Project developmental

There are two aspects to creating a suitable developmental project. One is to do with starting up a new project, which is the subject of the present chapter. The second is to build features into your project that avIU enhance its developmental potential. That is the subject of Chapter 5. 

One approach to finding a developmental project would be adopt one that you have to do anyhow as part of your job. 

Identifying a suitable developmental project requires that you apply creative processes to originating a specific idea for improvement or change and translating it into a practical plan of action. Figure 4.1 sets out the principal steps involved. Referring to Figure 4.1 ... 

The action you need to take if you are going to set up a developmental project is self-evident use the guidance in the chapter to do so. You will also need to refer to the next chapter which describes how to shape your project in a way that will maximize its potential for developing you. 

This chapter discusses how you might design em experience or developmental project to facilitate these processes and thus enhance its potential for personal development. It de8ds with ... 

A developmental project is of course, by definition, deliberate development . The value of using a project as a basis for your developmental experience is that a project has the potential to involve you in virtually all the key elements of managing. 

There are a number of ways of structuring a developmental project. You can ... 

A review of your own development needs is an obvious starting point for a developmental project. You cany out some form of self-diagnosis of your strengths and weaknesses, and seek out a project opportunity that will involve you in managing in an area that you want to develop. For example, to develop yourself in the area of interpersonal relations you might choose a project that involves you in setting up arrangements for interdepartmental collaboration. 

The success of such a developmental project will depend on the validity of the original diagnosis of your needs and on the project in fact challenging you in the area intended. Projects do not always turn out as predicted. In the hjrpothetical example just cited, the interdepartmental collaboration could take off so smoothly that no challenge, and hence no significant learning or development, is entailed. 

A developmental project should edso have built into it acn element of accountability. Firstly, you need to establish that someone else besides yourself cares about the project or... 

Schon s notion of reflectlon-in-action was described in Chapter 5 (see Box 5.3). You try something. It does not work. You try something else. It works. You have learned. In Schon s model of reflection-in-action, learning experiences start with a routine response, which, when it does network, precipitates a surprise . In the case of managers pursuing a developmental project, the whole point has been that you should not have been trying out routinized responses. 

Comparing yourself now with how you were before embarking on your developmental project or task is an essentially subjective assessment. Ask yourself ... 

There are, however, certain other aspects of project management which may be more problematic to transfer. Once your learning project is over, assuming you have done one, the gains you have made could lapse with it unless you take deliberate steps to ensure the contrary, A developmental project is the start not the end of your development. 

Table 6-2 Matrix Structure In the Composition and Staffing of Developmental Project Teams ...

Development work for plastic products includes working with research and production groups on the design of new products and in the modification of old ones. It includes field development activity to formulate or fabricate plastic products for old and for new uses, development work done at the request of customers, as well as self-initiated development work. At the present time, between 60 and 70% of the total activity of our PTS and CTS is spent on developmental projects. We believe that other plastics producers have or strive to have similar emphasis. 

The need for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was formally recognized at the Earth Summit held at Rio de Janeiro in 1992. In India, the EIA Notification was enacted in 1994, with the EPA as its legislative foundation (MoEF, 2008). The Act has been amended in 1997, 2006, and 2007. The process of getting the clearances as per the EIA Act is illustrated in Fig. 34.3. Thirty-two categories of developmental projects require EIA approval. In addition, all developmental projects, whether or not mentioned in the schedule, and if located in an environmentally fragile region, must obtain clearance from Ministry of Environment and... 

The two developmental projects in this theme area include a project to demonstrate cellular X-ray imaging using a compact x-ray laser system. A second project explores applications of coherent ant-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy, such as analysis of individual tri-glyceride rich lipoproteins, leukemic B and T cells and dmg monitoring in individual cells. 

As a result of our recent visit to Edgewood Arsenal, I am not favorably impressed with the idea of rehabilitating the Chemical Warfare manufacturing plant. It would seem advisable to have more manufacturing work done by commercial plants and utilize funds to become available for the Edgewood Arsenal for experimental and developmental projects. The question of secrecy in manufacturing processes may have some effect on outside manufacture but should not prevent it. ... 

Another team member—Henrik, who was trained as a geologist—has a woiking-class background and, in his own words, has a veiy practical approach to woik. Assignments and work have to be concrete, and it is important that work deals with solvable problems. In his vacations, Henrik is engaged as a volunteer in NGO developmental projects in the third world. His dream is to one day get a full-time job abroad where he can work with water supply projects. He had hoped that the job at Sarix could make his dream come true, but it is difficult to get these assignments without an established CV ... 

---