Project Management
"There is no formula for success—you just begin and then you continue. I’m often asked how to have a career in stand-up and the answer is confoundingly simple: Do the work. Over and over again, just do the work. After you build the courage to get onstage that first time, it’s all about repetition." ~Standup comedian Cameron Esposito
Please add your URL of your progress and process project management platform(s) to this shared google doc. Please note that they may be one and the same.
You should have a dedicated, project management platform(s) for your daily and/or weekly process and progress of your senior project. Students are expected to share their process and progress with others, particularly their A-Team, using their project management platform(s).
Scope
The scope of your project is key. Hone in on the scope of your project using the MoSCoW method.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MoSCoW_method
M - Must have S - Should have C - Could have W - Won't have
Track Your Actionable Tasks and Progress (AKA Project Management)
You need to create a system to track your actionable tasks and progress (aka making sure you are getting your project tasks done).
Break down EVERYTHING you need to do for your project into actionable tasks. All actionable tasks should start with a verb (i.e. write, call, email, build, collect, etc.) and be visible in some way (not in your head).
You should make your actionable tasks VISIBLE in a calendar and/or planner or journal. (See suggestions below).
One method is Personal Kanban, but you may have your own. The columns I recommend for Personal Kanban (but you are not limited to) are:
To-Do (I recommend keeping two: monthly and weekly.)
Today (Work-In-Progress (WIP) limit of 3 to 5 maximum)
Waiting For (OPTIONAL)
Done
Another popular method is Getting Things Done.
I personally use a combination of both.
What your project management platform should contain?
Daily/Weekly senior project process & progress (AKA what have you done today or this week?)
PROGRESS: Milestones / tasks that have been completed (either transcribed or linked from your personal kanban or a screenshot or photo).
Include who or what was involved.
Include project progress and prototyping documentation: images, illustrations, audio, video, code, snippets of research, ANNOTATED links, etc. relevant to your thesis.
Accountability partner meeting notes.
Document any feedback from interviews, meetings, exhibitions, or presentations about your project.
pdfs of any presentations (annotated).
Notes taken about your project, prototypes, and presentations by you or your accountability partner.
Notes on problems, challenges, or questions that have arisen in your project development. Discuss what is and what is not working.
PROCESS: Sourced & Annotated Research / Reference / Inspiration (Workflowy or Notion are great for this!)
Research: If you found projects, books, articles, exhibitions, talks. or other research materials that help with your chosen topic or you conducted materials, tech, or visual research, provide a link to them (if applicable), photo or video documentation (if applicable), and a short written description of it and how you will use this research for your project.
Sourced means where did you get this from? if it is a website, provide a link. If it is a book, provide a bibliography. If it is an image, where did you get it from? If it is a quote, who said it, or who did you poll or interview?
Annotated means with notes. You don’t have to write a novel. 1 to 2 thoughtful, contextual sentences are more than enough. So, “This was inspirational,” would not be a good note as it provides no context for your thesis. However, “This book discusses how nostalgia is a useless emotion because nostalgia is based on the past. This point of view is antithetical to my thesis because I’m trying to demonstrate how the sentimentality of nostalgia is valuable to the human experience.” is a viable note.)
Project Management & Asana Overview
Recommended Visible Project Mgt. Systems
The most highly recommended planner or journal by students is the Bullet Journal. It's a system. You only need to use a pen and paper or a digital tablet to engage. In other words, there's no journal to buy.
I recommend having an analog or digital personal kanban using Asana (There's a free version of Asana.), Trello, or Kanbanery. The analog method is having post-it notes on a wall or mini ones in a notebook (so you can move them around).
Others are Milanote, Notion, Basecamp, or Google Docs/Google Sheets.
I personally use a combination of an analog and digital system!
Recommended Planners
I've gone back and forth between the first three. I'm currently using The Productivity Planner in conjunction with Asana. Planners are personal. You have to figure out what works for you, and as you grow as a professional, your planner needs may change.
Planners
Ink and Volt Planner (physical or digital)
Unbound Planner (physical or digital)
Last updated
