Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Tracking projects

[R Philip Dowds (rpdowds]

I agree with Sharon.  In my world — that of design and construction — there are 
all kinds of sophisticated project management programs, some VERY expensive, 
that integrate, cross-reference, and calculate schedules, budgets and actors, 
while at the same time coding and filing e-mail, issuing personal To Do lists, 
and archiving sequential versions of documentation.  These programs are hard to 
learn, and if left to the ministrations of entropy, devolve into uselessness 
within a matter of weeks.  (Used properly, however, they can be great tools.)  
But …

One of the best project managers I ever met was a construction field supervisor 
who never graduated from high school, but nonetheless had considerable gifts.  
In his head he maintained a mental time/space map of the entire construction 
project, and knew “instinctively” when some sub-task was slipping in a way that 
endangered the deadline or budget.  Most of us, however, are not that good, and 
need some combination of calendar, spreadsheet, and list maker to keep our 
ducks in a row.  Filemaker is one kind of all-purpose tool; another one, 
particularly good for managing activity and money over time, is FastTrack 
Schedule 10.  Both of these are acquired tastes.

RPD


> On Apr 16, 2015, at 10:34 AM, Sharon Villines <sharon [at] 
> sharonvillines.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
>> On Apr 16, 2015, at 9:38 AM, Sue STIGLEMAN <sstigleman [at] bellsouth.net> 
>> wrote:
>> 
>> Does anyone have systems to share about how you track projects -- the plan, 
>> the steps, the status?  
>> 
>> We've tried various things --email (blech)spreadsheetstables
>> Everything has problems, and things still drop through the cracks.  
> 
> I've looked at this for years. A group tracking system doesn't work well 
> unless everyone chooses to use it -- AND LIKES TRACKING. We have one person 
> who is a detailed detail person. She makes precise lists and actually follows 
> them. I make lists too, but then I forget I ever made them. For me they are 
> just a process for organizing my thoughts. 
> 
> So the take-away is you first have to have a person or persons who actually 
> likes doing the tracking whatever system they use. It's more about the people 
> who are doing the job.
> 
> One of our detail people makes the  lists for workdays. I think she uses Word 
> with 4 column tables. (I would use a spreadsheet or a database.) I think the 
> columns are:
> 
> Task description
> Who can explain what needs to be done and what materials needed
> Volunteer's name
> Status of the task at the end of the workday.
> 
> We have a person who sits at a table in the dining room with the list during 
> the workday and talks to people about tasks. If the tasks aren't done, they 
> stay on the list. The person who does the list will only do the list. She 
> doesn't recruit volunteers to do the tasks later.
> 
> The Admin Team uses our calendar for reserving rooms in the CH to put dates 
> for papers that have to be filed once a year or every 2-3 years.
> 
> Doing task reminders is irritating all the way around. With the umpteenth 
> reminder, it's hard to be Shirley Temple again.
> 
> When I joined the Facilities Team many years ago there were over 100 tasks 
> that had piled up. I like Filemaker Pro and did a database to track them and 
> designed a printout that gave the status of each and the person responsible. 
> I sent reminders for unfinished items to each person every two weeks. And 
> sent requests for volunteers for the tasks that had no volunteers.
> 
> They all got done but it took almost a year of consistent attention and 
> people groaned when they saw my name on an email again. 
> 
> My suggestion is one person who keeps lists, and other people who do the 
> reminding. We are all busy and cohousing isn't the first priority in most of 
> our lives so reminders are necessary and even helpful. People to fall back on 
> are also necessary.
> 
> Someone will mention Google Docs -- I'm not a fan but many love them. I'm 
> hoping Katie Henry will weigh in on this since she is a professional project 
> manager.
> 
> Sharon
> ----
> Sharon Villines
> Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
> http://www.takomavillage.org
> 
> 
> 
> 
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