List of IllustrationsList of TablesList of BoxesList of Leadership Advice Crosswalks Section 1: Overview of Research Project Management and Leadership1.1 Research Requires Both Vision and Planning1.3 The Origin and Content of This Handbook1.4 Summary of Project Management Tools and Processes for Research1.4.1 Distinguishing Projects from Operations1.4.2 Project Management Tools and Processes1.4.3 Overview of the Research Project Management Tools Presented in This Handbook1.5 Main Themes from Research Leader Interviews1.6 How to Use This Handbook Section 2: Scoping and Planning Research Projects2.1 Scope and the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)2.1.1 The Project Management Mindset of DEFINE Then DELIVER2.1.2 The WBS as a Tool to Articulate Project Scope2.1.3 Deliverable-Based Scoping Drives Activities to the Point That They Produce Something Tangible2.1.4 Common Workstreams and Deliverables for Research Projects2.1.5 Using the WBS to Establish a Shared Understanding of Research Project Scope2.2 The Deliverable-Based Schedule2.2.1 Using the WBS Deliverables to Create a Schedule That Covers the Entire Project Scope2.2.2 The Benefits of a Schedule2.2.3. Steps for Developing a Deliverable-Based Gantt Chart Research Project Schedule2.2.4 Schedule Compression2.2.5 Avoiding Unnecessary Multitasking2.3 The Deliverable-Based Budget2.3.1 The Budget as a Tool to Ensure Sufficient Funding for All Deliverables2.3.2 Estimating the Costs for Common Research Budget Lines2.3.3 Steps for Developing a Deliverable-Based Research Project Budget2.4 Involving Stakeholders in Project Planning2.5 The Triple Constraint of Scope, Schedule, and Budget Section 3: Transitioning from Research Project Planning to Implementation3.1 Progressive and Iterative Elaboration of Project Details3.2 Processes to Identify and Manage Risks3.2.1 Distinguishing Risks from Issues and Opportunities3.2.2 Identifying, Prioritising, and Responding to Negative Risks for Research3.2.3 Positive Risk Management3.2.4 The Research Project Risk Management Plan3.3 Roles and Responsibilities3.3.1 The Importance of Understanding Who Will Do What on the Research Project Team3.3.2 The WBS with Lead Initials as a Tool for Identifying Workstream and Deliverable Leads3.3.3 The Intertwined Roles of the Principal Investigator and the Academic Research Project Manager3.3.4 The Core Team3.3.5 The RACI as a Tool to Define Multiple Roles3.3.6 Building Capacity across the Research Project Team3.4 Decision Making, Governance, and Oversight3.4.1 Research Project Governance3.4.2 Decision-Making Processes3.4.3 Bringing Governance and Management Together3.5 Using Project Management to Strengthen Grant Applications Section 4: Implementing and Closing Research Projects4.1 Project Kickoff4.2 The Tracking Sheet as a Tool to Monitor and Drive Research Project Progress4.3 Communications and Stakeholder Involvement During Implementation4.3.1 Communications Planning4.3.2 Status Reports4.3.3 Stakeholder Engagement4.4 Preventing and Addressing Common Problems4.5 Closing the Project and Capturing Lessons Learned Section 5: Research Operations and Cross-Cutting Topics5.1 Running Effective Meetings5.1.1 The Value of Meetings5.1.2 The Role and Responsibilities of the Meeting Chair5.1.3 Research Meeting Agendas5.1.3 Facilitation Techniques and Processes5.2 Adapting Project Management Tools and Processes for Research Programs, Operations, and Portfolios5.3 Agile Approaches and Research Project Management5.4 Adapting Research Project Management and Leadership Skills to Your Environment5.4.1 Modifying Academic Research Project Management Skills for Other Sectors5.4.2 Adapting the Guidance in This Handbook to Your Environment Section 6: Interviews With Research Leaders6.1 Elspeth Brown: Starting a New Leadership Role With a Listening Tour6.2 Steini Brown: Research Leadership Should Focus on the Team, Not the Leader6.3 Beth Coleman: Starting Up the University of Toronto Black Research Network6.4 Aled Edwards: Learning Your Partners’ Culture Through Immersion6.5 Steve Farber: Leadership to Advance a Concept Into a Co-Developed Research Agenda6.6 Colleen Flood: Forward Thinking and Scenario Planning for Policies Related to Vaccination6.7 Lorna MacDonald: Creating and Leading Two Productions of a Historically-Based Opera6.8 Kim McGrail: Launching a New Pan-Canadian Network6.9 Michael Schull: When a Clinician Scientist Is the CEO of a Research Institute With More Than 200 Staff6.10 Barbara Sherwood Lollar: Understanding That Research Operations Are Fundamentally Entrepreneurial6.11 Molly Shoichet: Supporting Students in Learning Their Own Lessons6.12 Ajrumand Siddiqi: Contributing as a Researcher When You’re Not Certain That You’re Right6.13 Zaïna Soré: Working With Partners to Take Research Into Practice6.14 Sharon Straus: Using Research Skills and Methods to Achieve Change6.15 Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi: Creating Vibrant Research Communities in the Humanities6.16 Jutta Treviranus: Shifting the Culture of Research Funding to More Inclusive Approaches6.17 David Wolfe: Distinct Leadership Requirements for Large Research Grants With Business Partners6.18 Stefaan Verhulst: Research Entrepreneurship to Mobilize a New International Network6.19 Rich Zemel: Working With Industry to Create a New Machine Learning Research Institute Appendices: Examples of Light-Touch Project Management Documents for Fictional and Generic Research ProjectsAppendix AAppendix BAppendix CAppendix D: Three Pages for Planning and Managing the Evaluation of Seniors’ Health ClinicsBackground Information About the ProjectAppendix E: Five-Page Plan for Pollution Monitoring ResearchBackground Information About Pollution Monitoring Research ProjectAppendix F: Example Full Project Plan for a Fictional Natural Sciences Research Project That Is Part of a Multidisciplinary ProgramBackground and ContextAssumptionsConstraintsScopeRoles, Responsibilities, and GovernanceScheduleBudgetRisk Management PlanCommunications PlanStakeholder Engagement PlanWBS Dictionary ReferencesIndexAbout the Author

“P. Alison Paprica has crystalized the essentials of project management into practical, digestible training with ready-to-use tools that are easily incorporated into work to improve deliverable-based project planning and management. Her training is readily applicable within and beyond research settings. I have recommended her project management training to colleagues, trainees, and students, and the shared consensus is that the training is incredibly valuable and yields tangible results.”