While being a part of a research project during the semester, my group learned the benefits of logging information and the activities that were completed by each member. We were researching the impact of different environmental factors on reproduction in certain species of fish. When we started, the fish would not survive long and were not reproducing at all. Even with the group in constant communication, some details of activity were not communicated properly. With a new set of fish and utilizing a log of activity for each member of the group, it produced the results needed to complete the research paper. Each member had to log times for feeding and observations of the conditions of the fish in the altered environment. Everyone was balancing multiple assignments and projects in conjunction to the fish project. Keeping an activity and observation log prevented over feeding and produced additional data on the fish. The project made the group become better organized to fulfill the tasks of the research project.
I think we all agree that logging work is important for the current project and for the future projects, so employees can learn from the previous mistakes and they can have a theoretical experience from it. For me, I had an internship in the construction project that allows me to read and check the logging work to educate myself with some real project aspects. Also, that help me when I worked on the site to know how a serious decision is taken.
Logging work is important for every project as it helps us to recall the main points of the work and also help the new employees working on it to have an idea about everything that has occurred till date. I have noticed the importance of logging work during my undergraduate internship at a laboratory. I have got most of the information on the processes from the logged work from the employees at the laboratory. This made my work easier and provided an understanding of the whole project even though I have joined in the middle of the project. I have made that as a habit since then to note down everything while working on any projects.
At work, we had an issue of not knowing what devices were evaluated and which devices were under evaluation of another employee. It was getting to a point where this issue started to escalate and devices that needed to be investigated were not getting evaluated until a month or two in. To combat this issue, I created a log that would record what devices were being evaluated, the status of their evaluations, and which devices were waiting to be evaluated. This log served as a key document for our supervisor to ensure we kept tabs on which devices needed to be evaluated and avoid the issue of having a device sit in the lab for months before being evaluated. Since the creation of the log, it has improved numbers of evaluations performed by almost 50%. A document as simple as a log can really add benefit, no matter the work environment.
Logging work is essential, and it is key to understanding how much every person of a project is getting done. It is key to productivity, insight, and a healthy workflow. When dealing with different deadlines and different project cycles, you know which tasks may need more resources to meet deadlines.
I know first hand the importance of keeping track of work done, especially in a lab setting. While in undergrad, I worked in an organic chemistry lab synthesizing compounds for breast cancer. Keeping a notebook was vital for two main reasons: reproduction of work and errors. My research mentor was very careful to ensure we kept a detailed notebook to the point where if she followed what was written in our notebooks, she should be able to produce the same results. This is important because research is meant to be recreated. This is only possible if the procedures are logged in a detailed manner. The second reason, errors, is often caught when reviewing one's notebook. For example, while working in the lab, I yielded unexpected results. After presenting the difference to my mentor, she referred to my notebook to catch the discrepancy and found that the synthesis was actually another way of creating something else. This would not have been possible if I did not keep an account of each step I took.
Keeping a work log is a great way to be prepared to validate your logged time at your job for the week. I keep a work log and have been for about 10 years, I’ve been a Department of Defense employee for 14 years last month. I learned that keeping a work log protects the subordinate and at times protect the Supervisor. I currently keep a log in which I refer to as Weekly Analysis Report (WAR), so, I am a Group Practice manager for the Army but I specialize in inpatient services: efficiency of the facility and providers accountability. So, basically, I run reports every day of historical data and current data as well as review customer ratings (patients), and prepare provider analysis reports that chart the doctor's progress and how the number of patients positively or negatively affects the hospital as a whole. Does the doctor contribute enough to remain on our payroll as a staff? That’s what I do in a nutshell. So, due to the fact that I run queries and generate so many reports, build charts, and build and extract data from Tableaus, it’s important I can account for how I spend my time. No one likes to research numbers all day, they just want to see summary reports and it’s my job to make sure the reports are built with accuracy and that it's comprehendible and eye-catching so that when I am giving briefs, I maintain the audience attention span. I also keep WARs so that when I do OJT for new employees for different departments or when I create or updated SOP (Standard Operation Policies) I can refer back to my WARs at any point in time if I need a refresher in how I completed a task. I tend to be very detailed which took years of trial and error. I also use my WARs when it’s time for evaluation. With the federal government to advance to the next level you have to get a certain score. I started as a GS 4 I am now a GS 9 up for the promotion to a GS 11. My clear documentation in my WARs I believe has a lot to do with my ability to fluidly move up in the GS system. I say all that to say that a work log provides nothing but positives when it comes to your career. You don’t have to be super detail-oriented, just be willing to put in the work, there are so many ways in which a work log can be used to benefit the employee as well as propel you into the next level of your career.
Logging in work and keeping adequate records is important in just about every discipline, but it is essential in project management. Taking project notes and reconciling data will help make future processes more efficient. By logging your work, you can have that data readily accessible when starting new projects or possibly passing a project off due to unforeseen circumstances. , Also it will be helpful when it comes to the evaluation and reflection stages of the project. By having adequate notes, you can give and receive more detailed feedback for improvements and corrections. Specifically, in my line of work in hospital administration, logging my work is vital because I handle many confidential documents that contain people's personal information. I also spend a lot of money on behalf of my division, so logging my work and keeping receipts ensures that if there was ever a discrepancy in where funds were allocated, I support back up and claims. Overall, the story's moral is to take as detailed notes and records as possible and make it efficient as not to distract or delay the project.
So while working on my capstone for my Masters in public health, I worked for a healthcare consulting company. The project that I was working on was evaluating payment model methodology using statistical analysis software that analyzed qualitative data as opposed to quantitative data which was a new endeavor for me at the time. In doing so I had to use new software applications that were open source. In keeping track of the methodology and the way I went about looking up and classifying the payment methodology which derived from the department of health and human services submissions to the PTAC committee was a very daunting task. I kept a regular log or a diary of the workflow that I did every single day and it kept me accountable. It made my life a lot easier when I had to report to my supervisor all of my progress and to dialogue the challenges that I had with the project. It made for the project that I was working on a concise and up to the day accounting of everything that I was working on and provided enough information for me to compile a final report that was cogent and efficient at commencement of the project.
While working as a medical records clerk for a physician's office, I was tasked with getting all of their paper records collected over a few years, scanned into each patient's online chart. There were multiple boxes, and after each box was scanned, they needed to be filed. To keep track of my daily work, I created an excel sheet to track the date, time, patient, which documents, and the number of scanned documents for that patient. The excel sheet was a great idea because there were times when past documents were needed, and someone would say that they could not find the form by its name, and I was able to refer back to the sheet to get the date and time it was entered. This log also helped one afternoon when the system crashed. I do not remember exactly how many documents were lost when the system crashed. Still, it wasn't panic because I already knew which patients and what documents were needed after being given the date that I would have to go back to renter documents.
Logging your work is essential and has several benefits which are necessary for success in the project such as Improving billing of your time, it allows you to compare your rates with those who are charging by the hour to do similar work, it improves quote giving, when you track your time it becomes clear as day which activities are using up most of your time, it keeps your team accountable and finally, accurate timekeeping within an accountable team can give you the freedom to work more flexible hours.
According to the lecture for this week, logging work is important because it can be usefully when new employees come to work on the project or when starting a new project, logs can help as a guidance of not making the same mistakes.
I know when I worked in a research lab, I would have to write down what I did on that day, such as the procedure I followed and time at which the experiment was executed. Then, if a new person came into the lab, I would who him or her the lab notebook.
Moreover, when I worked on capstone project of creating a mobile application, we had tons of scripts. So, to remember what function is what in a script, my team and I started commenting the code. The script first started with a block comment, which had the person who worked on it, the what the script did and when the code was last updated. Then, each method or function that was used in the script was commented.Share an experience when keeping a log of the work you did on a project either at work or school helped you out in some way.
Keeping a log will help you both at work and at home. You have the same need to make and reflect on progress in both roles. A work log or journal will provide a valuable sense of perspective and continuity, connecting past and present, and laying a foundation for the future.
Just now in another thread a young lady asked "How do you track when a project began to fail?" Now I may not have gotten the wording completely right but you get the picture. My response to her was to go back in the detailed notes of the project, the log, if you will, to see when that particular thing went sour. In my opinion things of this nature usually ultimately go back to poor planning. Yes the supply was not delivered on time but did you have to rush to get that supplier or did you order ahead of schedule? So logging the work can help to show where the poor planning came to fruition in your project.
I work in a diagnostic lab testing mostly covid samples it is very impart we record different part of the process. A time that this was important was when a plate of samples was mislabeled on a PCR machine and when the result came out I was unsure of the patients to send the results of their test too because the numbers and the samples did not match up. However, thankful there was a log book in which each sample plate and the workflow numbers are written in along with the machine and time it was ran on is recorded. It was thank to this log book that we were able to figure out the correct workflow number for the samples and get the results to the right people.
Keeping detailed accounts of work completed and how it is completed is important for the continuity of projects, in addition to holding extreme value in the monitoring, controlling, and closure phases of a project. Detailed record keeping should be done in any field to be used as a reference for future projects or to be used in place of an employee’s leave or absence. An experience I would like to share is when I also worked in a laboratory as a microbiologist. Laboratory notebooks are a great example of record keeping. Meticulously writing down every little detail of what and how different devices, mechanisms, and solutions were used together to achieve a certain result is needed for reproducibility and eventual publication. These same principles are used in project management across a variety of fields. It is important to establish certain processes and procedures to ensure routine everyday tasks are carried out to plan. This will ensure that the project as a whole is a success.
