Perfect Practices and Perils in Research Project Management

Vanitha Swaminathan University of Pittsburgh

Tom Brown Oklahoma State University

Two Quick Thoughts…

• The research process is messy and non-linear (and therefore fraught with peril…)

• The research process is messy and non-linear (and therefore fraught with peril…)

• Project management is a learned skill (and learning best practices can be helpful)

Two Quick Thoughts…

• Survey of leading scholars• Open-ended survey (N=25)

Questions:(1) Please identify two or three issues you have faced while managing research projects.(2) Please provide your recommended solutions to the issues you have faced in managing research projects.

Perfect Practices and Perils of Research Project Management

Typical research projects involve multiple stages

Idea Generation

Lit Review

Study design

Data collection Analysis Writing

Paper

Working with Co-authors

KEY ISSUES(1) Selecting Co-authors(2) Communication(3) Timing Issues(4) Working Styles/ Skills

(1) Working with Co-authors: Selecting Co-authors

• Only work with hard-working/motivated colleagues.

• Have different projects with different co-authors, so that your work does not come to a stand still. Even as a PhD student, make sure to have one project with a team that does not include your advisor.

(2) Working with Co-authors: Communication

• A clear author hierarchy can help with the arguments; but the best process remains to talk about it. Presenting existing papers that support your view can also help.

• Upfront and often - perhaps during each round of review - discuss team members' roles and responsibilities (who is first author? what does that entail?)

• Setting expectations [is important].

(3) Working with Co-authors: Timing Issues

• Don't leave yourself hanging. Be polite, but stay in control of the process. Instead of just sending them the paper and review notes and ask them to proof it carefully and provide edits by a certain date, make it clear that you will move on after that date. Say something like "Here is the revised manuscript and review notes that we will submit on XX. I know you have a lot on your plate, but we would love to have your feedback -- we can incorporate anything you send by XX."

(3) Working with Co-authors: Timing Issues

• Be upfront about time constraints. Let others know when you will have the work done and meet those goals.

• Communicate clearly and directly with co-authors what they have to deliver when. Works or does not work depending on the co-author. Again also deadlines can help to keep co-authors on track.

(4) Working with Co-authors: Working Styles/Skills

• Portfolio management. Move with the faster co-author while showing patience to the slower co-author. Attempts to slow the fast or prod the slow results in nothing but frustration for everyone.

• Identify co-author strengths and assign responsibility accordingly, e.g., some are good at data analysis, others are good at writing, others are the best "finishers" (formatting, referencing, submitting, dealing with reviews)

Managing Projects

KEY ISSUES(1) Choice of Project(2) Number of Projects(3) Time Management(4) Organization

(1) Managing Projects: Choice of Project

• To make sure that both the co-author AND the project itself are both something that you want to spend time with/on. If the project is not interesting, or if the co-author has different working style there could problems down the line.

(1) Managing Projects: Choice of Project

• Sometimes I have gotten greedy and worked on projects that go nowhere - one of the reasons is that the topic itself was much too far away from what I would have liked to work on ideally but the desire to work with a particular co-author made me accept the project. I think it is okay to be picky.

(1) Managing Projects: Choice of Project

• After reading countless current articles of great rigor and almost no relevance, I guess I need to become an Associate Editor or Editor as attempts to facilitate change from the outside have been unsuccessful. Rigor seems to be the current editorial standard. Managerial Implications are rarely a priority. Moreover, many of our constituent groups seek relevance while our accrediting bodies and administrators seek publications in the Journal of ... It's a game with few winners.

(2) Managing Projects: Number of Projects

• I am beginning a concerted effort to “lead” fewer projects. I’d like to take a management approach, where I lead some and provide advice and guidance on others.

• I guess timing the different projects is crucial. Have just the right number that you can manage and maybe feel just a little bit pushed. Too few means the pipeline is too short and the productivity might be low; too many means that you cannot put in the kind of effort that you should be on all the projects.

(3) Managing Projects: Time Management

• Better time management, blocking days in agenda for working on research. But this is particularly challenging in teaching intense times. Sometimes it also helps to have some deadlines where progress has to be made, for instance conference presentations. Also special issues with a fixed submission date help here.

(3) Managing Projects: Time Management

• Provide disproportionate time to projects that are closest to submission/resubmission. Do data collection during teaching semesters.

• The best I have been able to do is not let other job responsibilities crowd out research projects.

(4) Managing Projects: Organization

• Work first on a PowerPoint "presentation" (because its not really a presentation, its merely an evolving plan of the project), and then meeting regularly, either face-to-cafe or online, to build on and flesh out the PowerPoint presentation, until it looks like something that one might present at a conference or to summarize a journal article. Then one has a good picture of what the final paper will look like, and the real work can begin"

(4) Managing Projects: Organization

• Keep a detailed list of "next steps" for each project including small things (e.g., "double check the accuracy of the Smith reference") as well as large things (e.g., "re-run analysis with new data") so that no window of time is wasted. When one project is on a coauthor's desk, put your head down and plow through your list on another project.

WORKING WITH CO-AUTHORS

Why Choose to Co-author?

• Better ideas (two heads are better than one)

• Share the workload• Focus on strengths• More fun• Speeds up projects (IF schedules are coordinated)

• Allows more ongoing projects• Potential for deepening friendships

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Best Practices (but… do as I say, not as I do)

• Identify everyone’s role in advance (including who will be first author/leader)

• Develop a timeline in advance• If collecting a large dataset (with possible multiple

publications), specify who gets to use data and under what conditions

• When you find a great partner…foster that relationship for all it’s worth!

• Communicate, communicate, communicate …and then communicate some more

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Worst Practices

• Don’t agree to a research partnership unless you have the time to be a good partner– Corollary: Don’t take on too many projects

• Don’t agree to a research partnership just because a friend is asking

• NEVER force yourself onto a project because of your stature or position– Corollary: When pressured by a faculty member with

power over you, ___________.• Don’t take advantage of your research partners

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Questions?