Structures for recording and communication
(Based on the operational logic of the UK Conservation Management System)
1 Information
categories
2 Planning logic
3 Databasing
1 Information categories
Information about features
What are the important conservation features to be managed?
For each feature:-
What do you want
to do? (This is your objective)
Where is the work
to be done?
Why is it important?
Desired state?
Present state?
Information about factors
For each objective:
What prevents you
from reaching your desired state? (These are the local limiting
factors)
Information about management projects
For each factor:
How will you overcome
it? (The management projects)
For each management
project describe:
The jobs
The timetables
The manpower
The resources
Performance indicators
to check:
the work was carried
out;
what was achieved.
Information about monitoring the outcomes of management
For each objective:
How will you know
when you have reached the target. (The monitoring projects)
For each feature,
describe performance indicators to measured how
close you are to your objective.
For each performance
indicator describe:
The jobs
The timetables
The manpower
The resources
Information about reporting
What aspects of the work and its outcomes (indicators of performance) will be reported,
and to
whom?
2 Planning logic
The questions, and the relationships between the five sets of information, set out
the logic of a
management cycle..
- The system starts and ends at an objective
that sets a target.
- An operational route is selected through
one of the limiting factors.
- Each factor may have one or more associated
management projects.
- Each project will have one or more
reports.
- Each objective will also be connected
to at least one monitoring project that
determines how close management is to the objective, and a report.
This one to many flow of the information defines the relational database
as a record of what has
been done, and also defines management procedures as a year on year process with feedback to
its targets.
After completion of each management project, its results are reported against the
target. This
feedback sets another cycle in motion. Feedback keeps track of the state of the feature, and is the
basis for modifying the objectives and projects. In these respects the database defines the
management system as a dynamic entity.
Feature
A feature is an important element such as an object (e.g. a species), a set of objects
(e.g.a wood
or a view), or a facility (e.g.a building, a service, or an obligation).
Objective
An objective takes the form ‘Maintain feature ‘X’ in a favourable
state, where its state is measured
by ‘Y’, a measurable attribute of X’. The target of management is
to maintain the value of ‘Y’ within
defined limits. ‘Y’ is described as a performance indicator and is checked out through
a special
monitoring project. There is one objective for each feature.
Factors
A factor is an important local influence that prevents management from reaching the
desired values
for ‘Y’. These local factors are often processes, and the aim is to deflect
them through projects.
Management plan
A management plan is the total description of features, objectives, factors and projects,
and the
year by year work inputs and outcomes.
Action plan
The term action plan is often applied to a group of projects.
3 Databasing
The following account describes two software models for databasing and reporting on
management
plans. The first example uses a set of spread sheets which are described as ‘tables’. Tables that
are linked by sharing a common piece of information are the basis of a relational database. The
second example describes a diary format where notes are attached to a calendar. The
combination of notes and calendar provides a structure based on when the project begins and
ends, and when the various jobs have to be done. This type of structure is described as a ‘project
manager’.
Using Tables
Tables are the fundamental elements of databases that store distinct pieces of information.
It is
here that the one to many relations are established by linking tables that share a common
piece of
information.
The following six tables are a first approach to create a database for the information
gathered from
page 1.
Table 1
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Feature
|
Objective
|
Place
|
Rationale
|
Desired state
|
Current state
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Table 2
Table 3
|
Factor
|
Management project
|
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Table 4
|
Management project
|
Job
|
Start
|
Finish
|
Manpower
|
Resources
|
Results
|
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Table 5
|
Objective
|
Performance indicator
|
Monitoring project
|
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Table 6
|
Monitoring project
|
Job
|
Start
|
Finish
|
Manpower
|
Resources
|
State of feature
|
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Using a project manager
1 An action plan consists of a set of projects aimed either at managing
a factor or monitoring an
objective.
2 Each project consists of a sequence of tasks, which together ensure
that the project reaches a
successful conclusion. The description of each project may be defined as a note.
Notes cover
every item of information in an action plan -- every task, appointment reminder, etc. -- is described
as a note. Each note is related to a time schedule regarding when the task begins and ends, and
may contain the cost of the task. Notes are the basic elements of information that are filed for
future reference as a record of what it has been decided should be done, when it should be done,
who should do it, what resources are required, and what happened.
3 Notes are filed into categories and subcategories of the various
tasks. The use of categories is
central to the organization and display of notes to make project work as a system. How you set
up and manage your categories will determine how you view the information in your notes.
4 Software has been invented to aid managers to organise their projects in terms of
connecting up
notes and categories in a logical manner. The CPS project uses SoftKey Key Project Manager
software to organise notes and categories. This is probably the simplest, and cheapest software
available for beginners.
Key Project Manager is a time and task manager. It expands on the idea of a calendar
program by
automatically attaching notes to dates and periods without introducing the complication of full-scale
project management. Key Project Manager is especially useful for tracking and analysing how you
spend your time and money.
Key Project Manager has three basic elements: notes, categories, and views.
- The kernel of the program is the
note attached to a calendar, that is, what you jot down as
a reminder, appointment, deadline, etc, as well as the formal description of a task to be
carried out.
- To organize your notes you assign
them to one or more categories. As you devise your
own list of categories, you are building a powerful filing and cross-reference system.
- The third element of Key Project
Manager is the view. A view is a graphically formatted
display (Timeline, Graph, Report, etc.) that allows you to review notes. Category selection
determines which particular notes (e.g., "Projects") will appear in a particular view (e.g.,
the Timeline).
5 Understanding Categories
The use of categories of tasks is central to the organization and display of notes
in this system.
How you set up and manage your categories will determine how you view the information in your
notes.
In the KPM system a note is displayed only if there is a match between a category
you select in a
view and a category assigned to a note.
Categories can be arranged hierarchically, that is, they may contain subcategories.
6 Understanding Views
A view is a graphic display of notes. KPM distils information from selected notes
into five different
views: Calendar, Report, Timeline, Graph, and Browser.
You can choose the particular view you wish to see from the icon bar or the View menu.
Remember that category selection determines which particular notes will appear in
a view.
• The Calendar view displays your notes in traditional diary format by day, week
or month as you
choose.
• The Report view quickly summarizes time and cost information.
• The Timeline view displays notes in a horizontal bar graph in day, week or month
scale.
• The Graph view presents the relation of cost to duration in a vertical bar graph.
• The Browser View is the handiest way to see and change category assignment of
your notes. It
allows you:
- to view a particular day, week, or
month (in Calendar, Timeline and Graph views). Set the
Date Selector (lower right of home screen).
- to maximize the size of the view
window. Click the maximize button (double-arrow always
at upper right of view window).
- to limit note text to headlines only
(in Report, Browser and Timeline views). Click the
Headline checkbox (upper right of view window). A "headline" is simply the first 40 or so
characters in a note, shown as a single line.
7 Understanding KPM files
Like other databasing applications, Key Project Manager stores data -- notes, categories,
etc. -- in
files. Key Project Manager files end with a ". KPM" extension. Use the standard Windows
commands (Open, Save, etc.) on the main menu to load a file into your active workspace, and save
the data in your active workspace to a file.
Key Project Manager automatically makes backups of files. If, when saving a file,
the program
finds an existing file of the same name, the existing file is renamed with an extension of ".~PM".
Key Project Manager works best with small files. Files can hold as many as 300 notes
and 100
categories, but you'll find the program more responsive if you keep your files to less than half the
maximum size. When your files become large, use the Archive command to write old, outdated
notes to an "archive" file.
Merge and Archive
The Merge command
reads in a data file, then adds the notes in that file to the notes
you're already working with. (This is unlike the Open command, which reads in a data file,
but replaces your existing data).
The Archive command
writes only the currently selected notes to a file -- unlike the Save
or Save As commands, which write all the notes to file. Optionally, the command will
delete the notes from your active workspace after writing the file. This is the best way to
keep your data files small.
Import and Export
Use the Export command
to write the data in selected notes to a comma-separated value
(CSV) file. CSV files can be read by many other applications, such as spreadsheet and
database programs.
The Import command
can create notes from the data in a CSV file.
8 Summary
Project manager software such as KPM helps split up an action plan into manageable
portions. It
is ideal for planning and sorting through details in the form of outlines. It also provides access
to
the details. It lets you look at projects as a calendar, timeline, graph, browser or as a report.
Importantly, in the long-term it provides a complete archive of an action plan that can be passed on
to others, even if they use different software.
