Skip to content

Dissertations & projects: Project management

Jump to content on these pages:

“Organising your activities more carefully is an obvious way to gain more productive time.”

Kathleen McMillan & Jonathan Weyers,  How to write dissertations & project reports

The most important thing to keep in mind throughout the dissertation project is there are two main aspects to manage; first is the wider project that includes your proposal, research and planning; the other is writing the report or dissertation itself. They are separate sections of the overall project even if they are intrinsically linked.

Managing your time

One of the main components of project management for your dissertation project is time management.

During your time at university, you will have already developed some time management skills, both consciously and unconsciously. When you had to complete previous assignments, attend lectures, or even to meet up with others to discuss university or none university topics, you had to manage your time effectively to be where you needed to be or do what you needed to do.  

When it comes to managing your time effectively for your dissertation & project, you generally have more control over how you organise your time, but these means you have more responsibility to do it right. Here are some ways to rise to that responsibility:

List and prioritise tasks

The first thing you need to do, is recognise everything that needs to be done: 

  1. Listing tasksMake a list of all project tasks - breaking it down into the smallest chunks you can think of.
  2. Order these by priority. You may want to use a priority matrix to help with this. Some tasks may be dependent on earlier tasks too, so make sure you prioritise anything that may hold you up.

Once you have done this, you are ready to start timetabling when to do each task.

Timetables/planners/diaries 

calendar It is personal choice what tool you use to timetable your work. Some people like to buy a large wall planner, others just use a calendar app on their phone. You may even have access to a specific project management tool. The important thing is to use something and that the tool is flexible enough for you to change things around easily - research is messy and things will not always go to plan.

  1. Start by putting in key deadlines and other things that cannot be moved (these do not need to be related to your research project).
  2. Look at the list of tasks you made earlier - decide how long you think you will need to complete each stage (this is obviously a guess at this point, but you need to start somewhere). 
  3. Timetable as much as you can, especially high priority items or quick wins. Leave gaps though, to allow for some wiggle room when plans change. 
  4. Remember to take into account when you work best. Most people work at their cognitive best about 2 hours after they wake up - so mid-morning is usually a good time for things you need to really think about. Leave mechanical tasks for when you know you will be more tired.
  5. Be realistic. You may struggle to get lab time when you want it, ethics approval may take longer than you anticipated, participants may be unavailable. Be prepared to move tasks and fill the gaps with things you CAN be getting on with (like reading and notemaking or learning new software).
  6. Leave time for writing up - work backwards from your deadline to timetable that part. However, remember that you do not need to finish your research before you start writing - introductions/literature reviews and parts of the methods section can be written at any time.

For more help, see our Time Management page.

Prevent procrastination

Katrin Kilingsieck (2013) defines procrastination as:

the voluntary delay of an intended and necessary and/or [personally] important activity, despite expecting potential negative consequences that outweigh the positive consequences of the delay.

We know this is a big problem for a lot of people - in fact one of the top 25 most viewed TED talks is Tim Urban's Inside the mind of a master procrastinator - see below. It is always difficult to stop procrastinating when you seem to have so much time to complete one assignment - but there is a reason you have so much time - there is a lot to do!. Tim's tips for dealing with procrastination can be found on his excellent blog here: How to beat procrastination.

 

 

Visit our separate SkillsGuide on Beating procrastination for tips on how to avoid procrastinating. 

Managing your research

Research for your dissertation or independent project can take many forms - from lab work to literature based research and everything in between. It is therefore not possible to give you specific guidance on how to manage the work. But there are some general guidelines and principles to be aware of:

Computer with checklist and calendar

Schedule time for planning and setting things up - this can take more time than you think. For example, you may need time to:

  • Email and receive replies from potential participants (and find mutually convenient times to see them).
  • Learn how to use survey software and design an effective questionnaire.
  • Arrange to meet up with lab technicians to show you how to use lab equipment.
  • Set up suitable data storage systems.
  • Develop a search strategy to ensure you find all the relevant papers.
  • Learn how to use referencing software to store all your literature, ready to cite when writing.
  • Receive ethical approval to proceed with data collection (if you are researching people or animals).

Magnifying glass over data

In many fields, analysing data takes a lot longer than collecting it. For example, a ten minute interview or video may take you days to transcribe and analyse.

messy squiggle

Research may be written up in a linear way, but it rarely takes place in that order. There could be a lot of backtracking, rethinking, repeating etc. Be prepared for this and accept it.

Magnifying glass and clock

Start analysing your data as soon as you can after collecting it - it helps you remember contexts and keeps momentum going.

Managing your writing

Here are some tips about managing the writing process:

Schedule it

Rather than just squeezing writing around your other tasks, schedule specific times in your calendar to write. It doesn't have to be for long, it just has to be often. Regularly blocking out time in your calendar to dedicate exclusively to writing your dissertation will, over time, build your smaller sections into one large piece of writing.

alarm clock with a start button

Start early

This isn't about the time of day, more about the length of the project. It is a good idea to start the writing process early in the project. This will alleviate the stress of having to write large amounts at once with an ever present deadline looming over you. It will also offer you time to revisit sections of your project you have already written to add, edit, or remove sections to fit your overall project. 

Getting started is often the hardest part - and doing this when the pressure is off, can make it easier.

a computer with literature

What to start with

It is usual to start with your research justification and literature review. This can be written before or during your data-collection stage and can be effective way to use time when you are waiting for other things to happen.

If you had to write a research proposal, you may already have done a smaller version of this - but if this was a separate assignment that was submitted through Turnitin, you may have to substantially re-write it to avoid self-plagiarism or getting more marks for the same work..

Sitting at a computer

Each time you sit down to write

There may be long gaps between writing sessions - start your writing session by looking back over the last part of what you wrote the previous time. This will get you back into the zone and help situate the writing you are about to do within the rest of the chapter.

Finish a writing session by writing a few bullet points to remind you where you intend to go next. This can make the start of the next writing session more efficient.

Managing your supervisor

No two students will have the same experience with their supervisor. Some will say their supervisor was amazing, some that they were awful - and every experience in between. There are, however things that you can do to manage the relationship and your expectations from it. There may still be unexpected issues, but you will have done all you can to ensure you get the support you need. 

Remember this is supposed to be an independent project, their role is to support you through that - but there are limitations to what they can help with. They may also be supervising a number of different students and they will certainly have many other time commitments, so be realistic with your expectations!

 

face to face and online meeting

The first meeting

Whether it is face-to-face or online, your first meeting is crucial as it sets out expectations for all future interactions. A lot of it will be spent talking about your research question, suitable methodologies etc. However, make sure you also ask the following:

  • How often can you realistically expect to see me and how long for?
  • Is it OK to email you with questions?
  • What are your working patterns?
  • Will you look at draft chapters/sections and give feedback?
  • Is there anything you will not help me with? 
  • If you are unavailable and I am desperate, where else can I get support?
  • Can we schedule another meeting now? (Even if this is a long way ahead - get in their diary!)

 

Further interactions

Meetings

In any further meetings, make sure you come to them with specific questions to ask. You can also email these ahead of meetings to make sure your supervisor has an idea what you will want to discuss. 

Always take notes, as it is easy to forget things afterwards. Consider asking your supervisor if it is OK to record the meeting - either using your phone in a face-to-face meeting or using the record feature in MS Teams. You can then go through it again later and pick out the key action points.

 

Email

Even if your supervisor has said they are happy for you to email, keep this to a minimum. Remember this is an independent project and you shouldn't bug them about small things. Consider asking fellow students or the Skills Team if the question is fairly generic - only use your supervisor if real expertise in the subject or your methodology is needed.

 

Problems

If you are having real difficulties in getting to see your supervisor or in getting responses from emails, you should talk to or contact the module leader who may be able to intervene on your behalf. There may be a genuine reason why your supervisor is unavailable and they should be able to find this out and let you know, or mediate to ensure you get the support you need. In rare cases, you may be assigned a different supervisor.

 

Further resources