Reflecting on six months of volunteer efforts tracked through the IPOOG methodology. While tracking one’s time is challenging, it does help with self-reflection and understand the efforts required to take on major projects. Important information for both a volunteer organization and the volunteer.
Continue readingIn August 2024, I started to track my personal-interest and volunteer time using the IPOOG time tracking tool. 472.25 ‘Interest Hours’ later tracking time has proven to be beneficial for not only the nonprofits I volunteer for but to also make sure I am spending my retirement on projects of greatest interest to me.
Continue readingThe IPOOG model attempts to organize the disparate activities of a nonprofit (or any small organization) into five core activities. A ‘citizen-science’ test-drive of the time tracking element of the IPOOG leads to three conclusions. The tool can work but it relies on underlying project literacy, and it could benefit from a better user interface.
Continue readingThank you to a ‘friendly-peer review group’ for their feedback on a research project focused on tracking micro-time spent by senior volunteers. The discussion covered user interface importance, managing time granularity, and the complexity of capturing incidental volunteer activities.
Continue readingThe IPOOG model supports event planning and nonprofit management. It structures time tracking time and prioritizing tasks. This is an interim report on using the time tracking aspect of the tool over the past three months. Future improvements will be based on peer feedback.
Continue readingIPOOG onboarding emphasizes the importance of a well-structured process for new employees, focusing on providing abundant information and a clear pathway for understanding. It is based on the IPOOG concept (Input, Process, Output, Outcome, Guide), emphasizing contextualized information delivery. The strategy aims to accelerate productivity and encourage long-term employee involvement.
Continue readingAn update to the QIR Project Tool, an All-in-One Tool Kit for small Projects. Contains a Project Plan, Contact List, and a QDIRF.
Issue, Project and Decision logs are mainstays in project management. They are designed to formulate a clear understanding of opportunities, threats, risk and changes in a project. They also are created, updated-intermittently, and seldom used to their full potential. The QIR log manages Questions, Issues and Risks in one place as part of the day to day running of a project.
Is the system live, is it stable? What are the risk areas of the new system? When will it be working properly? Dreaded questions when managing complex systems. A multi-factor success matrix can help an organization visualize key elements of a system and make informed decisions… or perhaps just answer the question, have we gone live yet?
In my ongoing effort to remember what I have read, some notes on Atul Gawande’s book, “The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right” [1].
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Organizational Biology 