2. The project summary and selection of partners
Dear Friend,
This is the first unit of the project planning module.
We do not know whether you had the chance to skim the introduction module, but it is not too late to look at this oral OER (open educational resource) introduction to the whole module:
OER 1. Introduction to: Planning a project
If you are more interested in the first module, look at this teaser on planning a mobility project.
So where can we start? To develop a project proposal, you need to have a clear idea of the activity you will propose to others in order to be able to find partners.
At the end of this unit you will have:
- drawn up the role and structure of the project summary;
- outlined the first version of the project summary;
- listed the type of partners you need for the project;
- collected the partners for the mobility project.
You will need 45 minutes to complete the tasks of the present unit.
2. The project summary
The first step in project development is to work out a brief but meaningful project idea, a summary. This summary is a short description of the project you want to propose. You could think of a few paragraphs, not exceeding a page of text. This text should not be very detailed but must contain a few items:
- Working title of the project
- A desription where the idea comes from. (Or: rationale)
- The specific need for the project
- The aims of the project
- The activities you want to comlete
- The estimated length of the project
- The estimated number of people you would like to involve
- In most cases a rough indication of the budget .
This summary may have several objectives, some are relevant for you and some not:
- Clarification and collection of your original thoughts to you as the beneficiary, that have been already a part of your previous drafts and thoughts;
- Clarification of the limits of the project, to separate activities you would like to carry out, from those that are better left out;
- Presentation of your proposal to your colleagues and/or managers;
- Presentation of your proposal to attract possible partners ;
- Mapping the appropriate programs or grants in line with your idea.
Example 1 – A typical project summary
Please read this project summary carefully and check if the above list items are present:
After this example there is no much to do, we ask you to write a first draft of your project summary:
Activity 1 – Draft of the project summary
Write your project summary, or summaries, making sure that you do not exceed the one page length. The ideal length would be half a page.
Pay attention to the clarity and focus on the main issues. Do not spend more than 30 minutes, you will have more time later to develop the idea further.
Graph 1 – Mobility diagramme
Now, your first draft is ready. In most of the cases, people work in teams on projects so you will also need your mentor who will accompany you throughout the whole process. If you have not selected any yet, now is the time to do so. (If you skipped the introduction we strongly advise to read the Who will help section in the Introduction) Ask for her/his opinion on your summary.
The next activity is exactly about that.
Activity 2 – Send an email and ask for feedback from your mentor
This phase must be quick and short. Make sure your mentor does not wait weeks to give feedback and that his/her opinion is not a 10-page scientific essay. The most important activities are the basic ideas of your proposal. Ask open questions to allow your mentor for freely expression.
Please modify your summary accordingly. Do not forget to follow the different versions of your summary. Do not spend more than 15 minutes with developing your second draft.
2. Creating the partnership
Once you have a project summary you can start to look for the desired partners for your planned activity. Where could your partners come from? There are several possible answers for that:
- Previous project partners you know and can work with effectively;
- Previous project partners of your colleagues that are relevant for this project;
- A professional partner in your or other organizations inland or abroad;
- Conference acquaintance which is relevant to this project;
- Organised partner database of specific activities that can be accessed;
- Project partners that you find at organised partner search events.
Whatever your choice, or method of partner search is, make a long list of possible partners because even the more obvious contacts may fail to join you in the next project.
The next activity is about listing your possible partners.
Activity 3 –Make a list of desired partners
Open a new file (maybe an on-line spreadsheet or document to instantly build mutually or share with your mentor) and start looking for the partners you need for your project. Try to get all contact data you may need for the project development task.
Start with the most obvious ones.
Do some desk research in your archive and ask for help from your colleagues as well.
If you are not satisfied with the first set of partners, take the next step and ask for help from your colleagues or former partners by calling them or sending messages .
You might need to look in databases and you may go to partner search meetings in the future.
Dear Friend,
At the end of this unit, we hope that you already have a project summary and a long list of possible partners. The next unit is about working out in more detail your project plan.
