Week 6 - Analyzing Scope Creep

Assignment:  Describe a project, either personal or professional, that experienced issues related to scope creep. What specific scope creep issues occurred? How did you or other stakeholders deal with those issues at the time? Looking back on the experience now, had you been in the position of managing the project, what could you have done to better manage these issues and control the scope of the project?


I was involved in a project a number of years ago in which my company decided to sponsor a couple of families during Christmas time. The intention was for employees to purchase presents for these two families, and then have a little party where we would give the families their gifts. All of the employees were enrolled in the project and promised to bring gifts. The date of the party was set and the interests and sizes of the family members were distributed. Two days prior to the date of the party, all employees were informed that the number of families “we” were now going to be sponsoring was six, not the original two, and we were “expected” to provide enough gifts for everyone. (scope creep) Most employees were aggravated with both the change in the number of families we were sponsoring as well as the late notice. Management did little to alleviate the concerns, but reiterated that there needed to be enough gifts for everyone. Result, come day of the party; there was not enough gifts for all family members. A few of the employees realized this, took up a collection and went shopping right before the party to get the rest of the gifts.

In retrospect, had I been in charge of this project, I would have a done a few things differently. One is if I wanted to expand the original scope from two families to six families, I would have informed all staff and gotten buy in from them. Second, very obvious, I would have given them enough notice to do the shopping they needed and to wrap the gifts. Another thing I would have done is created a sign up list for people to say what they bought and for whom, so we could manage that all family members obtained gifts and there were no duplicates. Finally, I would have requested all gifts were purchased and brought into the office by a certain date, so if we were short, it could have been dealt with immediately.

Looking back, I remember many of us (the employees) were inspired by the original project. We were excited to be part of a team making a difference for others. By the end of the project, although we knew we made a difference, we were annoyed and felt abused by the company because we felt pushed into spending more money than we originally anticipated. Scope creep definitely has an impact on both projects and people and consequently needs to be managed effectively.

Week 3 - Communicating with Stakeholders

Assignment:   view the multimedia program "The Art of Effective Communication." In this program, you will observe a piece of communication in three different modalities: as written text, as audio, and as video. Pause after receiving the communication in each modality, and reflect upon what you interpret the message to mean. Think about the content and tone of the message. Record your interpretation of the message after receiving it in each modality. Post your interpretation of the message as it was delivered in each of the different modalities, pointing out what, if anything, changed about your interpretation from one modality to the next. Then share a synthesis of your thoughts regarding what this activity implies about communicating with members of a project team. What did you learn that will help you communicate more effectively with others in the future?

It is likely not a surprise to anyone that effective communication is vital to successful project management. Through communication we are able to share and exchange information with others, as well as influence another’s behavior, attitudes and understandings (Portny et al. (2008). Communications style differ amongst individuals and what works well with one person may not work as well with another. It is important that we develop an awareness of our own communication style and how that style influences what we view as effective communication. For example, my communication style in a professional setting whether written or verbal, tends to be very direct and specific. I make requests and attach dates and times to my requests (ie: please let me know by Friday end of business when I can expect to receive the financial report for the Kensington project). For me, I have to be responsible that sometimes my communication can be too direct, and depending upon my audience I may have to alter the tone of the message.


When I consider the message delivered by the three different forms of communication, I would say that for me, the most effective style was the email, however having said that, I was not impressed with the message itself and believed it to be ineffective. I viewed the email first and my interpretation of said email was that Jane needed something from Mark, she was understanding of his schedule, but needed it soon. She seemed cordial, but languid in her request. For example, she was not at all specific in what she needed she only said “the report”, with no further information about what report, and no specifics about when she needed it. She stated “soon” which is open for interpretation. She further did not request that Mark get back to her to acknowledge that he got the message and by when she could expect the report.

The second message delivered by voicemail was similar in that it lacked the necessary details. Again, she seemed cordial and understanding of his time, but her tone had a hint of blame. My interpretation was that she was kind of blaming him that she could not get her report done. There seemed to be a hint of desperation in her voice as well, however the lack of details and a specific request of by when he could send the information negated any urgency.

The third message delivered face to face was the least effective. Her body language and tone of voice left me with the impression that although she wanted the information, there was no need to rush. She seemed like she was just asking for the report because she was “supposed to”.

What I learned from this exercise was that it is important to know your audience and to be very specific with regards to ones requests. If I were on the receiving end of the message in this exercise, I am not sure that I would have taken the actions that Jane intended for me to take in a timely manner. Jane assumed that I knew what report she was talking about, and she assumed that I would get it to her “soon”. Soon for me is likely different then soon for her. Being specific is very important. Second, with regards to knowing your audience, people will perceive communication in different ways, and it is important that whenever possible, we review our communication to ascertain if it could be perceived by another in a way unintended.

References

Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, & Sutton, (2008). Project Management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Week 2 - Learning from a Project "Post-mortem"

Assignment – recall a project that you worked on in the past, either personal or professional, that was not successful or did not result in the desired outcomes. Then, reflect on the following:

• What processes, project artifacts, or activities did you include in the project that contributed to its success?
• What processes, project artifacts, or activities did you not include in the project that might have made the project more successful?

The project that I have chosen to discuss is one from my personal life. Going into this project, I did not even consider using project management techniques. In fact, much to my dismay, I did not even take on this project the way I would take on any professional project. At best, I would say the way I took on this project was haphazard, and I have the results to show for it.

The Project and the Things that Worked

A couple of years ago I was transferred to Sevierville, TN and I decided to buy a house. I chose the house I did because it was in a perfect location for me, and it has a huge covered front porch with enclosed wooden railing, allowing me and my dog to sit on the porch and enjoy the view. When I bought the house I was aware that it required some cosmetic work to have it look the way I wanted. The work was primarily painting, taking down wall paper, changing the base boards, new interior doors, new blinds, and some electrical rewiring in the living room because I planned to remove to very ugly chandeliers.

In retrospect, I did initially use some project management techniques: wrote a list of tasks, ordered these tasks, met with an SME (an interior designer friend), and enlisted a friend who was a contractor to assist me with instillation of ceiling fans and some electrical work. I also enlisted help from a friend and my housemate to do the painting, and located a contractor who I could hire to install the baseboards.

I decided to take on my front porch and my living room first. With the assistance of the interior designer, I chose the ceiling fans that I wanted for the living room and front porch, I picked out and purchased the paint color, purchased new wooden blinds for the living room, purchased the baseboards and the stain for the baseboards in the living room and found someone who could install the baseboards (a hired contractor). The work commenced, my housemate did the painting, and stained the baseboards. (He got a substantial discount in rent for his work). The hired contractor installed the baseboards and the interior decorator and I installed the new wooden blinds. As it turned out, my housemate also had to install the ceiling fans because my friend (who was a contractor with electrical experience) who promised to install the ceiling fans and do the rewiring, kept promising he would come over to do it, but never did.

The Result and What did not Work

With the exception of my bedroom being painted, completion of the living room is where the project ended. Is this where I wanted the project to end, no way. Much is missing from my original intentions. I have two gaping holes in the ceiling of my living room from where I removed the chandeliers, but never completed the electrical work necessary before covering the holes. I have never replaced the interior doors, wall paper in the two bathrooms was never removed, new baseboards throughout the house were never installed, the kitchen, bathrooms, and bedrooms were never painted and new blinds for the bedrooms were never purchased. Why did the work never get completed? Two big reasons, lack of planning and a budget was never created.

In retrospect, I can see a lot of things that I could have done differently to produce the result I wanted. First, planning – I didn’t spend any time planning and defining the scope of the project. Had I really analyzed the scope of the project, I would have likely created a multi-phased plan and grouped similar tasks together. For example I could have completed all the painting at one time, and then stained all of the baseboards at one time and had them all installed at one time. Instead, I broke it down by doing a room at a time. Had I used perhaps a work breakdown structure I could have charted the work and seen the many overlaps.

Second, creating a budget – Although at the time, I did not have a limitless amount of money, I was making good money, so I operated in such a way that I would just spend the money when an expense came up. However, this was short lived because my job moved into a slow season and the good money, became okay money. In other words, I no longer had the same resources, I had to be more careful. The result being I was not able to invest in the money to hire someone to fix the electrical problems, I could no longer pay my housemate to paint the rest of the house, etc. Had I created a budget from the onset, and set aside money for the project, I would have likely made different choices. For one thing, I would have bought in bulk. An example of this is when I purchased the baseboards. Had I done the measuring for the whole house, I could have purchased all of the baseboards at a reduced rate. Without the planning I only knew how much I needed for the living room, so I paid a higher rate.

Had I taken this project on and used some of the processes and tools we are learning in our project management course, I would likely have a completed house designed exactly how I want it. Today, I have a living room that is 90% how I want it and a bedroom that is about 75% how I want it. The rest of the house is “fine”, just not how I would like it to be.

The Start of a New Class - Project Management in Education and Training

Distance Learning is over, and Project Management in Education and Training has begun. As previously, from time to time I will post comments, thoughts, and ideas from my course work. Feel free to offer your own thoughts and ideas. Instructional Design and Technology is a wonderful, growing field with so many different areas of concentration, there is so much to learn...feel free to post anything and we can learn together.

Week 8 - A Reflection of Distance Learning

It is hard to believe that another course is coming to a close, just a few more to go, and my master’s program will be complete. As this course draws to a conclusion, I have been asked to reflect on the future of distance learning. As with any advances in society, there are skeptics, people who may not believe change is necessary or that change can bring about improvements. They plead their case, and often they have valid arguments, yet change is inevitable if we humans want to continue to grow. I believe distance learning is an important advancement for our society and that it will not only survive the voice of the skeptics, but it will thrive.

Dr. George Siemens pointed out in the video The Future of Distance Learning, there is a growing acceptance of distance learning. People are seeing that with all of the advances in online communication, for example the ability to talk “live” via video conferencing on the web, distance becomes a relative term. These technologies will continue to advance. More and more people will become comfortable with these tools, and will continue to find ways to take advantage of these advanced technologies. Distance learning is just one way to use these communication technologies to benefit the advancement of self.

I think that as people begin to explore the advantages of distance learning, for example the sheer convenience of learning in one’s own home, and for the most part on their own schedule, more people will gravitate to this form of learning. The skeptics will voice their concerns; the education is not as good, not everyone can learn effectively this way, how do we know that it is the registered learner who is doing the work, etc. Albeit these concerns are valid, they will not stop the growth of distance learning. Much research has been done to explore the effectiveness of distance learning, and the research literature shows that distance education works (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2009). As Simonson, et al., (2009) states “the keys to successful distance education are in the design, development, and delivery of instruction” (pg. 9).

Educational professionals and instructional designers are instrumental to the growth of distance education. The technological advances will continue, people will continue to become more comfortable using the advanced technologies, and the benefits of distance learning will become more appealing. It will be paramount that the educational experiences of the distance learner are equivalent to the experiences of the traditional learner. Instructional designers and educational professionals must continue to design and facilitate extraordinary learning experiences. These experiences must be designed with all of the best practices for design and delivery utilized. There must be a foundation of integrity and professionalism at the foundation of each educational program.

References
 

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Week 7 - Facilitating Distance Learning

Assignment

Consider the following scenario: A training manager has been frustrated with the quality of communication among trainees in his face-to-face training sessions and wants to try something new. With his supervisor’s permission, the trainer plans to convert all current training modules to a blended learning format, which would provide trainees and trainers the opportunity to interact with each other and learn the material in both a face-to-face and online environment. In addition, he is considering putting all of his training materials on a server so that the trainees have access to resources and assignments at all times.


Based on what you have learned thus far in this course, formulate a best practices guide for this trainer to follow when converting his program to a distance learning format. Include ideas and tips that could assist the trainer in facilitating communication and learning among his students.

Here is the guide I created - Guide.pdf

Week 5 - The Impact of Open Source

ASSIGNMENT
Select a course from a free Open Course site and write a 1- to 2-page analysis that includes the following:

• Does the course appear to be carefully pre-planned and designed for a distance learning environment? How so?
• Does the course follow the recommendations for online instruction as listed in your course textbook?
• Did the course designer implement course activities that maximize active learning for the students?

The course I selected was one from Open Yale Courses, entitled “The Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1845 – 1877”, located at the following web address: http://oyc.yale.edu/history/civil-war-and-reconstruction.

To begin with, I am thrilled with the idea of open courses. I had no idea such a thing was available and I am excited with the possibility that over time I could “take” some of these courses and expand my knowledge on subjects like civil war history, which back in my undergrad days, I had no interest in learning. Open courses like the one I reviewed definitely have a place in a vast array of learning opportunities, specifically self-directed learning, however when it comes to good instructional design for distance learning, the course I reviewed is definitely lacking . Having said that however, one must keep in mind the intention behind making these courses available. Open Yale Courses provides free and open access to a selection of courses taught by Yale professors. As stated on their website, Open Yale Courses created a project to “expand access to educational materials for all who wish to learn”. It is their intention that the “lectures and other course materials on this site will be a resource for critical thinking, creative imagination, and intellectual exploration”. Given these are courses taught at Yale, being made available to the public for free as self-directed learning, many of the distinctions of a well designed distance learning course are missing.

First let me clarify a working definition for distance education directly from our course text, Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek (2009), “distance education is an institution-based, formal education where the learning group is separated, and where interactive telecommunications systems are used to connect learners, resources, and instructors” (p. 7). The course I reviewed does not fall into this definition of distance education because there is no interaction with an instructor or other learners. Education, learning is definitely possible, but the course itself does not appear to be designed inside the parameters of this definition. The course is a face-to-face course that was placed onto the web to give others access to learning about the civil war. For its purpose, a self-directed course on the Civil War, I think it is fabulous. A course syllabus is included so one has direction regarding what will be covered. The course is divided into 27 class sections with videos and transcripts of the lectures, required texts and assigned readings are listed, and films about the war can be viewed. Again, a great self-directed course.

Considering some of the best practices in course design for distance education as outlined in our text, many of these practices are missing in this course. Some of the factors that Simonson, et al. (2009), believe to be important include: student-instructor interaction and student-student interaction perhaps through discussion groups, a variety of teaching and learning strategies and methods that are activity based, opportunities to assess progress through papers, quizzes or exams, and the use of multimedia (print, audio and video). Given this course was designed as a face-to-face course which was then placed on the web, no interaction amongst other learners or instructors is available. Consequently a great way to learn, collaboration with others, is not possible. I do not believe multiple learning strategies were considered. For the most part the course is straight lecture, with incorporated reading assignments. Completing the reading assignments for this course could be quite daunting and expensive given 13 texts and two anthologies of documents are utilized. Although in its origination, papers and a final exam were used to assess progress, this course is self-directed, the learner would have to come up with his/her own way of assessing progress. And finally, multimedia was incorporated into this course, however its primary function was video of the instructor delivering his lectures.

As I stated above, I enjoyed reviewing this course and will likely in the future take the time to go through the different lessons, but it is not a well designed distance learning course. If this course were to be taught inside the definition of a distance education course, it would have to be redesigned, or learners would likely drop out of the course. I do believe it would be quite possible to deliver this course as either a hybrid (face-to-face and online) course or a strictly asynchronous online course, but to be effective an instructional designer would have to redesign it using sound instruction design methodology.

References
Open Yale Courses(2010) retrieved October 6, 2020 from http://oyc.yale.edu/

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.