Project Management:

How I Work

MS Teams became a major part of my work toolbox during the 2020 COVID pandemic, when we scrambled my team at the University of Texas at Arlington to continue providing services to our students while we worked from home. I became a big fan of the platform, and have made it a continual part of my work life as I transitioned into my HR role at Dallas College in 2022.

Below is an example of how I utilize tools across the various projects I've lead.

Landing page for Teams/Teams SharePoint

I utilized SharePoint when I establish the DevU website to help make a more user friendly experience for team members. We anticipate as the project grows there will be a large number of stakeholders over the life of the project, so we needed a way to keep things as easily acceptable as possible.

Teams File Management

Within Teams, I establish spaces for files to cut down on clutter and I regularly sweep through the documents to maintain their integrity. I also keep a backup of all the key team documents in my own OneDrive.

Team Notebook

The Team Notebook (Using OneNote) functions as a great way to maintain all meeting notes, and allows the project manager a second private section for their own notes. OneNote is one of my most frequently used tools - it's unbeatable in its flexibility for creating lists, keeping track of notes and basically keeping my desk free of a 1000 papers, post-its and notebooks.

Project Charter

The project charter helps document guides the agreements of all stakeholders on the project and clearly lays out our necessary OKRs and goals. This is an outline I reference for the project charter/kick off meeting.

Kanban Board using Tasks/Planner

I have utilized this Kanban style multiple times across many projects. The Planner/Tasks integration allows me to assign tasks to team members. Using Lists is another way I have managed team tasks, and when coupled with the Approvals app I can send any necessary items directly to the supervisor/gatekeeper for approval. Either method helps me track progress, and you can quickly flip from a Kanban style board to a timeline or task list,. Each of the cards also allows team members to create checklists for the task, post comments and add attachments if needed.

Key Meetings and Dates

Another tab which functions using Lists' calendar view - a simple way to schedule all meetings, milestones and deadlines so everyone can a bird's eye view.

RACI Matrix/Microsoft Lists

I often default to Excel for a Raci Matrix, but have utilized Lists (shown above) as well.

Stakeholder Survey

Using MS Forms, I launch stakeholder pre-project surveys and post mortem surveys right within the SharePoint site.

While these are tools I frequently access in my role, I consider myself highly proficient with the Google suite and its comparative apps as well.