A Handbook for Everyone
P. ALISON PAPRICA
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS
Toronto Buffalo London
©
University of Toronto Press 2024
Toronto Buffalo London utorontopress.com
Printed in the USA
ISBN 978-1-4875-4451-5 (cloth)
ISBN 978-1-4875-4446-1 (paper)
ISBN 978-1-4875-4433-1 (EPUB)
ISBN 978-1-4875-4432-4 (PDF)
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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Title: Research project management and leadership : a handbook for everyone / P. Alison Paprica.
Names: Paprica, P. Alison, author.
Description: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20230530796 | Canadiana (ebook) 20230530826 | ISBN 9781487544515 (cloth) | ISBN 9781487544461 (paper) | ISBN 9781487544324 (PDF) | ISBN 9781487544331 (EPUB)
Subjects: LCSH: Project management – Handbooks, manuals, etc. | LCSH: Leadership – Handbooks, manuals, etc. | LCGFT: Handbooks and manuals.
Classification: LCC HD69.P75 P37 2024 | DDC 658.4/04 – dc23
Cover design: Mary Beth MacLean Cover image: istock.com/kid-a
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We wish to acknowledge the land on which the University of Toronto Press operates. This land is the traditional territory of the Wendat, the Anishnaabeg, the Haudenosaunee, the Métis, and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support of the Government of Canada and the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario, for its publishing activities.
This handbook is dedicated to research leaders everywhere. I have been inspired by the ways in which they have stepped up, supported others, taken chances, led with compassion, stuck their necks out, and gone the extra mile. I admire them and thank them for their contributions to research.
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Contents
List of Illustrations xiii
List of Tables xvii
List of Boxes xix
List of Leadership Advice Crosswalks xxi
Section 1: Overview of Research Project Management and Leadership 1
1.1 Research Requires Both Vision and Planning 1
1.2 Summary of the Literature 4
1.3 Origin and Content of This Handbook 9
1.4 Summary of Project Management Tools and Processes for Research 12
1.4.1 Distinguishing Projects from Operations 12
1.4.2 Project Management Tools and Processes 14
1.4.3 Overview of the Research Project Management Tools Presented in This Handbook 15
1.5 Main Themes from Research Leader Interviews 17
1.6 How to Use This Handbook 21
Section 2: Scoping and Planning Research Projects 25
2.1 Scope and the Work Breakdown Structure 25
2.1.1 Project Management Mindset of “Define, Then Deliver” 25
2.1.2 The Work Breakdown Structure as a Tool to Articulate Project Scope 26
2.1.3 Deliverable-Based Scoping Drives Activities to the Point at Which They Produce Something Tangible 30
2.1.4 Common Workstreams and Deliverables for Research Projects 31
2.1.5 Using the Work Breakdown Structure to Establish a Common Understanding of a Research Project’s Scope 34
2.2 Deliverable-Based Schedule 43
2.2.1 Using Work Breakdown Structure Deliverables to Create a Schedule That Covers the Project’s Entire Scope 43
2.2.2 Benefits of a Schedule 44
2.2.3 Steps for Developing a Deliverable-Based Gantt Chart for a Research Project 46
2.2.4 Schedule Compression 47
2.2.5 Avoiding Unnecessary Multitasking 53
2.3 Deliverable-Based Budget 56
2.3.1 The Budget as a Tool to Ensure Sufficient Funding for All Deliverables 56
2.3.2 Estimating the Costs for Common Research Budget Lines 60
2.3.3 Steps for Developing a Deliverable-Based Budget for a Research Project 63
2.4 Involving Stakeholders in Project Planning 65
2.5 Triple Constraint of Scope, Time, and Cost 69
Section 3: Transitioning from Research Project Planning to Implementation 72
3.1 Progressive and Iterative Elaboration of Project Details 72
3.2 Processes to Identify and Manage Risks 73
3.2.1 Distinguishing Risks from Issues and Opportunities 73
3.2.2 Identifying, Prioritizing, and Responding to Negative Risks for Research 74
3.2.3 Positive Risk Management 79
3.2.4 Research Project Risk Management Plan 80
3.3 Roles and Responsibilities 83
3.3.1 Importance of Understanding Who Will Do What on the Research Project Team 83
3.3.2 Work Breakdown Structure with the Leads’ Initials as a Tool for Identifying Workstream and Deliverable Leads 83
3.3.3 Intertwined Roles of the Principal Investigator and the Academic Research Project Manager 86
3.3.4Core Team 89
3.3.5 The RACI as a Tool to Define Multiple Roles 93
3.3.6 Building Capacity across the Research Project Team 96
3.4 Decision Making, Governance, and Oversight 99
3.4.1 Research Project Governance 99
3.4.2 Decision-Making Processes 103
3.4.3 Bringing Governance and Management Together 106
3.5 Using Project Management to Strengthen Grant Applications 110
Section 4: Implementing and Closing Research Projects 117
4.1Project Kickoff 117
4.2 Tracking and Driving Research Project Progress 121
4.3 Communications and Stakeholder Involvement during Implementation 127
4.3.1Communications Planning 127
4.3.2Status Reports 131
4.3.3Stakeholder Engagement 135
4.4 Preventing and Addressing Common Problems 138
4.5 Closing the Project and Capturing the Lessons Learned 142
Section 5: Cross-Cutting Topics 147
5.1 Running Effective Meetings 147
5.1.1 Value of Meetings 147
5.1.2 Role and Responsibilities of the Meeting Chair 147
5.1.3Research Meeting Agendas 149
5.1.4 Facilitation Techniques and Processes 152
5.2 Applying Project Management Tools and Processes to Research Programs, Operations, and Portfolios 156
5.3 Agile Approaches and Research Project Management 162
5.4 Adapting Research Project Management and Leadership Skills on the Basis of Context 165
5.4.1 Modifying Academic Research Project Management Skills for Other Sectors That Perform Research and Development 165
5.4.2 Applying the Guidance in This Handbook in Your Environment 170
Section 6: Interviews with Research Leaders 173
6.1 Elspeth Brown: Starting a New Leadership Role with a Listening Tour 174
6.2 Steini Brown: Research Leadership Should Focus on the Team, Not the Leader 178
6.3 Beth Coleman: Starting Up the University of Toronto Black Research Network 181
6.4 Aled Edwards: Learning Your Partners’ Culture through Immersion 184
6.5 Steve Farber: Leadership to Advance a Concept into a Codeveloped Research Agenda 186
6.6 Colleen Flood: Forward Thinking and Scenario Planning for Policies Related to Vaccination 189
6.7 Lorna MacDonald: Creating and Leading Two Productions of a Historically-Based Opera 194
6.8 Kim McGrail: Launching a New Pan-Canadian Network 197
6.9 Michael Schull: When a Clinician Scientist Is the CEO of a Research Institute with More than 200 Staff 200
6.10 Barbara Sherwood Lollar: Understanding That Research Operations Are Fundamentally Entrepreneurial 204
6.11 Molly Shoichet: Supporting Students in Learning Their Own Lessons 208
6.12 Arjumand Siddiqi: Contributing as a Researcher When You’re Not Certain That You’re Right 211
6.13 Zaïna Soré: Working with Partners to Take Research into Practice 214
6.14 Sharon Straus: Using Research Skills and Methods to Achieve Change 217
6.15 Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi: Creating Vibrant Research Communities in the Humanities 221
6.16 Jutta Treviranus: Shifting the Culture of Research Funding to More Inclusive Approaches 223
6.17 David Wolfe: Distinct Leadership Requirements for Large Research Grants with Business Partners 228
6.18 Stefaan Verhulst: Research Entrepreneurship to Mobilize a New International Network 232
6.19 Rich Zemel: Working with Industry to Create a New Machine Learning Research Institute 235
Appendices – Examples of Light-Touch Project Management Documents for Fictional and Generic Research Projects 241
Appendix A: Scope of a Fictional Graduate Student Thesis Project Expressed in Terms of Deliverables 243
Appendix B: Scope of a Fictional Visual Arts Exhibition Project Expressed in Terms of Deliverables 245
Appendix C: Scope of a Fictional Systematic Review Project Expressed in Terms of Deliverables 247
Appendix D: Three Pages for Planning and Managing a Fictional Seniors’ Health Clinics Evaluation Project 249
Appendix E: Five-Page Plan for a Fictional Pollution Research Project 253
Appendix F: Example Full Project Plan for a Fictional Natural Sciences Research Project That Is Part of a Multidisciplinary Program 260
Bibliography 271
Index 275
About the Author 285
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Illustrations
1.1 Continuum of Certainty for Research Projects (with Exceptions, of Course) 3
1.2 Everyone Has a Role to Play in Research Leadership and Management 10
1.3 Fictional Stock Chart as an Example of a Tool Used in the Financial Services Sector 15
1.4 20,000-Foot View of High-Impact Light-Touch Project Management Tools 17
2.1 Deliverables as Stakes in the Ground for Research Project Planning and Implementation 27
2.2 WBS for a Generic Research Project 29
2.3 WBS for a Generic Research Project with a Training and Capacity-Building Workstream 36
2.4 WBS for a Fictional Pollution Research Project 38
2.5 WBS for a Fictional Seniors’ Health Clinics Evaluation Project 39
2.6 Deliverable-Based Gantt Chart for a Fictional Pollution Research Project 45
2.7 Parametric Estimates of Deliverable Duration 48
2.8 Fast-Tracked Deliverable-Based Gantt Chart for a Fictional Pollution Research Project with Fast-Tracking in Year 1 to Ensure Time for Quality Final Deliverables at the End of the Project 50
2.9 Risky Deliverable-Based Gantt Chart for a Fictional Pollution Research Project with Relaxed Schedule in Year 1 51
2.10 Deliverable-Based Gantt Chart for a Fictional Seniors’ Health Clinics Evaluation Project 54
2.11 Downside of Multitasking 55
2.12 Parametric Estimate of Deliverable Costs 63
2.13 Scope, Schedule, and Budget Are Related through the Triple Constraint 70
3.1 Relationship between Risk Responses and the Likelihood and Impact of Negative Risks 79
3.2 Representation of Two Different Teams’ Negative Risk Tolerance 80
3.3 WBS for a Fictional Pollution Research Project with Lead Initials Added 85
3.4 Relationship among the Research Project Team, Core Team or Teams, and Research Executive Committee 91
3.5 Examples of Hierarchy in Research Project Governance and Management 100
4.1 Project Phases and Resource Consumption 118
4.2 Using the Tracking Sheet to Monitor Progress and Highlight Accomplishments and Changes 124
4.3 Quarter-Page Status Report for a Generic Research Project 131
4.4 Two-Page Status Report for a Fictional Seniors’ Health Clinics Evaluation Project 132
5.1 Work Breakdown Structure for a Fictional Program of Research for a Social Services Intervention Pilot 158
5.2 Work Breakdown Structure for the Operations of a Fictional Virtual Research Network or Center 159
5.3 Work Breakdown Structure for a Fictional New Investigator’s Research Portfolio 160
5.4 Work Breakdown Structure for Fictional Ongoing Applications for Research Funding 164
A.1 Work Breakdown Structure for a Fictional Graduate Student Thesis Project 244
B.1 Work Breakdown Structure for a Fictional Visual Arts Exhibition Project 246
C.1 Work Breakdown Structure for a Fictional Systematic Review Project 248
D.1 Work Breakdown Structure for a Fictional Seniors’ Health Clinics Evaluation Project 250
D.2 Deliverable-Based Gantt Chart for a Fictional Seniors’ Health Clinics Evaluation Project 251
D.3 Microsoft Excel Tracking Sheet for a Fictional Seniors’ Health Clinics Evaluation Project (June 2022 Update) 252
E.1 Work Breakdown Structure with Leads’ Initials for a Fictional Pollution Research Project 254
E.2 Deliverable-Based Gantt Chart for a Fictional Pollution Research Project 255
F.1 Fictional RaCOTE Project in Context 261
F.2 Work Breakdown Structure for the Fictional RaCOTE Project 263
F.3 Deliverable-Based Gantt Chart for the Fictional RaCOTE Project 265
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Tables
1.1 Countries with More Than US$10 Billion Annual Higher Education R&D 3
1.2 Contrasting Projects and Operations 14
2.1 Deliverable-Based Budget for a Fictional Pollution Research Project 58
2.2 Deliverable-Based Budget for a Fictional Seniors’ Health Clinics Evaluation Project 59
3.1 Example Negative Risk Management Plan 75
3.2 Example of a Partially Completed RACI for a Generic Research Project 94
3.3 Unrealistic High-Level Budget for a Fictional Large Research Project 113
3.4 Realistic High-Level Budget for a Fictional Large Research Project 114
4.1 Example Kick-Off Meeting Agenda 120
4.2 Blank Tracking Sheet Template for Research Projects 123
4.3 Example Research Project Communications Plan for a Generic Research Project 129
4.4 Example Research Stakeholder Engagement Plan for a Generic Research Project 136
5.1 Example Research Meeting Agenda with Decision Items 151
5.2 Tracking Sheet Template for Research Programs, Operations, or Portfolios 162
5.3 Differences in Research Project Management Practices Depending on the Certainty of the Project 167
5.4 Existing versus Recommended Content for a Research Project Plan or Program Plan 172
E.1 Deliverable-Based Budget for a Fictional Pollution Research Project 256
E.2 RACI for a Fictional Pollution Research Project 256
E.3 Negative Risk Management Plan for a Fictional Pollution Research Project 257
F.1 Deliverable-Based Budget for the Fictional RaCOTE Project 266
F.2 Top Negative Risks and Responses for the Fictional RaCOTE Project 266
F.3 Communications Plan for the Fictional RaCOTE Project 268
Boxes
1.1 A Vision and a Task Proverb 1
1.2 Types of Research and Development 2
1.3 Two Definitive Resources: The PMBOK® Guide and Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2® 4
1.4 Findings from a Literature Review Focused on Academic Research Project Management and Leadership 7
1.5 What Is Light-Touch Project Management? 16
1.6 Main Themes from Research Leader Interviews 18
1.7 Suggestions for Different Research Project Team Members’ Use of This Handbook 22
1.8 Microsoft Office Software Features That Can Be Used to Create and Populate Project Management Tools 24
2.1 Project Management Mindset: “Define, Then Deliver” 25
2.2 High-Level Description of a Fictional Pollution Research Project 40
2.3 High-Level Description of a Fictional Seniors’ Health Clinics Evaluation Project 40
2.4 Work Breakdown Structure Dos and Don’ts 42
2.5 Options for Compressing the Research Project Schedule 52
3.1 Examples of Negative Risks and Responses to Them 78
3.2 Examples of Positive Risks and Responses to Them 81
3.3 When the Research Project Team Consists of One Person 90
3.4 Research Executive Committees for Large Projects and Initiatives 92
3.5 Professional Attributes and Competencies 98
3.6 Examples of Potentially Contentious Research Project Decisions 104
3.7 Two Common Options for Consensus-Based Decision Making for Research 105
3.8 Sections for a Terms-of-Reference Document 107
3.9 Example Research Project Governance and Management Plan 108
4.1 Possible Responses to Things That May Change between Grant Application Submission and the Start of a Research Project 118
4.2 Research Project Closure Activities 143
5.1 Tips for Chairing Research Meetings 148
5.2 Example Marked-Up Meeting Agenda with Notes and Action Items 153
