“How to organise
a project”
Idea
• You need an idea that sparks your interest
in order to have the passion to investigate
it
• Do some background research about the
idea / topic
Background research
• I did a Google search on ‘Organise a
project’
• 4 million+ results!
– Online project planner
– How to organise, plan & control projects
– Step-by-step Beginners Guide to Project
Management
• Business orientated, but provided plenty of good
suggestions
Suggestions
• what, why, who, when & how of project
management
• flowcharts and checklists for tasks
– e.g. gear that you need before leaving home
• template forms (data sheets) for tasks
– e.g. capture sheet / observation sheet
• Marilyn Court would like to organise a project on
Royal Spoonbills in the Bay of Plenty so I’ll use
that request as our example through this
presentation
What project do I want to carry out?
• Topic
– Royal Spoonbills in the Bay of Plenty
• What is already known?
– do a review / background research
• Has such a study been done in part or whole previously –
national / regional study
– look for methods, locations of counts, census data
• Where is information likely to be?
– paper/article in a journal (Notornis, Southern Bird, other
journals), Classified Summaries Notes, Birding NZ, HANZAB,
Heather & Robertson and other bird books, BOP regional
records, OSNZ members known to have carried out similar
studies (Peter Schweigman), Google, Wikipedia, etc
Why do such a study?
• What is the objective(s)?
– To determine the locations (foraging and nesting) and
numbers of Royal Spoonbills in the BOP (Title)
– At the end of the study what products do you want
available?
•
•
•
•
•
summary of data for your own interest
prepare a newsletter and/or an article for Southern Bird
give a presentation at a meeting
prepare a poster
prepare a paper for Notornis
– results, statistical analyses, maps, graphs, photos
How will the study be carried out?
• List locations where spoonbills have been seen
previously
– how many locations is it likely to involve?
– what distance will you need to travel?
– will you need to access islands (boat travel)?
• Determine other likely locations
• Ask OSNZ members / public to report sightings
• Frequency of observations (quarterly, monthly,
weekly)?
How will the study be carried out?
• How will you observe the spoonbills?
– binoculars, telescope, blinds / hides
– notebook, data sheet on clipboard, electronically
(laptop, etc), camera?
• How will the data be stored?
– At home in notebook only, copied to a data sheet,
computer data file, memory stick, eBird, offsite
(someone else’s computer)?
• Checklists
– people to contact beforehand, things you need to take
When will the study be carried out?
• Particular time of day, month, season?
• Does state of tide influence spoonbill
locations, and therefore time of
observations?
• What is your plan B if the weather is
unsuitable on the scheduled day?
• How long will the study continue for?
– 2 yrs, 5 yrs, 2 yrs repeated at 5/10 yr intervals
Who will do the study?
• Can you do the field observations on your
own or will you need assistance?
– factor in absences (holidays, illness, etc)
• Even if you can do all the field
observations, will you need assistance /
training for other aspects of the study?
– computing: data storage, analyses, graphs
– photography
Who will do the study?
• If you involve others, you will need to:
– provide training
– carry out a familiarisation trip
• locations, standardised methods
– consider health & safety issues
• what could go wrong / accidents / communications
Other things to consider
• Will you need funding for travel (aerial
searches) / equipment / and other
expenses?
– OSNZ regional / national funds
– other sources – F&B, Lotteries, etc
• Will you need permission for access
across private / Council / etc land
Pilot study – reality check!
• Even with the best organisational skills,
and knowledge of the species and district,
there is likely to be the need for some
refinements of the field programme
• Reassess field processes after each of the
first 3 field trips or until operating smoothly
• Is there a need for additional data /
observations (e.g. distinguish juveniles
from adults)?
Summarise data
• Summarise data after each trip or first
year’s observations
• Do the results suggest any changes /
additions are necessary?
– other data (tide, weather, etc)
– more frequent observations during some
months
Once the systems are running
smoothly
• DO IT!
Debrief
• Particularly if you have people assisting with the
observations it is always a good idea to have a
debrief at least once a year, but probably after
the first 3 months (if monthly observations) to
ensure people are:
– keen to continue to be involved, and
– opportunity for them to discuss any problems and
suggestions for improvements
• Consider following the debrief with some social
time together, e.g. pot-luck meal
Feedback – is really important!
• Provide feedback to all involved, and
those you are dependent on, at least
annually
– email up dates / observations of note
– email newsletter
– etc