Project management
From Auroville Wiki
This study may have some wrong information inside processes of l'Avenir d'Auroville. The aim is just to describe a general way to capture knowledge/information of projects. In this way, It can improve also the community communication of projects.
Introduction
A lot of knowledge and information are linked with project inside l'Avenir d'Auroville. Most of their work is closed with a project. Sometimes it's very long project but we are in a monitoring part of this project, but there are a lot of knowledge which can be captured. In this way, project has to be fallow because most of the knowledge are generated in one of the step of the project (plannification, execution, monitoring, feed back, process,new ideas, new project,...).
Another important part is that l'Avenir d'Auroville is very closed with the community. In this way, a communication need to be done by showing project (advancement, give feed back,...) to the community.
The idea of this report is to show a very general presentation about project management and what kind of knowledge can be capture. Then we are going to show a collaboratif tools which can be used to fallow projects and to capture knowledge of activities. Then, this tools can be open to the public in order to show to all the community the advancement of the project but also to have feed back, proposals.
1. Project's steps
In order to understand which knowledge can be capture from projects, we have to explain the different steps of a project and then to explain when knowledge and information can be capture. But project is inside a bigger view which starts from a vision. There is a diagram which explain different steps of a project. Most of the knowledge are used in order that all these steps can work (e.g. Building application analysis, how to manage knowledge contact, …). It is very closed with the knowledge book and to make a link with.
1.1. Vision:
First you have a vision which is a very global view of what you can (I want to create a substainable city, I want a restaurant which uses only solar energy).
1.2. Concept:
From this vision, you create concepts which formallize your idea (I want the solar panel X23 for my restaurant which will be a Pizzaria restaurant).
1.3. Survey/Study:
From concepts, you need to have more information in order to know if your concepts are good or not. You have to make some survey/study about it before to start somethink (before to start my restaurant, I need to check if there are a lot of restaurants around, if they have customer and if people like pizza inside this area).
1.4. Need and requirement:
When you have most of the information you can explain the real need and requierement (e.g. Master Plan).
1.5. Policy development:
From the need and requirement you can develop some policy which permits to develop project around your vision (e.g. Housing policy).
1.6. Main lines:
Instead of policy development you have also the main lines of your vision if it's take times to go to this vision. The Master plan is an example of the main lines of development because it takes a lot of times to go to the aim, only the main lines are explained.
1.7. Project proposals:
Once you have the main lines and some policy development of your ideas, proposals projects can come (e.g. a road here, a pizzaria there, ...).
1.8. Comity decision:
When ideas of project become more effective, the comity of l'Avenir d'Auroville has to make decisions in order to accept the project or not. That's means also to give budget to this or that project (e.g. this road will become a effective current project).
1.9. Project approved:
After a proposal project is approved by the comity, it becomes a current project with effective budget.
1.10. Project plan:
On this step the project is plan at the level of the city.
1.11. Project design:
From the main ideas of the project, it will be design effectively. That's means that a lot of knowledge will be used in a lot of different area (It's depends of the nature of the project). It's means most of the time Architecture knowledge, substainability, water management, … At this step, maps, plans, report should have be done in order to realize the project.
1.12. Township development
At this step, when the township development starts his work, It is the executive part of the project. It fallows the execution of the project, mobilizes resources for this project. At this step some liaison can be made with different group of Auroville but from outside also. For the interest of the project and for Auroville, regional development can be need for the project. But before to do anything else some formalities can be need like the building application.
1.13. Site permission:
A site permission is required in order to build something on a piece of land. In this way, people has to fill the building application with all the details about the building but also about the land.
1.14. Publication News&Notes (2 weeks):
The community is informed of every new buildings. The News&Notes will explains all the new applications and if someone has any objections, he can warn l'Avenir d'Auroville. In this case, people will discuss. In other case, the building application will be check by l'Avenir d'Auroville.
1.15. Building application:
The applicant needs to fill the building application with all the details about the building.
1.16. Building aprobation:
The comity will discuss about some specific aspect of the building. It has to be integrated inside the mains lines of the Master Plan.
1.17. Building permission:
When everything is alrigth, a building permission is delivered and the real execution can start.
1.18. Resource development:
In order that the execution of the project starts, It can be need to develop resource (Financial, Knowledge, Physical, Human). The Fund Raising is warn to find and develop resource (with a networking for instance).
1.19. Resource mobilization:
Resource mobilization is very specific for finding resources to the a specific project.
1.20. Resource management:
This step permits to manage in more details resource for project (different task...).
1.21. Development control:
At this step, It's usefull to chech the development of a project (a building generally). It permits to have feed back and to improve the next project (experience knowledge).
1.22. Quality check:
When the execution of the project is finished, the quality of this project needs to be checked. It permits also to have feed back for the next project but also the way to improve the building.
1.23. Feed back:
At this step of the project, a lot of feed back has been get (development control, quality check). All these kind of feed back permits to improve the design of the future project and to change concept/vision for instance. Experience of resource development/mobilization has been get.
1.24. Survey/Study:
At this step of the project, it's a monitoring part of the project and all feed back and also the new changed need of people permits to have new idea, new project. In this case, new ideas of survey/study can be lauched.
1.25. Impact:
With all the feed back, a general impact of the project can be designed. This impact is important to get knowledge in order to do again good think and to not do again bad think.
1.26. New project, new ideas, new works:
On this step, new ideas, new projects can started from the community and from l'Avenir d'Auroville. Then new projects come and the wheel continue.
Another way to see the step of the project is by associating knowledge used in order that the process go on. This diagram is very general because it really depends of the project but it permits to have a very general view of where and when knowledge are used in order that a project go on. In this way, some knowledge can be improved depending of each project. It's just show the importance of knowledge use during a project. All these knowledge can be improved after every project thanks to experience, comments or feed back. It shows that these knowledge are very important to be updated and shared with people. It permits also to people to have a more understandable organization.
2. Kind of knowledge which can be capture
From all the different steps of a project, knowledge can be capture from a lot of different areas. The diagram just bellow describes some examples of knowledge which can be captured.
At the begenning of a project, a lot of ideas are generated. It's a kind of brainstorming where a lot of people can participate. All these ideas aren't structurated well expect by the subject and different themes.
From all these ideas, a structure starts and then you have proposals. From these proposals, you have a lot of knowledge about project management (task, deadline, person in charge, …). All these step of the design of the project can be fallow by a collaborative tools which can capture knowledge but also to make communication to the community. Then a lot of work experience about work area of project are developed and used. All these new knowledge can be also capture.
Then when a project is nearly finish (after execution), the monitoring part of a project will started where a lot of feed back can be capture. All these feed back are very important in order to improve the next projects and to share the result with the community. Then, from these feed back, new ideas are generated from people which can become new proposals.
3. Current knowledge capture of project
This part of the report shows the way of working of people of l'Avenir d'Auroville.about project management. Most of the time, there are no capturation of information about project. The culture of L'Avenir d'Auroville is a meeting culture. People of L'Avenir d'Auroville but also concerned people meet together. When decision/project concerned the whole community, some publication are published in the News & Notes (news papers of Auroville) or presentation/conference are made. In this way, important actors of projects are warned but sharing information is poor. Moreover a lot of knowledge, information are lost during the process. In this way, people forget deadline/task to do and by the time some information are lost. Some process of decision are also lost by the time. Most of the communication about project are made by meeting (official or they come personaly) or by mail. A lot of information and knowledge of project are capturated like that. It's shared by main actors but the sharing way is very poor. Comment or feed back are also capture in this way. When very important coment or feed back are given, It can be published in the News&Notes for instance. Some other working group can be warn like the main groups which are the FAMC or the Working Commity. This last group makes much more communication with the community than l'Avenir d'Auroville. Resources are also managed by people themselves about project but the FAMC keeps its role of managing resources. Rigth now the development control and the quality check isn't done! People fallow the easiest way to do something. Sharing information isn't in the mind of people.
4. Proposal tool to capture knowledge from project and communication:
In order to capture knowledge during a project, collaborative tool can be used. This collaborative tool can be used also for communication of project to the community. In this way they can fallow everything, give feed back or any interesting ideas.
One of the most common collaborative tool is a wiki which is like a content management system where you can created and linked easly pages. Mediawiki is one of the famous Wiki. Auroville has already one wiki which is hosted at wiki.auroville.org.in. It can very nice for the communication to the community.
4.1. General structure:
The general structure start from three points which are the main categories. The first one is for Brainstorming where people can share ideas. From these ideas projects can be created. Then after, you have to look after a specific project where everything can be fallow (planning, execution, monitoring, feed back, …). Then a discussion forum can be created in order that people share also ideas. Brainstorming are very closed with the forum also but we keep these two parts different. In fact, the aim of the brainstorming is much more closed to share ideas in order to generate project. A very famous and good tools for forum is PHPBB which has a lot of functionalities. But at the moment the AVNet of Auroville purposes forum functionalities in order to share with people.
Brainstorming:
| Projects:
| Forum:
1-General
|
4.2. Structure of a project
The main interest of wiki is that there is a very freedom design of pages. That's means that everyone can add information/text/comment as he wants. But in other face, it's also not so good because the structure is very poor and it can become very difficult to fallow. The aim of this work is to capture most of the time feed back, the work experience, the main part of a project and to share it with the community. The structure just bellow try to show main information about a specific project
|
Summary Project name: This is the name of the project (e.g. Crown road). Starting date - Deadline: Description: Place: Decision made: For instance: Comment:
Proposal step: Planning part:
This is the name of the task
Executive and development part: Monitoring part: Feed back: References: |
4.3. Different template and how to used them:
In order to structure the previous general structure of the project into a wiki, we need to describe some templates. A template is a way to only manage information inside a structure. For instance, for each project you will used a template (with the same structure) but you only modify the different part (Name of the project, Deadline, Executive part, …). The first template is a project. The second template is a Decision and then the last template is a task.
4.3.1. Project template:
This template just keep the layout that we have introduce in the previous part. You only have to add the information. For instance you can used like that to explain a project (PROJECT is the name of the template):
{{ PROJECT | The name of the project | Starting date – Deadline | Description | Place | Decision made | Proposal step | Planning part | Executive and development part | Monitoring part | Feed back | References }}
4.3.2. Decision template:
This template describe a decision (Name, Description, Comment) by keeping the previous layout which can be used like that:
{{DECISION | The name of the decision | The description and the impact of the decision | The comment of the decision. }}
4.3.3. Task template:
This template describe a task (Name, Description, Comment) by keeping the previous layout which can be used like that:
{{TASK| Task's name | Starting date | Deadline | People in charge | Description | Associated resources | Result | Feed back/Comment }}
4.4. Kind of knowledge which can be capturated:
If a wiki is used to fallow project and to make brainstorming, it can capture a lot of knowledge on the process which can be:
1- When and why a specific study/survey is made
2- The process of decision making
3- Get feed back of the community about the project but also all the actors of the project (knowledge experience)
4- Fallow the advancement of a project (of people on the project but also for the community)
This list of knowledge isn't exhaustive.
