Monday 12 December 2011

Time Management...

I have been advised to think about effectively time managing my enquiry plan. It has been suggested I use a Gantt Chart to clarify time allowances for each part of the enquiry.

I was wondering if anyone else has used this tool before? Or, come across other effective methods to display a clear time plan perhaps?

Because of my inexperience of creating such a chart, I did a bit of research on a few examples. I thought I would share this link should anyone else be wondering how to approach this part of the plan too.

Gantt Chart - Wikipedia explanation

'A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule. Gantt charts illustrate the start and finish dates of the terminal elements and summary elements of a project. Terminal elements and summary elements comprise the work breakdown structure of the project.'

It seems quite difficult to accurately predict how long a specific task will take, taking into consideration all the factors which could effect a tasks completion is a lot to think about.

For my enquiry, I am envisaging leaving ample time to compose questionnaires/receive feedback and analysis the data will be hugely time consuming. Also, at this stage I think my research may involve working with minors, so I need to allow ample time to gain parental consent from parents before undergoing any observations or interaction with them.

Piloting some of the tools for enquiry has been an eye opener as to how we must allow adequate time to conduct the use of the tool initially, but considering the additional time needed to collate all the data and apply it to concluding research findings.

Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated as always!

3 comments:

Daisuke said...

Dear Sophie

Thank you for your post.

I had a look for Gantt chart, and it looks very useful as also it looks a bit complicated to use?
So, I have just downloaded free one from a web site. And, I am surprised about the choices the system can provide to make every thing simple in a good way.

I going to explore more about how to use it properly.

Thank you Sophie.

Stephanie Thomas said...

I was interested to read this post Sophie - I had just planned to do a normal table when planning a schedule for next terms work. I hadn't really thought about the benefits of different types of charts, so it's definitely something I might explore.

Daisuke mentioned downloading a free chart creator...do you know where this is available from? I only seem to have found ones that you have to pay from.

Sophie Douglas said...

I have only found example charts too Stephanie, Daisuke, can you shed any light on this for us? They are rather complicated I must admitt, I am unsure as to the time span to allow for analysis of all research, have you had an ideas on this? I think I am working roughly from the beginning of Feb until April for the whole chart, slotting each task in is appearing to be quite tricky! Let me know how you get on!