One of the manager's most important jobs is to track the project as it progresses through the phases of the development cycle. In some cases, managers are respon- sible for several projects at once, and keeping track of where each is at any given moment can be a daunting task. Nonetheless, for managers to be in control of the process, they must set a system to keep informed about what's happening at each stage along the way.
Scheduling
Your first tracking step as a manager is to check the schedule given in the document specification. If the spec is a reasonable one, it should have regularly spaced mile- stones for completing important sections of the project. For example, the first major milestone might be to complete the first draft, the second to complete a developmental edit, the third to complete a second draft, and so on. To keep the document on this schedule and to make sure that everyone on the team is able to meet these milestones, set some interim deadlines between the major points in the schedule, as shown in Figure 6.2 (see p. 144).
At each of these interim deadlines, ask writers to have completed of the task and review them with you. If part of the team falls behind with these smaller units of the project, you can adjust the schedule more easily than if you had waited until the major you can find ways to help the writers to pick up the pace.
Progress Reports
One method for keeping informed of the document's progress is to require weekly progress reports from each team member. These reports should be in a standardized random memos or hasty can be added to the project note- book and kept file. It's a good idea to provide the forms for these weekly updates so your staff gives you complete information. Otherwise, you might get a partial up- date from one writer and a detailed report from another. The team members need to know what you expect, and you need to be firm in requiring these reports on time every week. Late reports don't keep you informed and in control of the project. Figure 6.3 (see p. 145) shows a possible format for a weekly progress report.
Meetings
Establish a regular schedule of meetings so your team members can discuss their progress and perhaps solve some of the problems that might lead to delays. Usu- ally, project teams meet once a week as an entire group and then in subgroups (for graphic design, or for certain chapters, and so forth) between the weekly team meetings. As project manager, you should always attend the large-group meeting to keep yourself informed of the team's progress and to communicate pertinent information to the whole group. If the team has a sense of the entire project's
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Tracking the Project 145 Figure 6.3
Weekly Progress Report Format
W E E K L Y P R O G R E S S R E P O R T
Project CLIENT SERVER PROPOSAL To: G.K. Kelly, Manager
Barrow, Project Leader: Team 2 Date:
Document Specification Goals Scheduled Create project schedule
Goal Met Goal Not Met
2. Complete audience analysis Define cross-functional team members
4. Assign writing tasks
5, Establish key themes
Reasons for Not Meeting Goal:
Goal #2 - unable to contact sufficient key people Goal #5 - cannot establish themes until audience
analysis is completed
Plans for Meeting Goals: Scheduled meetings with clients next Tuesday to complete Goal #2.
Goal #5 can then be completed by Thursday (8/23). Tracking Hours: Planning - 20 hrs.
(hours spent) - 2 hrs. meeting - 6 hrs. writing hrs.
Comments: We should be able to catch up to the original schedule by the end of next week. plan to assign two team members to the "Key Themes Goal.
Chapter 6 / Collaborating on Writing Projects
progress, they're more able to understand how meeting individual deadlines sup- ports the whole effort.
It's a good idea to attend some of the small-group meetings as well, although you may not always need to be at each small-group meeting. Sometimes having a manager present can be counterproductive as the group may not feel they can air their concerns or do their work quite as freely. If you have group leaders, you might want to meet with them alter each of the unit's meetings. Arrange to attend enough of the small groups to maintain a presence and to keep as informed as possible without micromanaging.
Electronic Collaboration
In many situations today, project teams are composed of members from across the state, across the country, or across the globe. These teams can't meet in person to conduct business, but they can collaborate via electronic methods. Several tech- niques and technologies are available to facilitate such collaboration. You can cir- culate documents and ideas sequentially through e-mail; you can use sophisticated "groupware" software programs to circulate documents, both text and graphics, to the entire team simultaneously; you can create comment boxes within documents to show individual team members' suggestions for the text; you can use mark-up and software facilities to edit text; you can use teleconferencing
to hold group telephone meetings and videoconferencing systems to allow partici- pants to see and hear one another as well as share displays on computer screens. One easy way to collaborate electronically is by developing a Wiki. A is a quick way to create and share ideas through web pages that can be edited with only a web browser. (The name comes from a Hawaiian term that means "quick".) Just click the "edit page" link on a wiki page, and you can update information.
As the for long-distance collaboration in- creases, so too do the sophisticated techniques for doing so. But whether you are working with oth- ers in person or electronically, the basic strategies for collaborating in teams are the same. Pay atten- tion to the phases of the project (as noted in the previous section), and understand how each team member can best contribute to the process.
Tip: Some caution here:
Many managers spend so much time writing reports and juggling reporting tools that they don't know what's going on with the actual pro- ject. The more time you're re-
porting, less time you're
spending with the people in- volved in the project. Be sure to visit with individual team members, chat in the halls, and keep your finger on the real pulse of the project.
Using a Tracking Spreadsheet
As you collect information from the progress re- ports, the meetings, and the daily interactions you have with your team, it's a good idea to chart this material in a form where you can see the project's progress at a glance. Keeping a spreadsheet of where the document is in the development cycle at any given moment allows you to visualize as