Another “Areas of Focus or Project” thread

talundbl

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I’ve enjoyed reading the very many posts on this topic.

In particular @TesTeq posts on hard lines between AofF and Projects.

However, I think I’m also getting stuck in a world between project and area of focus.

As part of my job i lead large negotiations with Companies over extended period of time. I also advocate for clients in arbitrations (but I’m not a lawyer) which also can take a long time to prepare, with many steps in between. So, in your view, is the negotiation/arbitration itself a project or an Area of Focus?

For example: “Write bargaining proposals” is definitely a project, it is finite and is discrete. So is “Prepare for Aug 1 bargaining meeting with Company.”

“Negotiate a collective agreement for client x”, which would be the parent of these projects, is more abstract, the timeline is less finite, but is also nevertheless discrete in that it is either “not done or done”.

So is the negotiation a project or an Area of Focus? Or a project within a project? And then where does the actual Client fit in, if they have both arbitrations and negotiations which are relevant to them?

I imagine lawyers in particular would face this problem or business owners with few clients. You have a case-file that you are working on over an extended period of time. It is discrete, but there are many “projects” in side that (research, writing, meetings to prepare, etc.)

Interested to hear what you all think...part of the problem may be that I’m trying to squeeze different types of work into Omnifocus, which has a strict Folder (AofF), Project, Task structure. So no Projects within Projects and the lines have to be neat.

Thanks for taking time to read.
 

TesTeq

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So is the negotiation a project or an Area of Focus? Or a project within a project? And then where does the actual Client fit in, if they have both arbitrations and negotiations which are relevant to them?
Thank you!
I create a Project for a client if I DON'T expect to work for this client again (transactional model).
I create an Area of Focus for a client if I expect to work for this client again (relational model). Why? Because I want to MAINTAIN (keyword for Areas of Focus) a long-term relationship and create many Projects in this Area of Focus. And yes, in consequence I have a large number of Areas of Focus.
 

acc.mcpherson

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Thank you!
I create a Project for a client if I DON'T expect to work for this client again (transactional model).
I create an Area of Focus for a client if I expect to work for this client again (relational model). Why? Because I want to MAINTAIN (keyword for Areas of Focus) a long-term relationship and create many Projects in this Area of Focus. And yes, in consequence I have a large number of Areas of Focus.

Thanks TesTeq as I found this very helpful and it's how I have come to manage those two specific horizons as well after struggling for a bit. However, there is one aspect of this where you might be able to offer your thoughts/advice. What is the time frame for those projects on your list? Are only active projects on your project list or do you include ones you know you have coming in the future?

Typically when I know I have a project I don't plan on acting until the future it either goes into the appropriate monthly tickler list or it just stays in the client area of focus list until I am ready to move it to the project list. Because I do a weekly review I don't care to see a project every week that I know I won't start, for example, for three months. But sometimes I want to be able to see all my projects - active and future in one place when I have to deal with resource management. Tagging allows that flexibility. I am just curious as to how you see this. Thank you.
 

TesTeq

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What is the time frame for those projects on your list? Are only active projects on your project list or do you include ones you know you have coming in the future?
I try to limit duration of my Projects to 3 months. If something is bigger I prefer to do it as a sequence of Projects. On my Projects list I have only active Projects. Possible future Projects for a client are listed as Someday/Maybies within this client's documentation (Area of Focus file). And I review my non-active Areas of Focus monthly.
 
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