Addressing Issues and Risk to Avoid Scope Creep

Planning a project takes a lot of time, patience and skills.  When a team is collaborating to accomplish an instructional design project the project leader must communicate to the team, provide resources to get the work accomplish, create a statement of work, discuss budget constraints, assure the team knows their roles and responsibilities, and stay on a timeline all constantly measured by a project scope.  It can be a time consuming task to make sure all procedures are implemented.   If a project is well defined and all rubrics to the project are done, what can go wrong?  What causes scope creep in a project?

I remember when I had to lead a project for an instructional design module.  My team and I had to train learners about the use of technology in the classroom.  We each had our roles and responsibilities to fulfill in the project.  The ADDIE module (Clark, 2011) was used to develop an instructional plan and an online evaluation piece.  Each team member was in charge of one module of the analysis, design, development, implementation and evaluation, in order to make the process go according to guidelines.  During the first progress meeting one of the project members was behind in the task, and another member did not completely understand the process.  During the second progress meeting, I had to change the project scope and rearrange task and responsibilities.  Later on during the development, all of the resources had to pull together and make sure each part of the plan was completed, before the extended deadline was up.  “Project managers can design monitoring and controlling systems specifically targeted for schedule performance, work-effort, and expenditures.  Monitoring and managing scope creep and project change are two overarching control responsibilities” (Kramer, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, & Portny, 2008, p. 317).  If issues and risk associated with the project are handled and/or analyzed in a timely manner than revisions must be made to insure the project development.

How could this scope creep been avoided?  I think I should have communicated the objectives more clearly and as a team, we should have collaborated on each other’s strength and weaknesses.  In addition, we should have known to discuss any issues ahead of time.  As a project leader, I should have made it clear to the team that if any of us did not think our part of the plan would be completed on time for the first review and evaluation phase, then we should communicate that to a team member to insure all areas of the development and design phase would get completed.  Communication, collaboration, effort, dedication, and experienced all were factors that contributed to the development of scope creep. 

In order to avoid scope creep the project leader must prepare status reports, communicate to the team make task, focus on the timeline, budget, and client satisfaction (Stolovitch).  Issues should be addressed early in the process so revisions can be made in a timely process.  A project manager’s job in a development of a project plan can be tedious, but if the support team collaborate and stick to the project scheduling then the process can go according to schedule.

References

Clark, D. (2011, September 25). Big dog & little dog's performance juxtaposition: Addie model. Retrieved from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/history_isd/addie.html

Kramer, B. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Portny, S. E. (2008).Project management planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. (pp. 317-347). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Stolovitch, H. D. (Performer) (n.d.). Monitoring projects[Web]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=/webapps/blackboard/execute/launcher?type=Course&id=_1373694_1&url= 

PM Software for Project Scheduling - Planning Made Easier!

Planning a major project can be a little tedious.  Creating a task list consisting of timeframes, start/stop time, cost, duration, risk factors, milestones and resources require much planning hours.  Project managers can rely on PM software to make the process less tedious.  The web is full of different resources full of approaches to handling cost measures for project planning. 

GanttProject is free online software that project managers and other learners can use to adequately develop a Project Schedule and Resource Allocation Plan.  Once the software is learned and the actual events are loaded in the software then all of the components to the budget become accessible through charts, graphs, and spreadsheets with detailed information regarding project scheduling.  

 

Another great software for project planning is ProjectPlan.com.  I must say this is my favorite.  This software has everything a learner needs to create resources, milestones, Gantt charts, risk factors, program expenses, work breakdown structure, added attachments, and many other components to creating an accurate budget and project plan for a major development.  It is very user friendly and incorporates different aspect of the project plan so the PM can create different modules of information and combine all the material together to create an accurate project schedule.  The best incentive to using this software is the dashboard capabilities.  It allows you to monitor the status of your project by utilizing the graphs and resources you have allocated to do jobs.  It is a great software to use to actually plan and monitor the progress of the development.

 

 

References

GanttProject Team. (2003-2012). Ganttproject free project scheduling and management. Retrieved from http://www.ganttproject.biz/

Portnell, M. (Producer) (2011). Introduction into ganttproject 2.5 [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rHCSa5ad34&feature=youtu.be

Project Manager Online Ltd. (2010). Projectplan.com create and share your plans online. Retrieved from http://www.projectplan.com/

Projectplanvideos. (2011). Project planning [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSLvC0CjnVk&feature=pyv&ad=11170653224&kw=%22project%20planning%22

 

 

 

 

Communicating with Project Teams & Stakeholders

The Art of Effective Communication Through Email.

Effective communication is beneficial to planning an instructional design project.  How can project managers effectively communicate with team member?  Face-to-Face, online communication and voicemail are the common ways of communication.  As I listened to the multimedia program “The Art of Effective Communication” (Laureate-media.com), I can clearly perceive how effective one way of communication may be more acceptable than others.

As an asynchronous learner, I use multimedia sources and email for much of my communication.  As I was reading the email information, the message was well displayed and I comprehended the reasoning for the email.  The participant needed some reports in order to complete her deadline of producing work.  Was the email effective in relaying the message?  I would say yes because the email was direct and to the point. The only negative aspect to email is that people may not respond.  I truly believe “if you find you have to write a very long email to do justice to the subject, you may be better off having a face to face talk. Long emails tend to breed long replies” (People Communicating, 2009-2010).  Even when I communicate to my cohort, project team or coworkers, I will send direct and to the point emails.  Most of the time the emails turn into instant messaging because the conversations are so straightforward.  In this way, I can identify with this method.  With voice-mails, there is a similar comparison because voice-mail messages tend to be direct also.

The Art of Effective Communication through Voice Mail.

The voice mail recording in the program did have a lasting effect on how I recalled the message.  I was able to hear the tone and really get a feel of the importance of the needed document.  The way a person communicates can be a determining factor in a project.  Stakeholders and internal clients need to be a part of any type of instructional design project, making a good impression by voicemail to communicate issues is a rubric for success.  Voicemail communications appear to be highly useful especially in the techno world of web2.0 and the busy lifestyles of the working force individuals.  I must say after I head the same message in voicemail, I did get an urgency to contact the client right away or just respond back if not by voicemail then by email.  The visual modalities of message had the same effect on me.

Communicating Through Face-to-Face
Conversations.

I found this experiment to be very interesting.  As I listened to the presenter state how important, the data in the report was to her project,   I actually saw and heard the sincerity in her face, voice and presence as she sympathized with the workload of the receiver.  This was the same message displayed three different ways, but I really seem to get a different outlook on the message from the face-to-face presentation.  In any type of face-to-face business meeting whether it is in a conference room or an asynchronous environment where everyone is video conferencing, the project team must present themselves in a professional manner and/or in a manner that is conducive to their stakeholders.  “Through communication people exchange and share information with one another, and influence one another’s attitudes, behaviors, and understandings” (Kramer, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, & Portny, 2008, p. 357).  For this reason, alone I felt like the face-to-face communication has the greatest impact on stakeholders.

Any time clients, internal and external customers, and stakeholders are involved in a project there are going to be multiple forms of communication.  Is one communication more effective that others?  Probably not, but communication has to depend on the clientele, the environment and the stakeholders.  It is more likely that multiple types of communication will be prevalent in business.  Communicating by email allows project members to be direct with ongoing progress and issues.  Voicemails enables the client to listen to the presentations of any concerns or updates with project needs.  Most of all face-to-face allows a visual that sets a precedence over the atmosphere of the team.  All of these effective ways of communicating are beneficial to any project.  I utilize all forms of commutations when I am working on a project with a team.  I have learned from watching the multimedia program that face-to-face had a lasting impression because it actually gave the team members, stakeholders, internal and external clients the ability to watch a team member voice her concerns and request documents needed for a project or work assignment.  The appearance and tonality of her speech would make a positive impression on a team member as well as a stakeholder.  

References

Kramer, B. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Portny, S. E. (2008).Project management planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. (pp. 356-370). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Laureate-media.com. (Producer) (n.d.). The art of effective communication [Web]. Retrieved from http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/mm/aoc/index.html

People Communicating. (2009-2010). Effective email communication. Retrieved from http://www.people-communicating.com/effective-email-communication.html 

E-Learning Training Module Project

Constructing a training module with a team of instructional designers could be a little challenging.  I was part of a team that utilized the ADDIE module to implement an instructional plan and build an asynchronous training module.  The team consisted of me the project manager, a designer, developer, and an evaluator who was responsible for the overall learner evaluation and feedback.  The project was overwhelming at times but at the end all of the building blocks came together and the project was finalized and a success.  What was so frustrating about the project?  Everyone had his/her own task in the project, but work ethics became an issue.

I was very satisfied with the deliveries at the end of the project.  The team pulled together and resolved any gaps that were missing.  As a team, we accomplished the goal of implementing an instructional plan and developing an asynchronous learning environment full of multimedia designs and engaged task for the adult learners.  As a project leader, I think the most frustrating part of the project was making sure the team members’ roles were executed and deliveries were finished in a timely manner.  Some of the members waited to the day of deadlines to turn in work into the wiki for review.  Some work was never completely finished which caused other members to assume different roles.  “It’s so important to really identify all of the people who need to be involved” (Achong) in the project.  All roles were clearly defined and timelines were clearly stated.  The estimations of the finishing product were set based on the materials, work efforts and programming needs of the project.  Six weeks was enough time to build a training module and project plan.  If the team’s roles were a little different, I think a lot of the procrastination that was involved would have been minimized.  Some of the users’ roles should have been reversed.  Now that I think about it, some team members were better at designing the project and using software applications  whereas others may have been better in monitoring feedback from the users and analyzing the learning audience needs.

As a project leader, I could have analyzed my team better to make sure everyone was comfortable in his or her roles.  As the project progressed once I saw a signs of frustration with some of the team members, I should have reacted quickly to the needs of the team.  Even though members communicated on which part of the project they felt comfortable with, once the work was in production and timelines had to be met, some members felt overwhelmed and did not realize how much involved they became in the project.  Not all of the prior planning and implementing measures seemed relevant.  “Designing instructional programs requires good organization in order to be successful” (Murphy, 1994, p. 9).  Even though the overall project was a success and provided much information for learners, if I had to do it all over again I would make sure the team is well equipped in their roles and responsibilities.

References

Achong, T. (n.d.). Practitioner voices: Overcoming 'scope creep [Web]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=/webapps/blackboard/execute/launcher?type=Course&id=_1373694_1&url=

Murphy, C. (1994). Utilizing project management techniques in the design of instructional materials. Performance & Instruction, 33(3), 9-11. Retrieved fromhttps://class.waldenu.edu/bbcswebdav/institution/USW1/201320_02/MS_INDT/EDUC_6145/Week 2/Resources/Week 2 Resources/embedded/Murphy_W2_6145.pdf