No this is not another pathetic post :)
As I (hope I) mentioned sometime around Christmas, I was feeling quite unsure about the direction of my project. As a foreigner in the UK, there were times that I was doubting my English communication skills. I still am to tell you the truth, as I am not sure if it is my understanding that's 'faulty' or if my project aim and objectives can have various definitions.
I have the feeling that each one of my four supervisors has a different impression, and a different image in his head (yes they are all male) about the final product of my research. I probably have a fifth view on how things will look like 2.5 years from now!
So I have decided to take action!
I an planning to use all the 'core skills & tools' that my company is offering me, to restructure my project.
There is a document called the 'project brief' and as its name suggests, it is a brief document describing a project. It comprises of sub-sections such as the description of the project, 'problem statements', as well as goal statements; that talk more specifically about what problem the project is going to solve, and what the outcomes will be. It can be as specific as you want, including % savings, and what areas are in and out of scope.
I have filled in one of these project briefs before, about one of my shorter projects, but I have decided to complete one for the whole of my project.
This proved to be quite challenging, as I do not feel that my aim and objectives are specific enough, therefore I came up with a plan!
Next week I have a meeting with all my supervisors in one room. I do not want them to start arguing about what I should and should not be doing, it is MY project anyway! Rather than me deciding what I want to do and just presenting it to them, my plan is to guide them to first of all express their opinion, but ultimately agreeing on my version. It is not cheeky, I am no
Derren Brown, but I think it will work!
So what have I done? I have created a list of matching problem & goal statements that are relevant to my project. Some of which are the ideas of my academic supervisors on what I should be working on. Some are what my company wants me to work on. Some are very relevant, and very rewarding, some are irrelevant, and are there to create discussion. Of course the list includes the ones I want to work on.
The list was sent to all my supervisors, with an extra column on the right hand side for them to rag the statements in a priority order (1-10). What I am expecting? I am expecting to see 1s and 10s for the same statements from different people. I am expecting to see 5s next to statements that are not really beneficial, and further down the line, and I hope that I see some 2s and 3s next to the ones that are most interesting to me! They should be sending their lists to me, before the meeting..
Lets see how it goes next week!!
The Physicist
