Managing the Project Plan

Managing the project plan is as crucial as creating it at the start of the project. Without properly managing the already prepared project plan, success becomes difficult. Following are some points to consider while following the project plan:

Ask for regular status reports: Status reports play a vital role in properly evaluating mentees. They are also important for you to track if a mentee is progressing towards completing a milestone or if a mentee is facing any issues. It should not happen that you get to know after two weeks that a mentee has missed a milestone. To avoid such irregularity and not-acceptable moments, you should ask for regular updates.

Check for completed tasks: Ensure that you are keeping a track of all the assigned tasks, and when they are completed or to be completed. Analyze and do what suits best for your community.

Discuss about missed deadlines: If a mentee slips a deadline, you immediately raise a flag, discuss with mentee, and ask for a valid reason. It’s advisable to ask for an official communication on this. Let them know that this might impact their performance and future engagement with the community. If it happens frequently, let your program manager know about this. Keep in mind that you aren’t just teaching a mentee, you also are preparing a future contributor, so, dedication and commitment are must for a mentee.

Be Humble: We all are humans. It’s not just mentees who might slip a deadline, it can happen with you also when it comes to scheduled meetings, providing feedback on completed tasks, reviewing a piece of code, and so on. If such a situation arises that you need to miss a meeting or deadline, ensure that you communicate this to your mentees and the community if needed well in advance.\