component of another item, an enhancement of an item, or an end item in itself; 2. A service or a capability to perform a service 3. An improvement in the existing product or service lines; or 4. A result, such as an outcome or document
- 8. Project Life Cycle Copyright PMBOK Scrum Methodology
- 9. PhD Life Cycle example
- 10. PhD Life Cycle / Project Life Cycle Copyright PMBOK 1. Research proposal 2. Outline of methodology and theoretical framework 3. Primary, secondary research and skills development 4. Interpreting research data and argument development 5. Write up (may need to go back to steps 3, 4 and even step 2) 6. Submission (often an iterative process in terms of drafts) 7. Viva preparation and Viva 8. Corrections if required and final submission. 9. Deposit research data in a TDR!
- 11. PhD Life Cycle / Project Life Cycle Copyright PMBOK 1. Research proposal 2. Outline of methodology and theoretical framework 3. Primary, secondary research and skills development 4. Interpreting research data and argument development 5. Write up (may need to go back to steps 3, 4 and even step 2) 6. Submission (often an iterative process in terms of drafts) 7. Viva preparation and Viva 8. Corrections if required and final submission. 9. Deposit research data in a TDR!
- 12. PhD Life Cycle / Project Life Cycle Copyright PMBOK 1. Research proposal 2. Outline of methodology and theoretical framework 3. Primary, secondary research and skills development 4. Interpreting research data and argument development 5. Write up (may need to go back to steps 3, 4 and even step 2) 6. Submission (often an iterative process in terms of drafts) 7. Viva preparation and Viva 8. Corrections if required and final submission. 9. Deposit research data in a TDR!
- 13. PhD Life Cycle / Project Life Cycle Copyright PMBOK 1. Research proposal 2. Outline of methodology and theoretical framework 3. Primary, secondary research and skills development 4. Interpreting research data and argument development 5. Write up (may need to go back to steps 3, 4 and even step 2) 6. Submission (often an iterative process in terms of drafts) 7. Viva preparation and Viva 8. Corrections if required and final submission. 9. Deposit research data in a TDR!
- 14. Why plan a project?... Control What is required How: - it will be achieved - by whom - using what specialist equipment, skills and resources When events or milestones will happen
- 15. Why plan a project?... Success! Planning is not a trivial exercise It is vital to the success of the project A plan must contain sufficient information and detail to confirm that the targets or goals of the plan are achievable.
- 16. Good Planning = Good Communications Objective clearly stated A clear brief Communication of programme and schedule Feedback Copyright Day Communications www.dayadvertising.com
- 17. Factors effecting the project: 1.External Factors 2.Working Factors 3.Contribution of effective planning to project outcomes Planning and Scheduling Environment Copyright Denis Lock, 2007
- 18. Factors effecting the project: 1.External Factors 2.Working Factors 3.Contribution of effective planning to project outcomes Planning and Scheduling Environment The Diamond Model - Wikimedia Commons/Craig Brown, 2009/ Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License Copyright Denis Lock, 2007
- 19. Project Management Constraints The Diamond Model - Wikimedia Commons/Craig Brown, 2009/ Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License PM
- 20. Planning Planning - the selection of objectives, the establishing of procedures, policies and programmes for achieving those objectives. A plan is a listing or visual display that results when all project activities have been subjected to estimating, logical sequencing, target timing and the determination of priorities.
- 21. Planning – Logical Sequencing of Activities There are two basic relationships: Activities in series Activities in parallel
- 22. What is a Project Plan? Document describing •how, •when and •by whom a specific target or set of targets is to be achieved Design of how the following can be met: •Products (Scope) •Timescales •Costs •Quality The Diamond Model - Wikimedia Commons/Craig Brown, 2009/ Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License
- 23. Scheduling A schedule is obtained by doing additional work on the initial plan So that resources needed to carry out all the project activities are taken into account.
- 24. Objectives of scheduling 1. Match resources to activities 2. Schedule work according to the defined sequence and dependencies 3. Smooth resource usage 4. Identify surplus resource effort or additional resource effort needed 5. Calculate total cost of resources. Copyright http://www.beprosoftware.com/
- 25. Resource Scheduling A project resource is any person, object, tool, machine or sum of money needed for work on a project – Dennis Lock Three Main Classes of Project Resource: 1. Exhaustible resources 2. Replenishable resources 3. Reusable resources
- 26. A typical project plan (Gantt Chart) •Milestone •Critical Path
- 27. A typical project plan (Gantt Chart) Copyright http://nonprofitprocessimprovement.wordpress.com/
- 28. Project Management Tools & Resources Issues Log • Tool for reporting and communicating • Ensures issues are raised, investigated and resolved quickly and effectively •A safe and reliable method for the team to raise issues. •Track and assign responsibility to specific people for each issue •Analyze and prioritize issues more easily •Record issue resolution for future reference and project learning •Monitor overall project health and status.
- 29. Project Management Tools & Resources Useful Websites: http://www.mindtools.com/ http://scrummethodology.com/ http://www.pmi.org/ (for training) http://www.prince2.com (for training) http://opensource.com/business/14/1/top-project- management-tools-2014 Books: Dennis Lock , Project Management - publisher Gower Harold Kerzner , Project Management - publisher Wiley
Editor's Notes
- Intros – name, year, stream (DA or DH)?
- A product that can be either a component of another item, an enhancement of an item, or an end item in itself; A service or a capability to perform a service (e.g. a business function that supports production or distribution) An improvement in the existing product or service lines; (e.g. Software development – open software that can feed back into the community) A result, such as an outcome or document (e.g. a research project that develops knowledge that can be used to determine whether a trend exists or a new process that will benefit society, PhD research).
- PMBOK – Project Management Body of Knowledge. The project life cycle basically involves breaking the project into stages as follows: Initiating: Project startup, charter, initial scope, initial team formation, etc. Planning: Defining work breakdown structure, determining resources, defining activities, scheduling, risk planning, communication planning, etc. Executing: Resources perform the planned work, including QA. Closing: Product acceptance, recording results, performance analysis and postmortems, release of resources. Monitoring & Controlling: Oversees the other activities; typically concentrates on scope, cost, schedule, quality and risk issues; reports status to management and customer; insures proper business administration occurs. The transition from one phase to another usually involves some transfer or handoff. As the diagram illustrates, “monitoring and controlling” occurs most heavily during “planning” and “executing” activities. In my experience, “monitoring and controlling” is typically the most difficult activity, especially during “executing.” Scrum Methodology Notice that multiple planning-execution cycles are possible within a project. Methodologies such as scrum actually formalize this into 2-4 week sprints, with each team planning at the start of a sprint and then executing during the sprint. In fact, a miniature of that process occurs each day, with planning issues surfacing (hopefully) during the 15-minute daily status meetings. In DRI, the technical strand of the project works using scrum methodology. For our final year before publically launching, DRI will work to 3 monthly sprints (a sort of hybrid typical project management process e.g. PMP and Scrum). The important thing here is that instead of looking at a project as one large piece of work, we instead break it down into smaller logical phases or stages. Each stage is then more manageable, sort of like mini projects. So whenever you’re faced with a large project, look at how you can break it down into manageable pieces of work.
- Research proposal - topic selection and research statement development Outline of methodology and theoretical framework Primary, secondary research and skills development (discipline dependent e.g. Digital humanities may use computational techniques for this). Gathering research data. Interpreting research data (again dependent on discipline) and argument development Write up (again, this may be circular as a student may need to go back to step 4, 3, or even step 2), as you write you will tighten up your conceptual framework and interpret your research data in different ways. (again, students writing software may have a different view on this, as well as “performance” in digital arts). Submission (often an iterative process in terms of drafts) Viva preparation and Viva Corrections if required and final submission. Deposit research data in a TDR! For example DRI – Sharon Webb will talk to about this process over the course of the coming year.
- WHY plan a project? Control What is required How: - it will be achieved - by whom - using what specialist equipment, skills and resources When events or milestones will happen By planning we... Eliminate and reduce uncertainty Improve efficiency of the operation Better understanding of the objectives Monitoring and control of work.
- The key to good planning is good communications! If an objective is to be planned for, the objective must first be clearly stated. A clear brief of the required outcome or objective is vital. The project manager has a key role in drawing out from the “client” the objective and in framing a clear communication of this objective. Likewise the clear communication of programme and schedule to personnel involved and participants in the project is basic to the success of failure of a project. Feedback along the life of the project is critical in ensuring a successful outcome and this feedback again depends on good communications.
- Anyone planning a project of significant size will soon find that there are a number of factors inside and outside the project organisation, which can have a profound effect on the project. Also the quality of the plans and schedules that are produced will greatly influence the benefits that can be expected for the company and everyone else in carrying out the project.
- External Factors External factors are events and milestones that lie outside the control of the project management organisation. Some of these factors can affect or ruin attempts at project planning, even resulting in project cancellation. Acts of God: Floods, earthquakes, flu epidemic etc. Fiscal policy: actions and policies of a national government in respect of taxation and other financial measures e.g. cancellation of a government-funded project due to change in political decision (or leader). Corporate Strategy: strategic decisions made by the business, i.e. outsourcing, project delay (postponement), downsizing or freeze on recruitment, takeovers etc. Statutory regulations: legislation by national and regional governments can impose extra burdens, particularly seen where projects are carried out in foreign countries. These regulations should be taken into account at the planning stage. Changes for example to copyright law, data protection etc. (ethical issues). Funding streams, funding requirements, EU funding etc. are all very important to a project such as the DRI and we must be constantly looking to see what the requirements are, what the funding possibilities are, what areas are being funded, how can we strategically align with those areas etc. Working Factors Most likely to affect the project manager and the project on a day-to-day basis. PMs must learn what the organisational difficulties are for their particular project, and plan and act accordingly. Contribution of good planning to results Planning should promote efficient working when it has been done sensibly and logically. A well planning project stands a greater chance of being completed within time and budget – hence contributing to cost effectiveness and profitabilty. The forth part of this is the project scope.
- Or in other words, what is known as the Diamond Model, with constraints of time, quality, cost, and scope. Any change to any of these constraints will effect another constraint (a sort of push and pull effect). So if you increase the scope of the project, this will impact on the time/budget/quality. For example, if you increase the scope, then you will likely need more time (which costs money), or else you employ more resources so that you don’t need additional time (which still costs more money), or else you do it within the same time, without increasing resources (so no budget impact) but the offset will be an impact on quality. Something has to give. So any changes to the scope needs to be given serious consideration – and the same applies to any changes to the time, cost or quality factors.
- One of the most important responsibilities of a project manager is planning. Planning can be described as the selection of objectives, the establishing of procedures, policies and programmes for achieving those objectives. The project plan is the listing or the visual display of all the activities required to achieve an objective.
- There are two basic relationships: Activities in series Activities in parallel Activities in series: When activities are in series they are carried out one after the other. Activities in parallel: When activities are in parallel they can be performed at the same time, which is more efficient use of time than in activities in series.
- What is a plan? A plan is a document, describing how, when and by whom a specific target or set of targets is to be achieved. It is a design of how identified targets for products, timescales, costs and quality can be met. This is referring back to our Project Management Constraints Diamond model. Plans are the backbone of the management information system for any project.
- Scheduling on the other hand is a practical document to match resources and prioritise tasks in order to achieve the plan.
- Objectives of scheduling Match available resources to the identified activities Schedule work according to the defined sequence and dependencies Smooth resource usage within the bounds of the identified dependencies and any overall time constraints Identify surplus resource effort or additional resource effort needed and negotiate with the Project Board to resolve these Calculate total requirements for human and other resources and produce a cost for these.
- A project resource is any person, object, tool, machine or sum of money needed for work on a project. Lock identifies Three Main Classes of Project Resource: Exhaustible resources (time, fossil fuels) Replenishable resources (materials, stock, money) Reusable resources (people, office space, equipment)
- This is an example of a typical project plan, a Gantt Chart, created using MS Project software. Notice the waterfall effect of the activities/stages. A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart, developed by Henry Gantt in the 1910s, that illustrates a project schedule. One of the first major applications of Gantt charts was by the United States during World War I. Project level Gantt chart or bar chart with identified management stages, e.g. milestones and control points. Milestone A milestone is a significant point or event in a project. Milestones are often at the end of a phase or work package or key deliverable, and can be set slightly earlier to allow for corrective actions (this is part of monitoring and controlling). Milestones allows project management to determine if the project is on schedule. Milestones usually ignore non-critical activities, that is, only show progress on the critical path. Critical path In project management, a critical path is the sequence of project network activities which add up to the longest overall duration. This determines the shortest time possible to complete the project. Any delay of an activity on the critical path directly impacts the planned project completion date (i.e. there is no float on the critical path). A project can have several, parallel, near critical paths.
- This is another example of a Gantt Chart, created using MS Excel.
- Issues – otherwise known as problems, gaps, inconsistencies, or conflicts – need to be recorded when they happen. When you create an issues log, you provide a tool for reporting and communicating what's happening with the project. This makes sure that issues are indeed raised, and then investigated and resolved quickly and effectively. Without a defined process, you risk ignoring issues, or not taking them seriously enough – until it's too late to deal with them successfully. An issues log allows you to do the following: Have a safe and reliable method for the team to raise issues. Track and assign responsibility to specific people for each issue. Analyze and prioritize issues more easily. Record issue resolution for future reference and project learning. Monitor overall project health and status. Issues Log template. Can be used as a collaborative tool to keep track of the project issues or tailor to a more granular level as an Action Log for the project manager. It is a simple Excel spreadsheet, but there are issue tracking software programmes available for larger projects (we have an issues log within the technical strand of the DRI project). Issues Log that I’ve tailored more as an Action Log which helps me to keep track of larger pieces of work/tasks that I need to complete. You might find something like this useful as it can be used collaboratively – shared tasks, delegate, update to supervisor etc. Issues V Risks Issues and risks are not quite the same thing. However, the exact nature of both is largely unknown before you begin. With risks, you usually have a general idea in advance that there's a cause for concern. An issue tends to be less predictable; it can arise with no warning. For example, being unable to find qualified staff is an identifiable risk. However, when one of your staff is in a car accident, and hospitalized for three weeks, that becomes an issue!
- The 3 key points to remember from today are: The project life cycle; Initiating / Planning / Executing / Closing /Monitoring & Controlling. So you should break the project up into manageable and logical phases which will give you more control over the project. The Diamond Model; the inter-relationships between Scope, Quality, Time, and Budget. A change to any one of these factors will absolutely have an impact on your project and should be considered carefully for example via a change control process. The importance of good communication, and by this I mean, that all parties involved (that is, the stakeholders) are fully aware of the objective and are kept informed of any changes, or the impact of a change. That everybody knows what they are supposed to be responsible for. This is where tools such as the project plan (objective), the schedule (responsibilities/deadlines) and issues logs (changes, problems) are very useful in assisting with good communications.