Case Study Timeline (Weekly Sprint Example)

The following is a real timeline used for a project with a global corporation.  You can download the template and tailor it to your project.  This project is based on weekly sprints and is not based on the GANTT method.

Download Template Below

Week 1 (Project Start) – February 21, 2022 – Partial week

• Kick-off meeting, identify specific out-of-office conflicts, schedule all project meeting dates, identify all final approvers and related stakeholders
• Develop and propose case study structure, discuss and receive client approval for structure for case study
• Confirm customer testimonial interview date, time, and contact information
• Identify graphics/images needed for case study

Week 2: February 28 – March 4, 2022

• Weekly meeting to identify progress and blockers (if any), Q&A
• Conduct customer testimonial interview
• Develop and deliver draft 1 content for case studyto client and customer
• Develop template and brand guidelines for case study

Week 3:  March 7 – March 11, 2022

• Weekly meeting to identify progress and blockers (if any), Q&A
• Obtain customer logo files
• Incorporate client and customer feedback for case study
• Flow case study into template and deliver to client for review
• Receive feedback on graphics

Week 4:  March 14 – 18, 2022 (Mark A. Out of Office all week)

• Weekly meeting to identify progress and blockers (if any), Q&A
• Deliver case study final candidate document for review, make final changes
• Brand team review (client and customer)
• Legal review(client and customer)

Week 5: March 21 – 25, 2022

• Final customer review
• Incorporate feedback

Week 6: March 28 – 31, 2022

• Deliver case study files as Word document and PDF to client and customer
• Post case study to client website
• Final wrap up meeting

This is a direct download of a Microsoft Word document

Managing a Case Study Timeline (Weekly Sprint Method)

Use this case study timeline template for coordinating or meeting with client or internal stakeholders. This template focuses on weekly sprints versus specific dates for development.  After conducting thousands of these meetings with hundreds of clients over the years, we’ve seen this approach works best for large organizations that often have competing priorities and numerous calendar conflicts.

This case study timeline approach identifies the major milestones needed for managing a case study project without having to manually update a project schedule.

Project Kick-offs
At the kick-off of the project, outline the weekly sprints and counsel all your stakeholders that the schedule will change if each stakeholder fails to prioritize or contribute to the project as identified. This case study timeline template should be tailored to your audience. If your audience needs more or less detail then add the information.  Remember, the more specific date information that you provide will mean the more time you will have to spend updating this document.

This document can be saved as a Word document, Google Document, PDF, or can be transferred to Smartsheet, Trello or other productivity tools your company or team uses.
Identify Out of Office Conflicts

This week is all about getting organized, helping your project stakeholders get set on project expectations, identifying dates where people may be out of office. 

Out-of-office business travel is an important consideration to identify upfront. People tend to overestimate the time needed to prioritize projects like this while traveling. Delays in reviews, feedback, and approvals can prevent your project from attaining its weekly goals.

Reviewing out-of-office time periods with the whole team also enables you to have a conversation with the team to adjust the timeline before the project starts.

Managing project expectations is an important aspect of any successful project involving multiple stakeholders and will make you look good as a project manager.

Pre-Schedule Key Meetings

While you have the entire team in the ‘room’, establish the weekly meeting schedule. Work with the team to identify the best time.  I recommend keeping the same time every week preferably at the beginning of the week.

The beginning of the week represents a fresh start and gives you the opportunity to remind the team of the key milestones everyone is trying to accomplish in the coming days. This visibility into the project helps you keep everyone focused on the right things and gives you opportunities to mitigate changes or unexpected interruptions in each team member’s participation.

Change happens, so the more flexible you can be while still maintaining discipline for attaining the project’s stated and agreed upon goals.

Case Study Structure

Expect that most of your team will not read the materials you send to them. Everyone is busy. As a case study project manager, one of your roles is to make the information available for consumption not enforce the consumption of materials.  Reviewing the case study structure at the kick-off meeting is a great way to make sure the whole team understands.  If you have examples to show of what you are striving to create all the better. The structure or outline of the case study is also important as it gives your stakeholders a last opportunity to ask questions or express concerns before the project starts. This helps prevent major changes in the content development process which can cause delays to the overall timeline. Ask for and gain agreement for the case study structure at the kick-off meeting.

Characteristics of weekly sprints

Weekly sprints are simply a set of coordinated actions toward a goal. They are a subset of a larger set of milestones identified in your project plan.

Weekly Sprint Progress

Every week, your team will make progress toward the weekly goal. This can be anything related to the development process such as, reviewing a draft document and providing feedback to interviewing a third-party for a testimonial to obtaining legal permissions for use of trademarks. Identifying what “progress” looks like each week is an essential element to your role. It sets expectations with the larger team and identifies specific requests you may have for different stakeholders.

Case Study Blockers

From time to time you will also run into “blockers.”  Blockers are the things in life that keep the case study timeline from moving forward. Blockers can be an illness with a key stakeholder, an unexpected business trip or a legal question that slows down the process.  The more you can pre-identify blockers ahead of time the happier you will be as a project manager. Blockers always happen and its helpful to identify them and ask for help from the project team for blocker resolution as soon as a blocker is identified.

Weekly Case Study Development Meeting Agenda

Create a standard agenda for your weekly meeting and include it in your meeting schedules. A standard agenda for a weekly case study sprint could look like this:

Weekly Meeting Agenda

• Identify project progress and blockers
• Identify sprint goals (insert specific items from the content development process tailored to your project)
• Discussion
• Next Steps