Listen "Running Research Projects Without the Meltdown"
Episode Synopsis
๐ฉ Are you regularly stressed out, feel like you're in over your head, and wondering how you ended up working at 2โฏam on a Monday morning to meet a project deadline?You're not alone: I, and much of academia and research, have regularly found ourselves in this position. It's usually not because of a lack of talent, capability or passion - but often because we don't practice good, effective and pragmatic project management.The good news: there are lots of simple, straightforward things you can do about it (and some that take a bit more work). This is the topic of today's #HackingAcademia video:๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ก ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฃ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ญ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐งI cover:๐ Why effective project management is so critical in a career - especially when it becomes impractical (and undesirable) to just work yourself ragged to meet a deadline๐งฎ How specifying sufficient resources (funding, salaries, equipment) and realistic stakeholder expectation management before the project gets going (or is even proposed) can save you so much stress later on๐บ๏ธ That Plan Bs, Cs and Ds are important to consider - but not to excessively investigate them before you know they're even going to be in play๐ฏ The "killing two birds with one stone" fallacy: donโt confound all the things you want to do and achieve with what *this specific project* requires. A constrained, stress-free project done well will help those other aims more than trying to cram everything into the project itself.ย ๐ง Not realizing that the setbacks you've experienced on previous projects are NORMAL, not exceptions. Talent being leaving or becoming unavailable (for myriad reasons), equipment breaking, methods not working - this is normality, NOT the exception๐ Being realistic and accurate about timelines: initially you can cope by just being pessimistic - but you can't just pad everything out blindly: ultimately you want to be realistic: some things are quick, some things *always* blow out.๐ A good project fulfills all its milestones: it does not (generally) overachieve in one area and completely fail to deliver in others๐ง Identifying, recognizing and dealing with problems early is crucial. This is enabled by nurturing a team environment where:๐จ potential issues are called out๐
no-one feels the need to get defensive๐ค everyone moves to working together on a solution๐ Easier said than done - but awesome when you get there.Over 2 decades into my career, Iโd say Iโm reasonably competent at a number of things - but being an effective project manager is one where there is always so much to learn!๐ Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2191455/episodes/16998729๐ฅ๏ธ YouTube: https://youtu.be/VrTPkMcJ8-M#projectmanagement #projects #leadership #management #deadlines #stress #worklifebalance #planning #gaantcharts #milestones #fulfillment #grants #fellowships #contracts #tenders #academia #research #university #industry #government
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