Sustainability Officers Project Management Toolkit- Organizational Tips for Long-Term Sanity

Sustainability Officers Project Management ToolkitOrganizational Tips for Long-Term Sanity

Mieko A. Ozeki The University of Vermont

UVM Office of Sustainability  Projects Coordinator

since 2008 and 2nd full-time employee in UVM’s Office of Sustainability.

 Charged with creating

a structure and implementing a system for managing projects and programs in our department.

Visionaries & Pioneers

Premise At conferences like AASHE, we gain knowledge of: Best practices Lessons Learned Core concepts of campus sustainability Becoming a change agent

But rarely do we hear about best practices on how to organize and manage the numerous projects we implement on our campuses.

Does managing campus sustainability projects look like this for you?

Paper Policy

Student Green Fund project

GHG inventory

Climate Action Plan

Or does the digital version look like this?

Sane Project Management

Source: Ebaum’s World

Principle #1: Look at your sustainability agenda from 30,000+ feet

Develop a work plan that captures the areas you’ll address during the academic year.

Use AASHE STARS as a: a. Framework for your work plan, b. Metric to hold yourself, your department, and institution accountable.

From 30,000+ Feet From brain dump‌

To mind mapping

Work Plan Individual

Group

Make your work plan public

Principle #2: Find tools that work for you (and your team)

When selecting a PM tool It should be: -Accessible -Web-based -Cloud-based

Source: http://jeannekolenda.com

When selecting a PM tool It should not break the bank.

Monthly or annual costs should be low, preferably free!

When selecting a PM tool - Function and makes sense to you and your team - Easy to use - Accommodates internal & external collaborators

Once you select the tool…  Give your PM tool a test drive for at least a month.  Customize the PM tool to your groups management

needs.  Take the time to train collaborators and/or your

staff on how to use the tool.  If the tool doesn’t work for your group, retool and

look for a system that works for you.

UVM’s Project Management System: 37 Signals Suite

Basecamp™

http://basecamphq.com/

Questions What systems do you have in place to manage your projects and programs?

Is it well-organized and manageable?

Are you able to collaborate with internal and external partners with the system you have set-up?

Thank you

Mieko A. Ozeki Sustainability Projects Coordinator mozeki@uvm.edu www.uvm.edu/sustainability