Hey there! Welcome to the self study
unit concerning project management. Before we get started here is a short overview
of what you can expect in the upcoming 10 minutes. First we will talk about what defines a
project and what this means for your workstyle. As we will see this includes
defining the goal of your project, managing the tasks and Milestones that drive
it forward and planning your time schedule. Once we got these basics down you will learn about
three best practices to help yo
u along the way. Ultimately we will map out how a project plan, may look like so you can go
ahead and and create your own. What is a project? The most simple definition is this: A
project is something to get done that has a clearly defined goal or result
within a clearly defined time frame. There are tasks that need to be done in order
to achieve the goal so a project has a clear goal or result, tasks that get you there,
a clear starting point and a clear ending. The project management mind
set. Keeping this definition in mind many
things can be considered a project. It's about defining them accordingly. Your upcoming term paper, the next
vacation and even your studies as a whole. You can look at each of these events
through the lens of project management. Planning a project consists
of the following questions: What is my goal for the project?
What tasks need to be done to achieve my goal? When do I need to start doing
these things to keep the deadline? You can apply this syst
ematic approach to
structure anything you want to be a project. Defining your goal.
Every project has a goal. Ask yourself, what is the result
at the end of your efforts? For this it is vital to
phrase your goal effectively. It is helpful to spell out
the is-State you aim at. For example: "Term paper written and send in time
instead of write term paper and send it in time". There is another concept that can
help you to phrase what you aim at. Smart goals are goals you are
more likely to a
ccomplish. The concept's name is derived from the
five characteristics the ideal goal boasts. Specific - Spell out your goal as clearly as
possible what exactly do you want to achieve. Measurable - Make sure you can track your
progress. How can you tell you completed the goal? Attainable - Your goal
should be within your reach. Set goals that you can realistically achieve.
Relevant - Make sure your goal actually contributes to the context of your work.
How is it relevant to what you do? Time
based - Set yourself a deadline.
This helps you to stay on track. Managing tasks and Milestones. Once you have a clear goal in mind think
about what you have to do to make it happen. The steps towards your goal
can be formulated as tasks. This may sound complicated at first.
So we prepared an accessible example for you. If making a cup of coffee was a project
what steps would you have to take? The graphic you are looking at gives you
the general idea of what you need to do. Now think of you
r own project.
What tasks need to be done? What information and materials do you need?
How do you acquire them? What has to to be done before you
can start certain other tasks? Who do you need to contact for permissions?
Who needs to be kept up to date? These are some of the core questions when defining
the steps towards the completion of your project. Ideally you come up with a comprehensive to-do
list to turn these bullet points into a road map. We advise you to define
milestones for your
project. Given you want to discuss a topic dear to you at a congress your Milestones
might look a little like this: Your first Milestone is having
figured out at what Congress to speak. The next one is knowing how to
become a speaker at that Congress. Now set one milestone for having collected data
and another one for having analyzed the data. The next milestone concerns
interpreting your findings. Then you set a milestone for having
prepared a speech about all you found out. The pan ultim
ate Milestone is having
practiced your speech before lastly having given your speech at
the Congress of your choice. If you are working on a project as a group
now would be a good time to appoint tasks. Things are so much more likely to be done when
specific people feel responsible for them. To decide who does what it helps to
consider the resources each of you have. This could be certain skills that make tasks easier or Simply basic
things like time and energy. Defining tasks and setting
Milestones helps you
to get a proper idea of what you need to do. Thinking in Tiny Steps can
really help making a daunting project look very manageable.
Planning the time schedule. Knowing your goal and the tasks that get
you there only one thing is left to manage. Coming up with a reasonable
time schedule is important for things to run smoothly and to reduce stress. Much like tasks your time until the deadline
can be cut up into smaller sections. Conveniently you can assign how long each
task is presumably going to take to complete. If you do this for each step you end
up with a rough schedule in no time. Now here is the real trick!
To figure out when you need to start, all you need to do is take a look at your
deadline and count backwards from it. Say your speech is due on October 31st
- practicing a speech usually takes you two days so practicing starts at October 29th. You typically take 3 days for the writing process
so you should start writing on October 26th. In the pa
st you often took one week to analyze
your data and another four days to interpret it. So you should start working
with your data on October 15th. Collecting the data will probably take
you around 2 weeks. Starting October 2nd. Choosing a Congress and figuring out how
to speak there should take you one day. So you start looking for that
information on October 1st. Now your time schedule isn't quite done
yet – Life happens. We all have been there! A good schedule accounts for that add. A bu
ffer for one third of the
time all tasks take up combined. For your 31 days of writing the article
you'll want to plan a buffer of 10 days. You start working on the project on
September 22nd to hand it in on October 31st. For this sort of scheduling to work
out you need to know your workflow. Are you a quick writer but reading texts
and interpreting data takes you ages? Or is it just the other way around?
Think of your past projects. Applying the project management mindset reflect
on how y
ou bring about the best results. - Best practices -
Adapting to change The best plan can be subject to change unexpected obstacles arise in any project
and can be quite challenging. To navigate them you need to focus
on your vision for the project. Remember your goals and values.
What is most important to the result of the project?
It can be necessary to make compromises. Decide beforehand what parts of your plan
are firmly set and what can be negotiated. Staying on track Either way it goes y
our project will move forward. Some tasks can be tedious and feel
like dragging on for a long time. To keep up your focus and motivation track
your progress for each individual day. Looking at what you already got done
will give you a boost when you need it. Plus it is a good way of making
sure your plan works out and you keep the timing of your milestones and
ultimately your Project's deadline. Efficiency the more you work
the better the outcome, right? Well yes and no. In order to achiev
e your goal you
need to keep a steady workflow. This being said, it is important to
know when to move on to the next task. According to the peretto principle 20% of our
effort generally produce 80% of the final result. For tweaking the last 20% outcome to Perfection
it takes 80% more of your time and energy. In virtually all cases this is not worth it. There will always be the next little
detail, that could be improved. Especially for bigger projects it is vital to
understand when to move
on to the next step. If you stick with one task for too long
you pour a lot of effort into the project without it significantly moving forward.
Keep in mind excellent does not mean perfect. Your project plan Project management is a way of structuring your efforts to fulfill your goal
within a certain time frame. A project plan consists of all
aspects of project management. Your project plan states your project's goal.
It also states the deadline of your project. The tasks that need to get don
e alongside your project's milestones and the
corresponding time schedule. On the right you can see a rough sketch
of how a project plan may look like. Now it's up to you!
Take a look at your own project and apply the lessons of the self-study unit.
Ccreate your very own project plan including your goal, your deadline tasks,
milestones and time schedule. Have fun and thanks for listening!
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