On the Friday of our first week at The Data School, we were assigned our first project and presentation. Here are three things I learned.
- Remember the project brief
It sounds obvious but it’s easy to get side tracked or go down the wrong route. Write down one or two key objectives and keep referring back to them to make sure you are still on track. - Plan as much as you can
Our first project happened to be around planning data preparation, however whatever project you have you can always plan. You cannot always plan the whole task, but plan a few steps, execute, adjust and plan some more. If during execution you find areas you have overlooked or gone wrong, make notes of these so you can catch them in the future. - Minimum Viable Product
If you're aware that completing the entire project within the time constraints isn't feasible, it's important to consider a Minimum Viable Product.
It's better to produce something that works, even if it's not the entire finished project, than to deliver something unfinished that serves no purpose.
In the case of this first project, where we had to plan and execute data preparation, it would be better to present a few well-planned and executed steps rather than rushing through preparation to produce an end product that may not be correct.