Project Managing Your Thesis

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Project Managing Your Thesis

• Dr. Wendy Noble EFS Academic Writing
  SpecialistMacquarie University

2

Getting there

• Motivation
• Becoming a Researcher
• Managing Your Supervisor
• Project Management

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Motivation

• Why are you doing this?
• If doing this to prove yourself to others
  compete with others win a Nobel prize avoid the
  world doing it because you should because you
  dont know what else to do, then your motivation
  is based on shaky ground.
• Have you got what it takes?
• You need enthusiasm willingness to accept
  responsibility for your progress and not blame
  others avoidance of psychological indulgences
  determined work ethic of self-discipline
  effective organisation and time management and
  loving negotiation with partners, friends and
  family
• This is your job
• But enjoy it!
• Many people forget to enjoy the process.
  Writing a thesis provides so many opportunities
  to learn, to be creative, to travel, to present,
  to talk to stimulating people. Too many people
  regard it as a chore, always a trauma, such a
  serious business."

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Support Team

• No man is an island
• Decide who the key people are that you can call
  on to
• Recommend resources
• Provide specialist expertise
• Read your drafts
• Give practical help
• Keep you honest
• Encourage you personally

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Becoming a researcher

• In Australia becoming a researcher means
  basically four things
• Taking a fully critical approach
• A need for analysis, critical appraisal and
  argument in academic writing.
• Entering the conversation
• Listen to the scholarly conversations around you
  note themes, topics, questions and hot topics.
• Acquiring independence as a researcher
• A supervisor will not direct as an authority
  figure who will direct every stage. You are
  expected to become increasingly independent with
  guidance from your supervisor. It is your thesis.
• Be pro-active with your supervisor
• Request a regular meeting time (via email), ask
  questions, be specific about requests, set an
  agenda and complete action items on time. Gain
  respect. (Craswell, 2005)

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Managing Your Supervisor

• Candidates and Supervisors should use their first
  meetings together to plan
• Regular meeting times
• How to maintain contact for feedback, record
  research decisions, and action items
• Long and short term research goals.
• Financial expenditure for equipment, conferences
  etc.
• Publication and co-publication strategies that
  will be part of the thesis.

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What is Thesis Management?

• Basically it is Project Management in a different
  dress
• Project management is the overall planning and
  coordination of a project, from inception to
  completion, aimed at meeting the client's
  requirements and ensuring completion on time,
  within budget and to required quality standards.
• In your case project thesis and you are
  the client

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Getting Started

• Recruiting a thesis manager
• Someone who is organized
• Someone you can talk to but who wont buy your
  excuses
• Someone who cares about your completion
• Setting ground rules
• Complete a brief
• Assess commitment
• Meet regularly (e.g. weekly for 1 hour)
• Set realistic targets
• Achieve targets

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Tell it like it is

• Give an honest account
• Write a brief (plain English) description of what
  your thesis is about.
• What are the formal requirements? (i.e. length,
  format, time limits, etc)
• How much have you done? What is your working
  timetable?
• What, if anything, is hindering you?
• What outcomes could you look forward to?

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What does a Project Manager do?

• Manage the timely completion of a specified
  deliverable (i.e. your thesis)
• Provide a point of accountability
• Identify the risks that may potentially impact
  completion
• Plan contingencies for each identified risk
• Identify all dependencies

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Not there to be best friend

• Encourage / motivate
• Provide a sounding board
• Admonish (tactfully) as needed
• Constantly remind about the task at hand and
  ensure proper focus is maintained

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Eat the TOAD!

• This expression refers to the importance of doing
  the most important thing (difficult or
  distasteful though it may be) to be done in your
  day FIRST. For example - writing your thesis.

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Project Management Tools

• Action Plan - A record of step-by-step tasks
  aligned to realistic due dates (see 16,17)
• Risk Log - Risk is anything which may cause the
  project to end in such a way that it does not
  fully meet its identified targets and objectives
• Task Management - A detailed plan for a
  particular step that is complex
• Chapter Outlines - Concise (2 page max)

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Time Management Tools

• Since writing a thesis is full-time job, treat it
  like one. Your diary is not suddenly empty!
• Project Management Tools
• A calendar or diary
• A task-project list
• An action list
• A daily planner
• A simple system regularly used is far more
  effective than a complex one used
  half-heartedly. (Hunt, A 2005)

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Definitions

• A calendar or diary
• Plan the whole project, this month, this week,
  today
• Block out time to research (read and write)
• Enter every new appointment
• A task-project list
• What do you need to do (only by you)?
• What do you need to complete?
• What have you promised to others?
• What would you like to do but havent started
  yet?
• An action list
• A list of actions generated from the previous
  level of project-planning now ordered into
  categories.
• A daily planner
• A calendar of events for one day that must be
  carried out and those that could be.

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Project Tasks with achievement bars
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Action Plan - detailed steps
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Reflections on thesis management

• From students perspective
• Drive your own thesis- dont wait for the system
• Go public
• tell friends and family your completion date
• post action plan where you and others can see it
• ask for support and encouragement
• Write often and tie tasks to a positive outcome
• e.g. Write early in the morning before checking
• emails or having a coffee

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Reflections on thesis management

• From project managers perspective
• Different emphasis in academic world
• Often thesis is a highly personal project
• Not always simply a matter of and cents
• Commitment and motivation paramount
• Appropriate to step back at times
• Satisfaction

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My thesis manager and me on graduation day
My thesis manager and me
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References
Craswell, G.(2005) Writing for Academic Success
Evans, D. and E. Gruba (2002) How to Write a
Better Thesis Green, L. Survive and Thrive While
Writing your Thesis, UMel
http//www.research.mq.edu.au/students/current_stu
dents/essential_reading Hunt, A. (2005) Your
Research Project How to manage it Kearns, H. and
M. Gardiner (2006) Getting Your PhD Finished,
Flinders University Paltridge, B. and S.
Starfield (2007) Thesis and Dissertation Writing
in a Second Language Perry, C. A Structured
Approach to Presenting Theses notes for students
and their supervisors (find on web as
revised on 3.11.02) Swales and Feak (2004)
Academic Writing for Graduate Students