As a project manager, research activities are part of your daily bread: While you research lessons learned from other projects, patents, copyrights or market trends and industries at the start of the project, you obtain specialist information for software development, the implementation of organizational changes or construction projects during the ongoing project and Best Resume Writing Services.
Search engines like Google are often used. With Google you get the first good, usable information and a rough overview of the topic, but the search results are not sufficient, especially for special topics. You also run the risk of getting lost on "side roads" and finding out about things that are of little or no importance in the current context.
In this tip I will show you how you can use the right research strategy to search for specific information and what other research options there are besides Google.
Searching for information in a targeted manner
Research is the targeted - not random - systematic search for information. I therefore recommend a strategy that consists of the following four steps:
1. Make yourself clear about the topic!
Suppose you are given the task of organizing a training program for the project managers in the company. To do this, you must first clarify the question of what exactly - i.e. which information - you need to carry out this task.
You need to find out, for example,
which qualifications are generally available for project managers,
which certifications the project managers in your company already have,
which certification system (PRINCE2®, IPMA, PMI® etc.) best suits your company guidelines,
whether you mainly handle your projects in a classic, agile or hybrid manner; etc.
The more intensively you deal with the topic to be researched in advance and become clear about what exactly you are looking for, the more efficient the actual research will be later and Hire the best Resume writers.
2. Get an idea of the sources available!
Then get an overview of the available sources. Two mistakes are common when doing research:
Concentration on the information available in the company
This means that external sources are not taken into account, at least during an initial research. (If, for example, you are only researching a template for a certain topic internally, you will not be able to find a template that is optimally suited to your topic on the Internet.)
Neglect of research already carried out in the company on the subject
In this case, a lot of time and energy is invested in the search for information, although a colleague has already put it together in a different context.
Which sources do I use when?
A variety of sources are often available. Which of these you can use depends on the topic to be worked on. If the question is purely internal to the company, do research in the company's intranet, in reports, logs and interview experts in the company. If it is a new topic for the company or if you should make comparisons with other companies, you have to use external sources.
When searching the Internet, the following applies: If you get too few pages with relevant information, change the search engine. There are search engines that specialize in certain subject areas. So-called meta search engines have existed since 1995, which forward the search query to other search engines and then process the results. (In the zip folder you will find a selection of search engines including their features / special features in PDF format.)
3. Narrow down the topic with a research list!
highly efficient espionage software from the Israeli company NSO. It is used as a cyber weapon by secret services and police authorities - but not only to monitor terrorists, as the company claims. Numerous countries have used it to have their cell phones read by human rights activists and journalists. This is shown by research carried out by the international »Pegasus Project«. Journalists from ZEIT and ZEIT ONLINE were involved in the research. They document the extensive use of the monitoring system.
Since July 18, 2021, the first results of the research have been available on ZEIT ONLINE in the series of articles "The Pegasus Project" . Sascha Venohr, Head of Data Journalism in the Investigative Department of ZEIT and ZEIT ONLINE, was part of the Pegasus project from the start. In the podcast with Sarah Schaschek, he talks about research that is based on great trust within the team of journalists - and reveals why he now puts his cell phone in front of his office door more often and Resume Writing World.
The podcast “Behind the Story”
Here ZEIT editors tell about their most exciting research every week. You can listen to and subscribe to the podcast wherever there are podcasts: