The criteria (design specifications) will be used to self-assess the extent to which you achieved your goal later in the project. They should therefore reflect all the elements of the goal. It is best to take some advice from a real-life expert to decide what an ‘excellent’ outcome or product should be.

The specifications can be written in list form, or better still as a rubric (see the example below). In either case, it is important to write down how you are going to test the outcome against each of the criteria. Creating a rubric is a good way of focussing your specifications into something more meaningful. If you can't test it, it is not a specification!

You should justify why you chose your criteria, and have reference to specific research that informed your choice.

If the project has more than 1 aspect to the goal (for example to learn something and then to perform), there may be separate criteria for the parts.

The plan should have been devised at the start of the process and should include information about any changes that were necessary along the way, with reasoning. This can then also be used as evidence of your self-management skills in a few sentences in the body of your report, or included as an extract in the appendices.

A GANTT chart is a good way to plan your project - see the box below for an example. One thing that you need to remember is to cross reference your GANTT chart tasks with your process journal. In the grading criteria is says "presents a detailed and accurate plan and record of the development process of the project." A GANTT chart is, by itself, not enough to keep a record of the development process. However, if you number your tasks in the GANTT chart and then add those number to your process journal, you can add mini reflections on how the project is progressing in relation to your plan.

You can achieve a high level for your self-management skills by reflecting honestly on your ability to manage yourself – not just by meeting all the deadlines. It does not matter if your plan changes – the important thing is to reflect concisely on why it changed and how you used your self-management skills to adjust your planning.