Abstract

I worked in the consultancy sector both prior to and after completing a PhD in 2015. This provided me with the skillset and knowledge to manage a large-scale transdisciplinary research project. In late 2021, I applied for the role as Senior Project Manager on the TRUUD Project, a £6m (€6.8m) five-year research project designed to change the way decisions are made in urban development to prevent non-communicable diseases in the future. The project had already been operational for two covid disrupted years, prior to me joining the team.
I joined the project at an interesting point, as the first phase of the project was completed and the primary data, had been collected and analysed. The second phase of the project was designed to deliver interventions to the planning structure, from the national government level to the city/city region level. This is where my consultancy project management skills enabled me to provide guidance and direction as the project shifted to this new phase.
The initial challenges related to the transdisciplinary nature of the project. The project includes many highly respected experts within their fields, winners of numerous funding as PIs in their own right. The transdisciplinary nature of this project, had however created a power vacuum in the project, with uncertainty over who could make decisions on the direction the project should take in certain aspects.
To counter this issue, I designed the paperwork for each of the new delivery teams, called Intervention Areas (IA), to set out clear lines of authority and what decisions could be made within the IA teams and what needed to be escalated to the management board for a decision to be made. This reduced tension within the team and gave the researchers confidence to take their work forward in the second phase of the project.
The second key intervention related to the communications within the project. The researchers were producing a wealth of topical and useful information, but it was getting lost through publication on our website and the project’s Twitter account. Working with the rest of the management team we developed a communications strategy, identified key contacts within our institutions and within the academics fields to help amplify our work and ensure the project has the impact it was intended to, and to satisfy our funders.
The key learning outcomes from the project have been: learn when to push for what you need, prepare to change tack when necessary and that data and communication are the key to a successful project.