Best Dissertation!

I just found out that I won the university's award for "Best Masters Dissertation in the academic year 2012/2013"

Wow...I'm speechless!!

OK, almost speechless...

Although I tried really hard to write the best dissertation possible, I can't claim all the credit for this.

My original business tutor, Julie Owen taught me that writing for any outlet should be in plain language and that we should avoid academic language whenever possible. I read some example dissertations that I literally couldn't concentrate on because of the language. This helped me realise that to write something readable was the key. So I didn't write my MSc thesis in language that was supposed to impress academia, I wrote it so that it would be as readable as possible.

My dissertation tutor Rosane was really helpful during our original discussions. Without a good subject, I would have struggled and I think we came up with an excellent subject collaboratively. Rosane's feedback was brilliant.

Early in my studies, I listened to advice given in "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser. Although largely about writing fiction, I took the advice Zinsser gave and put it into my writing.

During the MSc, I read everything I could and wrote for a variety of different outlets. I reviewed books for ILM and Arras People, wrote blog posts and generally just practiced writing. Writing in different styles help the author to become more flexible. I wrote on trains, at home, in coffee shops, in hospital waiting rooms (my wife was pregnant at the time), and generally anywhere where I could use paper and pen or a laptop.

I wrote a chapter for "People in Projects" (due to be released in 2013) which was also great practice. Collaborating with another author and working as a virtual team really helped me to understand the subject. Jon Hyde and I also discussed projects in some depth and this helped me to develop the final dissertation subject choice.

During my research, many project managers helped to formulate my ideas and I will be eternally grateful to those who contributed to the questionnaires. Your assistance was invaluable.

I also particularly want to thank people at work who allowed me to write Business Cases, reports and other articles which helped me to gain more experience, both in Project Management and in writing.

Most of all, I want to thank my wife for her support. Thanks for letting me get on with it.