As soon as a project involves other team members you need to take into account their time constraints. Some of my projects involve scheduling time with faculty members to assist them with a particular issue they are having. These projects are obviously then subject to their schedules and other commitments.
I am very careful to get my projects done on time (to scope) but occasionally scope creep sets in and my project can end up taking longer than I thought it would. One of the projects I am working on at the moment involves assessing the state of the interactive whiteboards at the school and making a recommendation to purchase replacement boards within the next budget period. This process is taking longer than expected as it is difficult to get access to the boards to test them (they are being used all day). In itself, the fact that they are being used all day should mean that they are working fine, however that isn't the case. Many of the teachers are just 'making do' with the functionality that they have. There isn't enough communication from the teachers about the issues they are experiencing with the boards. Therefore my team and I have to throughly test each board after hours which isn't happening quickly enough. It seems in this case there are two things causing scope creep: lack of communication and accessibility.
Hi Linda
ReplyDeleteExcellent point regarding the need to account for each team member’s other time commitments outside the project which may influence the project in unexpected ways. I would posit that this applies to all stakeholders (project sponsors, people not part of the project but who will be impacted by it, etc.) as well. You noted that your team’s ability to be to complete their assigned task of assessing the whiteboards due to limited accessibility. Cooper (2013) noted “one of the most critical aspects of project management is doing what’s necessary to develop and control relationships with all individuals that the project impacts…The goal of a successful communications approach is to manage expectations and minimize surprises” (Cooper, 2013). Based on what we’ve been discussing in our project management course over the last few weeks, are there any planning strategies that you would recommend to the project manager to gain more buy-in from the classroom teachers to make this process run smoother?
Heather
Reference
Cooper, B. (2013). What you must know about stakeholder management. Corporate Education Group:Chelmsford, MA.
Linda
ReplyDeleteExcellent blog post on how lack of communication and prioritization can affect a project, which in turn can lead to scope creep. We know that one of the best methods for mitigating risk and successfully managing the project is communication. “The ability to communicate well, both orally, and in writing is a critical skill for project managers” (Portny, Mantel, Meredith Shafer, Sutton and Kramer, 2008, p. 357). By you keeping your team members informed using formal and informal means of communication and both verbal and written you can keep the project on time which is key to any projects success.
Also I applaud your ability to prioritize between your school and home life. Too often a project can take over someone’s personal life that after a while they live from project to project. In some cases “project managers find themselves assigned to multiple projects at one given time” (Portny et al, 2008, p. 17). and can eventually suffer from burnout. In addition you talked about having access to the white boards and teachers in order to make your evaluation. Lynch and Roecker talked about this issue as it relates to scheduling. “Schedule control is a ‘balancing act’ for the project manager. Initial estimates are sometimes not as accurate as we would like. Some activities are completed ahead and some behind schedule. If they are not on the critical path, they will not affect the overall completion date” (Lynch, & Roecker, 2007, p. 97). It seems that you either access to the whiteboards was not on the critical path or you found an effective work around to the problem. Either way it worked well for you!
References:
Lynch, M. M., & Roecker, J. (2007). Project managing e-learning: A handbook for successful design, delivery, and management. London: Routledge. Copyright by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
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.
Linda,
ReplyDeleteYou stated that there isn't enough communication from the teachers about the issues they are experiencing. I am wondering what you could do to increase or strengthen communication between your team and these stakeholders. In the past, I have used electronic surveys to assess technology usage and issues with the teachers I worked with. Perhaps you could create a survey to ask questions such as: (1) Do you have an interactive white board in your classroom? (2) Do you experience any issues with the whiteboard? (3) How often do you use the whiteboard? (4) Do you feel you could use the whiteboard more if certain issues were corrected? (And if so, what are those issues).
Could an alternative such as this be of use in this situation?
I wish you well in your project. I know all too well the constraints of trying to work with teachers while being the least disruptive to the learning environment.
Tiffany