Before you meet, spend around 60-90 minutes in total engaging with the resources below. You do not need to read everything in full. Instead, scan, dip into sections, and focus on what feels most relevant to you.

Try to engage with at least three resources.

As you engage, the aim is not to master everything, but to notice what they prompt you to think about in relation to your own projects.

Resource 1: Build a project team structure that fits funder expectations

As you engage, notice:

• How clearly roles and responsibilities are defined (or not) in your current or planned projects
• Where expectations from funders or partners may be implicit rather than explicit
• Any gaps or tensions in how your team is currently structured

Resource 2: Build your project team deliberately, from first meeting to close

As you reflect, notice:

• How intentional you have been (or could be) in shaping the team over time
• Key moments where clarity, alignment, or communication matter most
• What you might do differently at the start of a project if you were to begin again

Resource 3: Plan and manage your research group budget

As you engage, notice:

• Where financial considerations are shaping (or constraining) your project design
• Assumptions you are making about what is affordable or sustainable
• Any areas where you may be underestimating or overcommitting resources

Resource 4: Create a Gantt Chart

As you reflect, think about a current or planned project and reflect on:

• What are the next 3–5 key milestones in your project and what needs to happen before each of those can start?
• Which parts of your project are dependent on other people, and is communication with them clear?
• Where do timings feel uncertain or overly optimistic?

Resource 5: Plan and review in waves (rolling wave planning)

As you engage, notice:

• Where you may be trying to plan too far ahead in too much detail
• What feels clear and plan-able in the short term, versus uncertain in the longer term
• How dividing planning into phases and accepting or expecting the ‘messiness’ in between could alleviate pressure or enhance flexibility.

Resource 6: Use a Work Breakdown Structure

This resource is currently framed for using a project management tool to manage academic workload. For this discussion, you may find it helpful to have a skim read of the idea and think about how you could use a WBS:

• As a way to break a complex project into manageable components
• To move from a broad idea to clear strands of activity

As you engage, notice:

• Whether your project feels clearly broken down, or still too abstract
• Where tasks, responsibilities, or deliverables are not yet well defined
• How breaking things down changes your sense of what feels manageable

As you review these resources, you may find it helpful to keep one or two of your current or upcoming projects in mind, and to use the tools as prompts to think, rather than templates to complete.

The structure below is held collectively by the group. You may choose to rotate who keeps an eye on time or simply move together through the stages.

1. Arrival and framing (5–10 minutes)

• Brief reminder of purpose: learning from different perspectives
• No pressure to have implemented anything yet
• Agreement on confidentiality and respect
• An explicit intention that everyone will have space to speak

2. Resource reflections and shared learning (30–40 minutes)

A simple round:

• One insight that landed “What stayed with you most from the resources?”
• One insight that challenged or puzzled you

Pay attention to differences in how you engaged with the materials. The aim is collective sense-making, not consensus. Encourage one another to ask: “What did you take from this that I didn’t?”

3. Coaching-style reflection: so what? (20–30 minutes)

Each participant shares:

• One thing I will do differently in how I plan or structure a project
• One thing I am still unsure about
• One thing I might explore next (information, support, or perspective)

Peers respond with curiosity rather than solutions:

• “What is important about that?”
• “What would help you to get more clarity?”
• “What would be different in your project in a year’s time if you made this change?”

4. Closing and commitments (5–10 minutes)

Each person is invited to name:

• One small change you will make to a current or upcoming project not take yet)

Optional:

• Who else they might speak to or share their commitment with
• What would help to stay motivated
• What might get in the way, and how can they overcome that?

This can be very light-touch and self-directed. Possible options include:

• A personal note to self
• A follow-up peer conversation
• Exploring another relevant resource
• Bringing a question to a mentor or senior colleague
• No reporting back is required, however peer group members may request this to create accountability for their intended actions.