Folder structure do-loop
The Issue
I'm struggling with folder structure — specifically, where to put different projects within a workspace or workflow.
Background
I needed to build a presentation to guide a workshop. The outputs of that workshop then drove a second presentation to roll out a new governance model for a type of Project Management Office (PMO). I did this using concepts I've learned, but before I had a solid understanding of folder structure. Here's what I ended up with:
Current Folder Structure
Company-Name/ ← Client/customer folder
├── drafts/
├── resources/
│ └── Company-Name - Template.potx ← PowerPoint template
├── IMO_Governance_System/ ← Project 1
│ ├── CONTEXT.md
│ ├── Governance_Model.md ← Brain dump of current thinking
│ ├── Phases.md ← 5 phases of the to-be model (reference)
│ └── drafts/
│ ├── Escalation_Methodology_Infographic.html ← Draft slide output
│ ├── Opportunity_Management_Infographic.html ← Draft slide output
│ ├── IMO_Governance_Workshop.pptx ← Workshop deck (draft)
│ ├── IMO_Governance_Workshop_as_presented.pptx ← Workshop deck (final)
│ ├── IMO_Governance_Deck.pptx ← Final report-out deliverable
│ └── build_deck.py
└── Other-Project/ ← Completely separate project, same client
├── Final-output-document.docx
├── Background-document.docx
├── Background-email.eml
└── drafts/
├── Draft.docx
└── Draft.md
One top-level company folder with shared elements (drafts, resources) and one subfolder per project — everything related to a project lives together.
Proposed To-Be Structure
Using a content creation workflow model as a reference, I'm wondering if projects should be broken apart across workflow stages rather than kept together:
Company-Name/
├── CLAUDE.md ← Always loaded
├── CONTEXT.md ← Task router
├── writing-room/
│ ├── CONTEXT.md
│ ├── drafts/
│ │ ├── IMO_Governance_System/ ← Project 1 working files
│ │ └── Other-Project/ ← Project 2 working files
│ └── final/
│ ├── IMO_Governance_System/ ← Project 1 finished writing
│ └── Other-Project/ ← Project 2 finished writing
└── [production/, community/, etc. follow the same pattern]
The Question
Am I thinking about this correctly? What's tripping me up is the instinct to keep all project-related documents — regardless of workflow stage — in one place, as I would have done historically. The to-be structure would require moving or archiving everything into a common location after project completion if I ever needed it all together. Is that an actual workflow problem, or am I just being OCD about it?
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5 comments
Ron Rath
2
Folder structure do-loop
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