Revision as of 10:04, 28 November 2014

Feedback by Lasse Madsen

• I will review the article as it is now. It seems like it is not completely done :-) Keep up the good spirit!

Formal aspects

• The grammatical and spelling in the article is very fine, however some sentences can become a bit long, where I miss some "," or division into paragraphs. An example is: "Communication covers both the top down communication from management and the communication between the project leaders and the project team members about the tasks of the team member." from the section: Communication.
• I miss references to the figures in the text. And also the context of the figures.
• It seems like the author has made the figures him/herself which is positive. It makes sure that there is no conflicting copyrights.
• Overall structure i miss some more WIKI formatting, ie.
  • bullet points (*),
  • Categories: [[Categories:Management]]
  • References: [[project management]]
  • Additional reading section
• My suggestion will be to put the introduction before the list of content to make a read-threat
  • Also to add a "readers guide" on how the article will be structured, and what the reader can expect.

Content aspects

• The first thing that i noticed was the sources used to support the main arguments in the article. I miss academic sources, ie. looking into 'project management in volunteering organizations' from Journals, DTU Findit or Google Scholar or similar. An example could be to provide a literature review and then comparing it to the method used by the danish scouts. Then reflections and a discussion on how they could improve their methods. On a quick search i found:
  • Hager, Mark A. "Volunteer management practices and retention of volunteers." (2004).
  • Cuskelly, Graham, et al. "Volunteer management practices and volunteer retention: A human resource management approach." Sport Management Review 9.2 (2006): 141-163.
  • Ellis, Susan J. From the top down. The executive role in volunteer program success. Energize, Inc., 5450 Wissahickon Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19144, 1996.
  • Taylor, Tracy, et al. "Using psychological contract theory to explore issues in effective volunteer management." European Sport Management Quarterly 6.2 (2006): 123-147.
• I seem to miss a direct link between the article content and the course. Maybe you could include it in the introduction.
• I seem to miss the point where i as a practitioner could actually use this method or example in relation to my PPP practice. Maybe you could elaborate on this or give an example on how this could be used in a PPPM context.
• Generelly I miss some more references.

1 Leading without classic authority

• Maybe a bit about how the article will be structured, otherwise fine :-)

1.1 Important factors within volunteering management

• is this a general approach/structure within volunteering management, or is it only from the scout community? Maybe compare with literature.

1.2 The patrol system; pros and cons

• I actually do not understand what the patrol system is by reading this section. Could you be more specific? Can it be visualized? Is there a figure?
• Maybe make a list of pros and cons (table or something) to make it more clear ie.

1.3 Communication and involvement

• Maybe include some references
• Could these sections be more structured?

1.5 How is this useful to companies

• Maybe include your elaboration on how this fits into APPPM
• How could practioneers benefit from this method? What is to be learned?

PEER REVIEW

First of all I find the idea and the topic of the article very interesting.

FORMAL ASPECTS

• I would suggest another structure of the article. I am not sure about if the article is finished or not. If it is not finish is fine but if it is finished, instead of using only one main point, maybe you could use the current subpoints (from 1.1 to 1.6) as main points.
• The article has some grammatical errors that need to be reviewed (principally related to singular/plural forms) e.g.: a study were done, though the study were done, specifically on group pitfalls of management within in volunteering project groups is... and also some small spelling mistakes. I suggest to copy/paste it in word in order to correct them easier.
• I think that the style of the article is good, nevertheless sometimes I find short sentences alone thoughtout the text. It would be better if you elaborate a bit on them or just include them in a paragraph (see point 1.1, especially 1.1.2 and 1.1.3.
• There are not formal errors in the pictures or figures. Also it seems that the author does not need the copyright to use them because he/she makes them. However, I suggest to put numbers on the pictures and do references to them throughout the text.
• I miss some Wiki-features such as external links, * points, etc...
• Sometimes the second person is used, I think it is better to use always the impersonal in a wiki-article or in your case also the third person when your refer to the "Det Danske Spejderkorps" (see section 1.4).

CONTENT ASPECTS

• I would add a paragraph at the beginning (before the content of the article) as an abstract (explaining how is going to be the article, what is expected...).
• More elaboration on the introduction is needed.
• Sometimes I can not see the relation between the article and project management. Maybe it would be a good idea to clarify better how project management is used within volunteering organization. My suggestion is to find some specific tools or techniques of project management that could be apply to volunteering organisations, it would be great ;)
• I think the article is a bit short (but maybe it is not finished).
• The article is coherent and the logical flow throughout the article is great.
• The article seems to be free of "copy & paste" plagiarism
• I am missing more academic references (e.g.: papers, publications or project management books)
• Some parts of the article seem more an opinion but it would be good if you base your feelings in some references. Another option could be to include a discussion at the end in which you state your own opinion or the pros and cons of the topic. E.g.: last paragraph of 1.2.
• I really like the way you relate volunteering organisations project management with typical companies. However I think you should elaborate more on this part.