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Part II - Operations Report

Project Management and Team Execution

Define what reoccurring tasks you are doing within your project group

As the manager, my recurring responsibilities are focused on maintaining structure, visibility, and steady progress within the team. These include:

  • Monitoring weekly researcher reports and overall participation
  • Following up with team members who miss updates or show reduced engagement
  • Supporting the Computational Advisor in identifying and surfacing blockers
  • Helping ensure alignment during weekly or bi-weekly meetings
  • Tracking general project progress across contributors
  • Assisting with coordination around infrastructure issues (e.g., shared storage limits, access permissions, and general environment constraints)

These responsibilities are primarily centered around coordination, communication, and keeping the team moving forward rather than direct technical contribution.

How are you assessing your role as the project manager and its effect on the overall project

I assess my role based on consistency, engagement, and overall project momentum.

Some of the indicators I look at include:

  • Whether team members are consistently submitting updates
  • Whether blockers are being identified and addressed early
  • Whether meetings remain aligned and productive
  • Whether the project continues to move forward toward meaningful outcomes

My role is less about directing the work itself and more about making sure the structure around the work supports consistent progress.

What challenges & successes have you observed in your group?

Challenges

  • Inconsistent participation from some researchers
  • Missed or incomplete weekly reports
  • Variability in progress across team members
  • Uneven pacing, with some contributors moving ahead while others fall behind

Successes

  • Core members of the team are making steady and meaningful progress
  • Meetings are generally aligned and productive
  • Work is progressing toward experiments and potential publication
  • I helped surface and communicate infrastructure-related issues (such as shared storage limitations and access permissions), acting as a coordination point to ensure those concerns were visible and addressed

How are you collaborating with stakeholders to ensure your role is supporting and motivating the group?

I collaborate primarily through:

  • Slack for ongoing communication and quick follow-ups
  • Participation in weekly or bi-weekly meetings
  • Direct check-ins when engagement drops or when issues arise

My approach is to stay present and responsive, helping remove friction where possible and encouraging accountability without creating unnecessary pressure on the team.

What feedback have you received on your role (solicited or unsolicited)?

Most feedback has been indirect and based on how the team responds.

  • When participation is consistent, it suggests the structure is working
  • When engagement drops, it highlights where more follow-up or clarity may be needed
  • Some team members initially expressed that they already had a strong working dynamic and did not feel a need for additional management
  • The team is generally highly functional, with researchers taking initiative and the Computational Advisor providing strong guidance

There has not yet been formal structured feedback, which suggests there is an opportunity to introduce more direct check-ins or lightweight feedback mechanisms.

What plans do you have for enhancing your role as the project manager with the remaining time in the semester?

For the remainder of the semester, I plan to:

  • Improve consistency in tracking weekly participation
  • Be more proactive in following up on missed reports
  • Support more structured communication, including the use of a standardized weekly reporting approach
  • Increase visibility into overall project status and progress
  • If approved, pilot the weekly status reporting template from the Computational Advisor to faculty

The main focus will be on reducing variability and strengthening consistency across the team.

Please provide feedback on what support you may need in your role

Support that would be helpful includes:

  • Clear expectations for minimum participation and reporting standards
  • Guidance on how to handle consistently disengaged contributors
  • Examples of effective project management practices within HAAG
  • Better alignment across teams on communication expectations
  • A clear green light on piloting the weekly report from Computational Advisor to faculty

Having more consistency at the program level would make it easier to maintain consistency within individual teams.