Don’t Fear the (Scope) Creeper

Scope creep, the change of a project scope, most often occurs in the later stages of a project, and while most project managers plan for scope creep to occur, it is often referred to as “the devil” that leads to project failure (Gurlen, 2003).

Recently, I had an addition put onto my house. I hadn’t planned on the addition, and had set aside the resources needed to repair a leaking carport. However, as we began the repair process, which consisted of replacing the 2 support posts and resurfacing the flat, rubberized roof, we found that it would be in the best interest of the home to replace the entire carport, as well as to enclose the back slab patio which was attached to it. Our “scope creep” came when we began to remove the aluminum wrapping from the original posts and found that the posts had rotted through and were soaked, both as a result of the failing roof, which we found had not been properly replaced the first time, but instead the original roof had merely been covered with a rubberized roofing surface. Because the seam of the roof had not been properly sealed, the cinder roof surface underneath became waterlogged and had potential to collapse at any time. The small weekend project had evolved into one that was out of our league!

What was under the aluminum wrap

The cinder roof that was under the rubber roof

   

It was after this discovery that the decision was made to replace the carport entirely. Upon meeting with a contractor to discuss my options, it was decided the new carport would consist of a peaked roof, which also meant the roof for the rest of the house would need to be replaced in order for it to match. The project began to spin out of control as we realized the carport was attached to the overhang roof of the back slab patio, which was made of fiberglass. Also, the carport backed up to a storage unit, that while structural at the time was sound, it would need some repair work. As we looked at the two options, which were to replace the carport and the house roof, and to then at a later date to replace the patio roof and make the repairs to the storage shed, or to do it all at the same time, the costs to do everything at once were much less than those involved in a two-step process.

Looking back on the renovations, should I have had someone more qualified than my dad and myself look at the carport initially before he and I decided to make the repairs ourselves, I would have had more of an actual idea of the “size of the beast” we were about to attack as opposed to finding out mid-battle. By knowing that, I would have been able to make a better decision financially in regards to the project, as well as had time to look at other options that could have been as effective but less costly.

Scope creep, while a lurking devil that will without doubt make an appearance, can be a nuisance, but acknowledging it is lurking when making your battle plan can keep your project from falling apart.

 References:

Green, S. (2003, December 2). Scope creep. Retrieved from http://www.umsl.edu/~sauterv/analysis/6840_f03_papers/gurlen/

Project Manager as Banker: Cost Estimating and Resource Allocating

The role of a project manager is one of many hats- that of a mediator, motivator, and leader to name a few, all of which help in keeping the elements of a project together. Of these roles, one of the most important ones the project manager must wear is that of the budget controller, or as I would like to refer to this hat as “the banker.” A banker, in general terms, is an individual who advises their clients with regard to financial matters. They must account for transactions that occur as well as the accompanying documents that are to be reviewed, gather information that relates to the client’s financial needs, and disburse funds (“Duties of a,” 2006). While a project manager doesn’t directly advise their clients with financial matters, in a sense they are protecting their clients’ finances by responsibly managing the overall project costs.

Project Management Cost Estimating Techniques

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/project-management-cost-estimating-techniques-40508.html

This article, written by Bert Markgraf, outlines not only the importance of cost estimation, but ways, such as empirical methods and historical costing, that have proven effective in doing so. Not only does the resource provide examples of when it is best to use one of the two before-mentioned ways, it also details the importance of cost estimating of resources and unit costs and how they also relate to the overall project success.

In addition to this article, the article provides links to other resources located in the host site, such as one entitled “Methods for Estimating Project Times and Cost.”

Project Management Guru: Project Management Estimating Tools and Techniques

http://www.projectmanagementguru.com/estimating.html

This resource details not only several ways of estimating project costs, such as analogous, parametric, and 3-point estimating, but also provides guidance as to the type of activities each is best applied.  For example, as I read through the uncertain activities, which the author classifies as the most difficult to estimate, I am forced to reflect on this week’s discussion about Justin Jordan and the uncertainties he was faced with while having to determine his project’s budget. As I reflected on this week’s scenario, and apply the concepts of the 3-point estimating tool which was recommended, I could see how in this case the estimating technique makes sense because it focuses on risk assumptions, forcing the project manager to look at several scenarios, from a worse case to the best case, while creating cost estimates to present to clients.

As a project manager, the hats we will wear will not only vary from project to project, but the hats we will choose, or be chosen for us, will vary by those which make up our project team. However, no matter the project, there will be the time which we will have to put on the banker hat and when we do, we must be ready to look at all the options before making a financial decision that in the end will overextend our resources.

Referenes:

Duties of a banker. (2006, November 17). Retrieved from http://www.exforsys.com/career-center/career-tracks/duties-of-a-banker.html

Getting Your Point Across

As a project manager, communication will be a key factor to the overall success of the project at hand. As with colors, clothing styles, and technological tools, everyone has their own preferred way to communicate, however sometimes one way is much more effective than another.

For example, this week we looked at a message that had been delivered in three different forms: as an email, a voice message, and between two people as a conversation. When I first read the message as an email, I simply did just that- I read the message. I understood that as “Mark” I had information and data that “Jane” needed to finish her own reports, but it wasn’t until I could hear the urgency in her voice in the voice mail that I was able to determine how much she needed my information and how it was effecting her performance on the project. Email, in my opinion, is a tricky thing. It’s good for quick communication, but it is hard to detect emotions through an email. In fact, it can often lead to major problems should the underlying tone be misinterpreted, leading to a communication breakdown, so it is important that through email communication be clear and brief (Hack, n.d.). While voicemail messages can also be misconstrued, one also can, if they choose to listen to the message and not to simply “hear” what the other person is saying, pick up on the vocal inflection the person leaving the message is implying, such as a casual tone or one of urgency. Of course, if you truly want to get your message across, the last scenario in my opinion is the most effective-delivering it face to face to the person it is intended, because it allows the receiver of the message to interpret the deliverer’s body language as well as vocal inflection. Body language, or non-verbal communication  is often used to supplement what we want to say through gestures, moving, or facial expressions (AL-Nashar, 2012). As I watched the third method of delivery, I could see the worry in “Jane’s” face as she let me, “Mark,” know the importance of the reports  to her, for because she didn’t have the information she needed to complete her own tasks. To me, this brought to life the words of Charles Dickens, who once said that electronic communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true, meaning by coming to “Mark” in a face-to-face environment, Jane has put herself in a situation that could be uncomfortable in order to ensure her success (n.d.).

Effective communication between team members creates a feeling of trust and a sense of belonging. By ensuring that project-related information is shared, and that each team member specific skills are utilized and is acquainted with the team goal, project managers can begin to build that trust, which in turn can lead to comfort in sharing issues that may need to be resolved through the course of the project (Panse, 2011).  To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to communicate with others (Robbins, n.d.).

AL-Nashar, K. (2012, March 30). the importance of the body language in business. Retrieved from http://www.live-from-campus.eduniversal-ranking.com/live-from-hiba-higher-institute-of-business-administration/tips-tricks/the-importance-of-the-body-language-in-business.html

Dickens, C. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/communication.html

Hack, M. [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.marcandangel.com/2007/05/28/email-communication-problems-how-to-communicate-effectively/

Panse, S. (2011, December 23). Small group communication: Effective team communication. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/small-group-communication-effective-team-communication.html

Robbins, T. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/communication.html

Getting Back on Track

As my journey at Walden University continues with the focus of instructional design, we begin to look at positive and negative behaviors seen in project management.  Over the past three years, my school building has made the transition from a reactive behavior management plan to a proactive behavior management plan called Positive Behavior Support, known commonly in the field of education as PBS. As part of this transition, I have become a member of a design team to aid in the implementation of this plan.

In the plan’s initial year, we as teachers were expected to follow a rubric guide that had been created at the district level outlining the desired behaviors of the students. While the rubric was clear, it was overwhelming and in the end, several teachers chose to not refer to it at all, classifying it as “just something else to do.”

The second year of the program, a team was assembled to take the before-mentioned rubric and put it into terms that were not only friendly to the staff,  but were also friendly to the students.  As a team, we took the given expectations for each area of the school building and created posters that outlined the desired behaviors and posted the posters in the various areas of the building, such as the restrooms, hallways, pods, and cafeteria. We also created lesson plans for the teachers to use to help teach the desired behaviors, but again, several teachers felt this was overwhelming and too time consuming, therefore allowing the plan to appear to fail.

This year, our team decided to try a new approach to the solution, as the district has seen success in other buildings outside of ours. Because the posters were already in place, and the lesson plans created, we decided as a team to change how we delivered the expectations of our plan. After we “tweaked” the previously developed lesson plans, we assembled a “toolkit” for each classroom teacher that included the lesson plans. As part of the toolkit, we also developed a “student check-sheet” that was written in student-friendly terms so that the students themselves could be responsible for self-evaluating their behaviors and “Leading Leopard” cards that are awarded to students caught demonstrating the desired expectations, which when earned enter students into weekly prize drawings. Next, we developed a series of stations designed to teach the expectations, with each station leader using the developed lesson plans for that particular station, and students spent 20 minutes at each station on the first day of school practicing the expectations. Lastly, we developed a video that demonstrated the expectations from the lesson plans. The video was shown every day for the first week of school, and is additionally shown the first Wednesday of every month. As we have progressed through the school year, the data we have collected has shown a larger decrease in disciplinary measures at the administrative level than those of years past.

Looking back at the process of designing and implementing this plan in our particular building, had we taken more time in the development of materials at the beginning of the process, I feel that we could potentially have seen a consistent decrease in administrative discipline over the three year time period rather than just a consistent decrease over the current school year. Had we done what was done this year in the first year of the plan, I feel the buy-in from all stakeholders would have been much less resistant, for it seemed that when we took the time in developing a plan that was specific and practically applied, the buy in from teachers was more consistent building-wide.

Just as one creates and follows a map to get to their destination, a project manager creates and follows a plan when designing a learning module, and as we all know, sometimes when we are asked to take an unplanned detour, which can throw us off course. However, it’s our choices during these detours that determine our success. Detour signs are put up by the road crew as guides to getting us to where we need to go, or in project management, the failed attempts help us to better prepare our plans and serve as lessons that can help us avoid making the same mistakes again in future projects. 

Distance Learning: Moving Beyond Its Years

          Distance learning, while far from a new concept, has come a long way from its early days of conception. From its days of being conducted through mail correspondence to today, distance learning has endured many facelifts, partially due to the increased ability of technology (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek, 2012). Assignments that once were sent in an envelope to an instructor several states or countries away in order to be graded through the U.S. mail can now be submitted to the same instructor in a matter of seconds through the Internet. Learners who were once forced to attend classes in a local environment now have the ability to complete coursework in subjects like marine biology through schools in Alaska without leaving Iowa through a few simple keystrokes. Everyday we see technology grow and evolve, and with each new development, the tools available for the distance learning environment become more and more numerous and accessible to online course facilitators and learners, allowing for more learning opportunities. In my opinion, it is the growth of these opportunities that allow for the growth in the perception of distance learning. As distance learning opportunities have increased, so has the integrity of these opportunities, and as they continue to grow over the next five to ten years, and even the next ten to twenty years, those attributes that were once seen as possible negative aspects of online learning will be so common it will be hard to fathom that these opportunities were every questioned.

         

          As instructional designers, it becomes our roles to create instructional experiences that rival those created for the traditional classroom. By using technological tools that engage the learner in their learning experience as well as in a well-organized format, learning online can be as motivating and exciting, if not more than those experiences in had in a traditional setting, at the same time allowing for the learner to complete coursework on a flexible time frame that meets their needs as well as ease their fears. By doing so, learners will theoretically have positive learning experiences, and will share their experiences with other potential learners. And as instructional designers who stay atop of new technologies that become available, the personal quality of these experiences can only be improve, which in turn has the potential to attract more learners.

        While I can’t speak for my fellow instructional design colleagues about how we as instructional designers can be a positive force for continuous improvement in the field of distance learning, I can speak for myself. In my opinion, it becomes my role to be an advocate for online learning by dispelling misrepresented facts about online learning to those who are hesitant to take the plunge into one of these increasingly growing opportunities. By remaining knowledgeable of emerging trends and technologies, I will be able to ease concerns of these learners as well as develop the tools they may or may not need to succeed.

        Distance learning isn’t going away. In my opinion, it is just the opposite. The present is pregnant with the future, and distance learning is becoming so common in today’s educational experiences that the learners of tomorrow will see it as we see fast food restaurants and disposable diapers today, and that would be as something so common, learning without it would be unfathomable (Voltaire, n.d.).

References:

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Voltaire (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/future_5.html

Changing It Up

While there is truth in the old saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” (Bertam, 1977), there is also truth in saying “ whoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times” (Machiavelli, n.d.). A training manager, whose primary role is to deliver practical skills, knowledge, understanding, and motivation to the staff in order for them to carry out work-related tasks, also assumes the secondary role of determining the best practices for doing so. This is done by identifying learning needs and monitoring trainee progress, and, perhaps most importantly, evaluating learning and development programs to ensure they are relevant and meet the learners’ needs (“Training and development,” 2012). Therefore, a training manager who has noticed a decrease in communication with trainees during training sessions needs to determine what needs to be done differently in order to meet the learners on their terms, which for this generation of learners, known as digital natives who are characterized to have shorter attention spans and prefer hyperlinked information and immediate feedback , are resources such as web 2.0 tools that allow for them to simultaneously interact with others and content (Hart, 2008).

When converting materials that were once delivered in a face-to-face environment to materials that will be delivered to learners in an online forum, several things must be considered. It is not simply about transferring content, but about transforming content, a process that is part art, part science. In doing so, it becomes the role of the training manager to determine, in addition to the before-mentioned responsibilities, to determine the best way to present the content while using the strengths of online medium to create interaction between the learners and content, the learners as a whole, and the learners and trainer. Also, as with a face-to-face training, the trainer needs to determine how to assess the success of learning and effectiveness of the presentation and the learning (“Converting to online,” n.d.). However, in order to do this successfully, the trainer needs to understand that his role has changed, and instead of being the one who delivers the training, the trainer’s role now becomes one who facilitates learning by encouraging participation, being objective, making the material relevant, and requesting responses in order to determine not only if learning is occurring, but also to determine what may need to be further addressed in the face-to-face portions of training (Berge, 1995).

The following chart, while not being applicable to every situation, is a guide that can be used to help aid in conversion of a traditional training module to an online training module.

While offering the element of convenience, a hybrid-learning environment lends itself to being a collaborative learning environment that is personalized and individualized to the learning audience (Miller, 2012). So while the concept of training isn’t broken, there is still a need to fix its outward appearance in order to appeal to and meet the needs of those we train. 

References

Berge, Z. L. (1995). The role of the online instructor/facilitator. Facilitating computer conferencing, 35(1), 22-30. Retrieved from http://www.cordonline.net/mntutorial2/module_2/Reading 2-1 instructor role.pdf

Bertam, T. (1977). Retrieved from http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/if-it-aint-broke-dont-fix-it.html

Converting to online. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.elearnspace.org/starting/converting.htm

Hart, J. (2008). Understanding toda'ys learners and meeting their needs through differentiation. Learning solutions, Retrieved from http://c4lpt.co.uk/articles/images/understandinglearners.pdf

Machiavelli, N. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.leadershipnow.com/changequotes.html

Miller, A. (2012, Octiber 12). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/blended-learning-engagement-strategies-andrew-miller

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Training and development manager. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.cogent-careers.com/roles/profile&id=11

Free or Not, Are All Online Learning Experiences Created Equal?

This week, I was asked to evaluate a free, online course and determine whether the course appeared to be carefully pre-planned and designed for a distance learning environment. While during this program I have looked at other online course, in light of the upcoming elections and the saturation of political ads in which music, both patriotic and other genres, is often used in the background, I was drawn to the course titled “Politics in Music” designed by Courtney Brown, found at the following URL: http://www.courtneybrown.com/classes/podcasts.html

When designing an online learning experience, whether it be a synchronous or asynchronous course, it is recommended the facilitator considers the general ability and learning styles of the learning audience (Simonson et al., 2012). Upon the initial viewing of the course, I was immediately overwhelmed. Perhaps this is because during my experience with Walden University, I have experienced a very clean, well-organized online classroom through the use of BlackBoard and another CMS, and as a learner, we bring with us our prior learning experiences that will in some way impact other learning experiences (Simonson et al., 2012). In these experiences, the materials for the online course have been organized into weekly topics, making navigation through the information relatively easy for the learner. While the side menu bar for this particular course was clearly labeled, it was not focused on the learning topic. In fact, the page displayed not only resources for the above-named course, but for other courses the professor taught as well. It also was unclear as to whether the course was truly an online course, a hybrid course, or a blended course. Yet, clear directions were given as to how to access the PodCasts, which were being used to presented the course materials, and the topics were organized in a fashion ranging from earliest musical forms to the most recent, the topics seemed more to have been “dumped” onto the “course page” for the learner to sift through at their convenience. There were some links that helped a new online learner, and eventually through the links on the side menu bar, I was able to find a course syllabus. Despite these pieces of the puzzle, it is my overall opinion the course was designed more for a traditional classroom learner, or perhaps a hybrid-learning experience, and not as a true online distance learning experience that considered the learner as well as their learning styles.

While distance learning requires the learner to take as much, if not more, responsibility in the learning process as the instructor, it shouldn’t be a mapless treasure hunt that has the potential to lead the learner in circles. Constructing a meaningful learning experience, whether it be in the traditional classroom or an online environment, takes time, planning, and careful execution to ensure that learning occurs without frustration, and while there is truth to the old saying, “you get what you pay for,” in terms of education, it is my opinion that whether it be a free online course or one that access is granted to on the basis of payment, if the layout of the course fails to lend itself to the learning objectives, both the learner and instructor will fail.

References:

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.