From Feast or Famine. To Managing a Portfolio of Projects, Estimating Capacity, and Delivering On Time

Transcription

1 From Feast or Famine To Managing a Portfolio of Projects, Estimating Capacity, and Delivering On Time Carolyn Caizzi, Dan Zellner, Jennifer B. Young Northwestern University Libraries

2 Introduction

3 Northwestern University Libraries Photo by: Gene Kannenberg, Jr. 2

4 6.7 million volumes Photo by: Gene Kannenberg, Jr. 3

5 24,757 linear feet of archives & manuscripts Photo by: Gene Kannenberg, Jr. 4

6 267TB of unique digital content Photo by: Gene Kannenberg, Jr. 5

7 1,969,281 visits from faculty, students, and researchers around the world Photo by: Gene Kannenberg, Jr. 6

8 2,547,419 page views on Library websites Photo by: Gene Kannenberg, Jr. 7

9 345 staff Photo by: Gene Kannenberg, Jr. 8

10 new departments and new planning council Photo by: Gene Kannenberg, Jr. 9

11 Repository & Digital Curation Department Mission Statement: RDC creates, acquires, and archives digital objects for longterm preservation and develops as well as deploys software to support the discovery, access, and use of digital resources by members of Northwestern University, scholarly communities, and the public. Photo by: Gene Kannenberg, Jr. 10

12 11

13 12

14 13

15 A L'Opéra by Vignola, A. 14

16 15

17 16

18 Customers: Faculty/Researchers and Curators who represent them 17

19 Hard Work digital collection 18

20 Digital Collection=Project 19

21 The Problem/Opportunity

22 Digital Project Selection Process and the Management of Multiple Projects Before Re-Structuring 21

23 Digital Projects Committee 22

24 Problems included: Few proposals Met sporadically Merit vote only Long timelines to go or no-go decision Bypassing committee First come first served prioritization 23

25 24

26 Solution: The Points Process

27 Points Process Overview Proactive project proposal gathering Determine capacity for 1 year Customers select projects based on capacity Schedule projects for the year 26

28 Proposal Gathering One-on-one interview with Curators Coordination with other departments Estimate project time and follow up 27

29 Capacity Points = Hours 3 categories of points: Digitization, Metadata, Project Management Capacity = The amount of hours we have to work on projects Scheduled Projects = projects that are the result of curator interviews. Distinctive Collections selects the projects that make up our season. Adhoc Projects = Unscheduled projects that come up during the year. Work is done on these as time allows and depending on priority. 60% of our capacity is committed to Scheduled Projects 40% of our capacity is committed to Adhoc Projects

30 Formula for Staff Capacity Capacity calculation for staff members are based on working hours for a year 37.5 hours * 52 weeks - (15 vacation days +15 sick days +10 holidays per year) = 1650 hours per year Total hours at 80% efficiency = 1320 hours Source: T. Grafakos 29

31 The Schedule: AKA Project Cycle The Project Cycle Spring Quarter February - May Close out projects from last cycle Presentation to curators and staff Plan for next season / capacity List of projects for new cycle Create schedule - quarterly meetings Summer Quarter June - August Fall Quarter September - November Winter Quarter December - February Project work (especially high priority ones) Project work Wrap up project work and begin close out Curator interviews in February

32 Research Inside the Organization Outside the Organization Preservation Department Emory University 31

33 Analysis Best elements of research Existing frameworks Existing processes 32

34 Implementation

35 Requirements Budgeting Time Tracking system Reporting 34

36 Next Steps Organizational Assessment Process Documentation Roll Out 35

37 Assessment Customers Team Stakeholders 36

38 Retrospective

39 Benefits More predictable workflow 38

40 Benefits 39

41 Benefits Community of trust 40

42 Benefits Better idea of capacity 41

43 Benefits 42

44 Benefits We Will For Discovery and Creativity Engage Locally and Globally 43

45 Lessons Learned Be iterative Assess regularly Phasing multi-year projects 44

46 Challenges Position vacancies Adapting to change Project management tools Follow up follow up follow up 45

47 Summary Problem: project selection done by committee leading to unpredictable workloads Solution fostered by Libraries reorganization: process to determine a portfolio of projects for a yearly cycle based on capacity

48 Thank You! Questions & Comments Welcome!