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Section 4: THE RIGHT TOOLS TO MANAGE THE JOB
Step Sixteen: How do I keep on top of the project? Meetings, milestones & reports
This step should provide you with the tools to enable you to keep your project on time and keep yourself and your stakeholders informed of the project’s progress.
You will need to set up a number of meetings with the researcher to monitor progress. Importantly do not overdo these and use the telephone and e-mail as much as possible. Limit face-to-face meetings to a cycle of between six to twelve weeks depending on the scale of the project.
Link meetings to milestones. These are pit stops along the way, providing all parties time to review and assess progress and ensure the project is on track. They normally entail the researcher(s) providing either a written, interim report or a verbal update/presentation on progress. Make best use of them and ensure you and your stakeholders are happy and review, amend, re-focus where necessary.
Health Warning: but do not let milestones become millstones to weigh the project down. They are stepping stones – move on!
When it comes to managing expectations, expect the unexpected! Projects sometimes do not give you the information you expected.
Be prepared to be flexible and open-minded to deal with this. Do not try to massage information to give you what you want or, indeed, what your line manager wants.
"The final report should be like a proposal of marriage –
It will come as no surprise to either side
and you should both know what the answer will be"
Consultant
Try to agree in advance how many drafts of the final report there are going to be. Ideally, you will not want to waste your time and money on endless re-drafts. However, the Social Research Association (2002) notes that “…no-one can foresee the need for redrafting due to supplier incompetence, and researchers should bear any costs which might arise for this reason” and recommends that there should be a clear understanding from the beginning about:
> general expectations and procedures for report approval;
> any particular requirements about format and style of presentation.
Health Warning: having consulted with your stakeholders on the contents of the first draft and suggested appropriate revisions, do not consult a new group of people on subsequent drafts – this will lead to endless re-drafts.
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