Module 10:
Timelines and Project Management
Overview
This module is focused on describing the timeline of the project and how we're keeping all our ducks in a row!
Why do we need to know this? Everyone involved in credible messengers deserves to know what's going on in their sphere, especially when an outside organization becomes involved. We want to make sure you have the tools and details necessary to answer questions mentees, community members, and others might have about what's going on.
What we will do: We'll go over the most important aspects of project management, how they pertain to your role as a community researcher, and where you can find resources or clarification.
Let's Start with the Project Timeline
Before starting any data collection, the Urban team received a green light from our internal IRB. This background work included explaining what we will be collecting, and how we will be protecting those who we collect from.
The step after is where we are now: training, preparation, and, most importantly, relationship building. The ultimate goal is for all of us to feel equally comfortable with the project, tasks, and goals.
Now, as we approach Summer 2024, we're getting into the swing of things with data collection. We'll be conducting interviews with our sites, as well as collecting and reviewing data related to training and administration of CM programming.
Between Winter 2024 and Fall 2025 we'll also be conducting focus groups with youth participating in credible messaging.
In a later Module, we'll learn about Life Event Calendars, this collection process will being in Spring 2025.
It's a long way out, but data collection wraps up towards the end of Summer 2026. After data collection wraps up, we begin the process of dissemination - sharing the results of what we discover together.
All in all, there's a lot of time, but also a lot to do! We're glad and thankful to have your help in all of it.
Now, Let's Talk About Project Management
Project management is a bit of a blanket term that includes many pieces of the project/research puzzle. Think of project management as the edge pieces of this puzzle - we start here and fill in from there!
Managing such complex things as a research project with multiple partners and sites takes a lot of effort. Tasks need to be kept track of; budgets balanced; and data security has to be maintained!
To do this Urban's team starts with approval of data and human subject protection from Urban's internal IRB. But this is just the start of the process. We also keep an internal timeline (which we briefly touched on earlier!), and pay attention to how we may need to adjust it.
Now that we've covered that, we need to talk about budgets. Urban's Operations (Ops) team designs a strict budget. They may have set it up, but you will be responsible for billing your time.
To do this, you'll use the same site we do: JAMIS Prime. You'll be able to access this site via my.urban.org.
There are a few other sites and services we use pretty often namely:
Box - a cloud file storing and sharing service. Pretty much everything Urban does is saved here!
Office 365 - remember Clippy? Well he's gone (RIP), unfortunately, but Microsoft's Office Suite isn't!
Workday - a webpage that connects you with all things Urban. HR, trainings, etc., all live here.
Our Ops team has also worked hard to develop and maintain a series of job aids to help go over some of the resources listed above. They're linked in the column to the right.
Links to Ops Job Aids:
The Takeaway: Though timelines are slightly flexible, they and project management are crucial aspects of seeing a project to completion! Without keeping track of tasks, budget, and data security, we wouldn't be able to create the project or deliver the results we hope to. We work with a variety of people, sites, and partners; all of whom deserve involvement with and information surrounding timeline and project management.