EDUC 6145 Week 6 Blog: Analyzing Scope Creep

Scope Creep of a Training Project

There are many situations in which a project, whether personal or professional does not go as planned. Unexpected changes such as additional activities being added in the middle of the project, someone on the project team leaving the department, or the stakeholders decide they want to move the project in a different direction. Even though changes are likely to happen in a project, there are ways that the individual who is managing the project can help control the scope of the project in order to get it back on track. In this week’s blog posting, I will be discussing a professional project that experienced issues related to scope creep.

So, what is scope creep?

According to Reference.com (2012), scope creep is when there are uncontrolled changes in the scope of a project. This can happen when a project is not properly defined, managed, or controlled. (Dictionary.com, LLC., 2012). Ultimately, this can cause much frustration among the project team and the project manager.

Project Background: A specific process that was being processed by staff in certain department was going to be handed-off and managed by staff in a different department within the organization. The new department did not know how to complete the steps in the process, so the employees needed to be trained on the new process. Some of the steps in the process were changing with the hand-off to the new department. Initially, eight weeks were provided to design, develop, and deliver the training for the staff once the content was handed off to the instructional designer.

Scope Creep Issues: First, once the designer began to develop the training, she discovered that the process steps were more complex than what was originally presented in the project kickoff, planning, and hand-off meetings. The instructional designer realized that more information needed to be obtained in order to create proper training for the staff and would require additional time to complete. As she looked at the project plan dates and her calendar, she knew there would not be enough time to develop a high quality training session for the staff. Secondly, assumptions were made by the stakeholders that the additional information would not hinder project being completed as scheduled. However, once the stakeholders began reviewing the training material a couple of weeks later, they realized the content in the material needed to be presented in a certain way in order for the process steps to make sense to the staff being trained on the process. Ultimately, what was supposed to be an eight week project, turned into a six month project!

What could have been done differently? If I had been in the position of managing the project, there are several methods I would employ to help manage these issues more effectively and control the scope of the project. First, I would have utilized the Change of Scope Document as Dr. Stolovich discusses in the first video this week titled “Monitoring Projects.” I would require the stakeholders to agree to the changes outlined in the document and provide approval. According Portney et al (2008), a change control system should be implemented in all project plans and should require approval in writing (Portney et al, 2008). In addition, I would ensure to analyze the overall impact of the change. According to Greer (2010, p. 36), the exact scope of the change should be clearly analyzed, including the “schedule, quality of the finished product, costs, project team assignments, including level of effort, and other deliverables, including their amount and quality” (Greer, p. 36, 2010). By clearly analyzing the complete scope of the changes, this allows the project manager to determine how the project will be impacted at all levels.

References

Dictionary.com, LLC. (2012). Scope creep. Retrieved October 11, 2012 http://www.reference.com/browse/Scope_creep

Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.

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

EDUC 6145 Week 3 Blog: Communicating Effectively

Communicating Effectively

Due to the advancements in technology, people can communicate in many different ways, such as voicemail, email, instant message, text message, blogs, discussion groups, and through social networking to name a few. While the advancements in technology have allowed for more types of communication to become readily available, there is still a need for human connections to be made face-to-face or through other means such as live video conferencing and voice messages.  As Greer (2010) mentions in his project management eBook, “Seek first to understand, then to be understood” (Greer, p. 48, 2010). 

Sometimes when we communicate with others, our message can come across the wrong way. Maybe it could be due to the type of communication we are using when communicating with others.

Is this what happens to you sometimes with your message? Does it end up being interpreted the right way to the other person? What can happen if your message turns out like this?

 

For this week, I was tasked with reviewing a communication that was delivered in three different modalities: email, voicemail, and a face-to-face conversation. After reviewing each of the modalities, I recorded notes of my interpretations and the factors that influenced how I perceived the message. I have provided a brief summary of my interpretation of the message in the different modalities below.

Email: When I read the email and was able to see the words versus hearing them in a voice mail or face-to-face, I was able to take more time to read the email and digest the information. Right away, Jane called out the fact that Mark is busy. The tone of the email created a sense of urgency by mentioning that she may miss her own deadline. In addition, Jane placed the ownership back on Mark to get the information to her in a timely manner by using specific words, such as ETA and soon. The overall tone of the email made it seem like Jane was frustrated at Mark because she did not have the missing report yet and may miss her own deadline.

Voicemail: When I listed to the voice mail, I could also hear a sense of urgency in Jane’s voice. Overall, her tone in the voice mail sounded like she was annoyed and upset at Mark for not getting the report over to her and that it may cause her to miss her deadline. Again, Jane has placed ownership on Mark to get the report to her in a timely manner.

Face-to-Face Conversation: During the face-to-face conversation, Jane sounds friendly and not upset at Mark. She also sounds calm, the tone of her voice is even, and the pace is good. She makes good eye contact with Mark and uses good hand gestures, which indicates her body language is positive. Furthermore, her smile at the end of the conversation seems genuine and sincere. The face-to-face communication was by far the best communication out of the three forms because Jane sounded friendly, made good eye contact, and smiled throughout the conversation.

After completing this activity, I have learned that choosing the right method of communication when working with a project team can prove to be critical to the success of the project. If it is possible, face-to-face communication is usually going to be the best way to communicate with people on a project team. This allows everyone to interpret the individual’s tone, and look for non-verbal communications, such as body language and how the person makes eye contact with others. This can be accomplished much better through face-to-face interaction. According to Portney, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer & Sutton (2008), "Choosing the right method can stimulate the group's continued interest and encourage them to actively support the project" (Portney, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer & Sutton, p. 282, 2008). The right form of communication can also keep everyone on the project team motivated and inspired, especially during difficult times. After all, we not only want to keep everyone interested in the project, but also inspire each individual on the team to complete the work to the best of their ability.

Resources

Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.

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

EDUC 6145 Week 2 Blog: Learning from a Project “Post-mortem”

Learning from a Project “Post-mortem”

For my blog posting this week, I will write about a project I worked on in the past as an ID that was not successful and did not result in the desired outcome. Once I reviewed and answered the questions on pages 42-43 of The Project Management Minimalist e-book, this gave me an opportunity to reflect upon the project and which areas were successful and those that were unsatisfactory. I will provide a brief summary of the project and answer the two questions outlined below.

Project Background:

This particular project involved a specific process that was going to be changing responsibility from one department to another. The department who was going to be taking on the responsibility needed to be trained on the new process, along with receiving step-by-step job aids for future reference. I worked directly with a SME in two different departments – operations and the department who was taking on the responsibility of the process. We held a project kick-off meeting and several meetings from the time of the project kick-off to the implementation of the project. Although the SMEs reviewed the training material and job aids several times throughout different phases of the project, the department who was taking on the responsibility raised concerns about the new process after it was implemented and the staff was trained. Ultimately, this caused re-work of the job aids, which took a significant amount of additional time and resources to complete.

Question #1: What contributed to the project’s success or failure?

The main area that contributed to the project’s failure was that all of the stakeholders, SMEs and individuals in my department were not on the same page when it came to the content of the process. Even though all parties held meetings and provided their approval of the process, there were requests made to have changes made during the implementation phase.

Question #2: Which parts of the PM process, if included, would have made the project more successful? Why?

The parts of the PM process which should have been included in order to make the project successful are the following:

1.      Estimate time, effort and resources (Greer, 2010): During the initial phases of the project, everyone agreed upon this information. However, I believe the time, effort and resources were underestimated for this particular project because the scope was not properly identified and mapped out by the stakeholders.

2.      Handle scope changes (Greer, 2010): When the new department realized there were changes they wanted made during the review of the materials, they should have let the team know right away instead of waiting until the implementation phase. This could have made a huge difference in the success of the project and allowed me to properly handle the scope of the project in order to make the necessary adjustments prior to the training of the staff.

 

Resources

Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.

Patriot Day - Remembering 9/11

Dear Fellow Bloggers,

I wanted to be sure and take a few moments today to remember all the individuals who were lost and are affected by the tragic events that occurred on September 11, 2001. Our nation changed on that day -- forever. As we learn more about the the many stories from individuals who experienced the tragedy, I am touched by the acts of heroism and courage. These stories remind me that good will rise above the evil, even though there was so much tragedy on that day.

One of the many stories that touched my heart is about the "Man in the Red Bandana" who saved many people and has inspired others to make a difference as well. When I first read the story about Welles Crowther, one of these amazing heroes from that tragic day, I was struck by what his friend John Howells said in the interview.

"He could have taken the easy way out. There are a lot of situations in everybody's life where you can take the easy way out. You can just go with the flow and you can do what everybody else was doing -- everybody else was running out of the building. He really listened to his gut. And was a hero for it. So I kind of look at it from that standpoint, I think all of us could do that a little bit more and make more of an impact in the world." -- John Howells

At his funeral, there was a statue of the WTC Twin Towers with a Phoenix bird rising above. His family believes that good prevails evil, and the statue is a symbol of that. Finally, what really struck me about this story is that Welles was the same age as me. To know that someone the same age as me was able to help and save so many people, it inspired me to help others as much as I could.

Thank you for the wonderful comments!

Hi Fellow Bloggers!

Thank you so much to those who are following my blog and have provided such wonderful comments! I am so glad to hear you enjoy my design and layout. The goal of my blog is to make it both educational and fun as well. :-D

Happy Learning!
Jackie

Travel Journal

Hi Everyone!

In case you were not aware, I also created a travel journal blog last year. If you are interested in following this blog as well, here is the link: Jackie's Travel Journal. My travel journal blog contains information on where I have been, where I would like to go, and some helpful travel tips and resources. I even added a nice tool where you can search for pet friendly hotels, which works great! :-)

Enjoy and happy travels!
Jackie