In this weeks blog I will be discussing a situation that happened in my life where I was working on a project and experienced set backs due to different reasons. There are many people and situations that cause scope creep to happen during a project. Portny describes scope creep as a natural tendency of a project team member or stakeholder to try to improve a project as it progresses. Based on what we have learned about scope creep I would say it isn't a bad thing, it just gets in the way of the completion of a project.
A good project I could use in my real life that would be a good example of scope creep effecting the end date and budget was when I had to get work done on my car. I know that everyone who drives has issues with their car and needs to get it fixed once in awhile so will probably be able to relate to this.
Let me give you a small background on the project. I found out one day that my car was leaking a fluid and after further inspection found out that it was power steering fluid, it explained why I was having a hard time turning with my car. I also found out that it was a gash in one of the lines and couldn't be temporarily fixed. I kept replacing the fluid every time I needed to travel until I could get time off and money to make the repairs. I had a friend that does good work on cars who said that he could fix mine for a good price and I just had to give him a week. We agreed that I would purchase the parts and he would do the work for free as long as I gave him reasonable time.
The first part of scope creep that I ran into was when, after looking at the front end again, my friend recommended that I might want to spend the few extra hundred dollars to replace all the moving parts because they were rusting very badly. This of course was outside of the project scope because I was only going to fix the power steering and wasn't expecting to spend the extra money but I decided that it was a good idea and I would leave the car with him for 2 more weeks to fix while I was on vacation.
After I came back from vacation I found out that the job had not been completed yet because of unexpected circumstances like budgeting problems and material problems. Some of the parts that were originally ordered were not correct and had to be reordered causing the project to go over the planned budget and take even longer.
The next example of scope creep that happened came from myself. After all the work was done I insisted that the car get taken in anyways to a certified mechanic to do a maintenance check and ensure the work was done well. Again this wasn't planned and even though my friend insisted it wasn't necessary but even though it cost me a bit more money and time I decided it would be a good idea. As Stolovich says we should draw ideas and information from our team. We don't have to take their advice but it is a good idea to get other opinions, especially if change is going to happen with the project.
In this projects case I was the PM so was able to make executive decision about things like money. No matter what I didn't have control over time because I wasn't the one completing the work and unexpected things occurred to. Even though I was a PM there were things that I could have done to help my project have a more expected end. I should have planned extra money into the project as we learned, a minimum of 20%. As the situation came up with my friend needing more money for more parts he told me that it happens especially when you're working on a car. Things often come up that need to be replaced that we didn't plan. I also should have either planned more time for my friend to do the work or discussed a more urgent need to get the work done for me. It would have been nearly impossible to give him extra time so I should have discussed better terms of time to complete the project or found someone else that could maybe do the work faster for a little extra money.
I hope you all can relate to my project and maybe even learn something for yourself for future reference. There are certain things that can help resolve issues in any project. Things like communication and pre-planning come to mind first for me.
References:
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.
Video Program: “Monitoring Projects”, Walden University, 2010
Video Program: “Practitioner Voices: You Can't Win Them All”, Walden University, 2010
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Estimating Costs and Allocation Resources
This weeks blog is about tools that we can all use to help us estimate the costs associated with an ID project. I will post a few websites that can be used for help with creating a budget.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project-help/goal-estimate-costs-HA001104092.aspx
This first website is put out by Microsoft. It of course is promoting its own software but there are still a few good pieces of information on it. The first thing is that if you do own or use any of the software it is talking about then it gives you step by step instructions on how to do what it is recommending. The information listed on the site is very basic and keeps everything broken down into small steps. This is good for someone who is new at creating a budget because to much information makes it easy to confuse someone.
http://graphicdesign.about.com/od/pricing/tp/estimating_tasks.htm
This last site is good, especially when paired with the previous one, because it goes into more detail. Once you know what to include for a general budget this website gives you many examples of things you might need to add to a budget. Not only does it list items you might want to include on a budget but it also gives an explanation as to why you would want to add it or for what situation. What makes the site even better is that at the bottom it lists additional links to help you find more information and examples.
I hope these websites will be useful for you and you get the chance to take advantage of them at some point.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project-help/goal-estimate-costs-HA001104092.aspx
This first website is put out by Microsoft. It of course is promoting its own software but there are still a few good pieces of information on it. The first thing is that if you do own or use any of the software it is talking about then it gives you step by step instructions on how to do what it is recommending. The information listed on the site is very basic and keeps everything broken down into small steps. This is good for someone who is new at creating a budget because to much information makes it easy to confuse someone.
http://graphicdesign.about.com/od/pricing/tp/estimating_tasks.htm
This last site is good, especially when paired with the previous one, because it goes into more detail. Once you know what to include for a general budget this website gives you many examples of things you might need to add to a budget. Not only does it list items you might want to include on a budget but it also gives an explanation as to why you would want to add it or for what situation. What makes the site even better is that at the bottom it lists additional links to help you find more information and examples.
I hope these websites will be useful for you and you get the chance to take advantage of them at some point.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Communicating Effectively
This weeks post will be about communication. Most of us have probably played the game as a kid where someone whispers a message in your ear and everyone passes that message on one by one. Once the message gets to the last person it usually is different. This is a problem with communication between two people, whether it's because they misheard or misinterpreted doesn't matter.
I will also be discussing how a message can seem to have a different meaning depending on the medium it is on. (Ex. voice mail, in person, and email)
My first interpretation is of an email. In this email Jane is informing Mark that she needs to know when he will be able to finish his report because she needs to get information from his report to finish hers. She said that he could also just send the information she needs to her via email. Part of the reason she is in a rush to do it is because she has her own deadline of when she has to get her report turned in. She also mentions that she heard he would be in an all day meeting.
My second interpretation is of a voice mail. It is the exact same message just left in a voice mail. I interpreted the message in the same way as before. I do feel it would be better as an email since Jane was requesting information to be sent back to her.
The final form of communication is a face to face conversation. I got the same interpretation of the message. The difference with the face to face communication is that I felt the need to take care of it right then and there instead of putting of until later.
One thing that I learned from this assignment is that the mode you use depends what information you are trying to get. As I mentioned earlier I feel if you are looking for an email back with information I feel an email is the best form of communication. Also I feel a face to face communication will get more immediate results.
Even though I interpreted the messages the same each time I understand how someone could easily get a different interpretation of the message based on the form of it. Facial expressions and gestures that you receive during a face to face communication give off another message while you're talking. I feel tone and urgency is the biggest difference you find with different modes of communication.
I learned that there are many different forms of communication that can be used in all sorts of situations. As a PM I would decide in advance and inform the rest of the team what forms of communication should be used either for all communications or at least in what situations.
Reference:
Laureate Education. (Producer). (2010). [Online]. The Art of Effective Communication. Retrieved from Walden University eCollege.
I will also be discussing how a message can seem to have a different meaning depending on the medium it is on. (Ex. voice mail, in person, and email)
My first interpretation is of an email. In this email Jane is informing Mark that she needs to know when he will be able to finish his report because she needs to get information from his report to finish hers. She said that he could also just send the information she needs to her via email. Part of the reason she is in a rush to do it is because she has her own deadline of when she has to get her report turned in. She also mentions that she heard he would be in an all day meeting.
My second interpretation is of a voice mail. It is the exact same message just left in a voice mail. I interpreted the message in the same way as before. I do feel it would be better as an email since Jane was requesting information to be sent back to her.
The final form of communication is a face to face conversation. I got the same interpretation of the message. The difference with the face to face communication is that I felt the need to take care of it right then and there instead of putting of until later.
One thing that I learned from this assignment is that the mode you use depends what information you are trying to get. As I mentioned earlier I feel if you are looking for an email back with information I feel an email is the best form of communication. Also I feel a face to face communication will get more immediate results.
Even though I interpreted the messages the same each time I understand how someone could easily get a different interpretation of the message based on the form of it. Facial expressions and gestures that you receive during a face to face communication give off another message while you're talking. I feel tone and urgency is the biggest difference you find with different modes of communication.
I learned that there are many different forms of communication that can be used in all sorts of situations. As a PM I would decide in advance and inform the rest of the team what forms of communication should be used either for all communications or at least in what situations.
Reference:
Laureate Education. (Producer). (2010). [Online]. The Art of Effective Communication. Retrieved from Walden University eCollege.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Post Mortem
This weeks post is about a project that I was a part of in the past as a technology teacher at a public high school. I will discuss why the project was not as successful as everyone involved hoped it would be.
I was a new teacher at a school in Maryland and was coming in to the start of a new program that the school wanted to kick off. It was an engineering program that was successful all over the country. The school wanted me to take the reigns of the entire program. That includes the planning on how to teach it, the budget and list of materials needed. I even had to figure out a way to recruit and keep the students in my classes since all technology courses are electives I didn't have graduation requirements on my side for enrollment.
The principal and Board of Education for the district had a vested interested in the success of the program because of the money that was going into it and it being a new program they wanted it to be successful. I would call them the stakeholders for this project. I was both the ID and PM due to my long list of responsibilities. The students also played a roll in the project because they had to be successful and want to enroll and stick with the program. I also had the support of my department chair but since he didn't know the content as well as I did I only had his help with equipment restraints, space in the classrooms, and basic supplies.
The students were very successful that did enroll in the course and followed through, but even with that success there were flaws and failures in the project. I must admit that one of the problems with the project was myself, the PM. Not only was I new to the school, I was also a first year teacher out of college and had never run my own classroom before. Not only did I have to create I successful program from scratch but I also had to learn the basics, first hand, of being a teacher.
Another problem I had was that the project began in late may of the year I took it over but I didn't arrive on the scene until late July. During that time someone else was in control that didn't really know what they were doing and spent a good portion of the allocated funds on something they thought was needed but wasn't. They also began the initial student enrollment process and set up my first few classes for me. As we all know taking over a project in the middle that was run by someone else always causes problems for the new person on board.
Some of the successes were in student performance and that was due to my expertise in the content and how I taught the material. Since I was fresh out of college I knew a lot about new technologies and math used in engineering.
One of the steps outlined by Greer as steps needed to manage a project were already taken care of for me by the previous PM. Like defining the project concept, getting support and approval. Step 2, getting my team together and starting the project, was started by the first PM, hence my being there, and then was taken over by me to find whoever I needed to help me be successful. Step 3 was already decided for me because we knew that we wanted good enrollment and retention in our courses and of course student success, money was of minor concern at this point.
In the end I feel the big problems with the project were the, what I feel, bad planning of the first PM and project team. Followed by a bad division of job responsibilities and inexperienced PM. Also since no one had done anything like this before there were a lot of people that didn't know what to do or expect. I feel to many people tried to take on to many different jobs at once to try and make this project successful.
References
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.
I was a new teacher at a school in Maryland and was coming in to the start of a new program that the school wanted to kick off. It was an engineering program that was successful all over the country. The school wanted me to take the reigns of the entire program. That includes the planning on how to teach it, the budget and list of materials needed. I even had to figure out a way to recruit and keep the students in my classes since all technology courses are electives I didn't have graduation requirements on my side for enrollment.
The principal and Board of Education for the district had a vested interested in the success of the program because of the money that was going into it and it being a new program they wanted it to be successful. I would call them the stakeholders for this project. I was both the ID and PM due to my long list of responsibilities. The students also played a roll in the project because they had to be successful and want to enroll and stick with the program. I also had the support of my department chair but since he didn't know the content as well as I did I only had his help with equipment restraints, space in the classrooms, and basic supplies.
The students were very successful that did enroll in the course and followed through, but even with that success there were flaws and failures in the project. I must admit that one of the problems with the project was myself, the PM. Not only was I new to the school, I was also a first year teacher out of college and had never run my own classroom before. Not only did I have to create I successful program from scratch but I also had to learn the basics, first hand, of being a teacher.
Another problem I had was that the project began in late may of the year I took it over but I didn't arrive on the scene until late July. During that time someone else was in control that didn't really know what they were doing and spent a good portion of the allocated funds on something they thought was needed but wasn't. They also began the initial student enrollment process and set up my first few classes for me. As we all know taking over a project in the middle that was run by someone else always causes problems for the new person on board.
Some of the successes were in student performance and that was due to my expertise in the content and how I taught the material. Since I was fresh out of college I knew a lot about new technologies and math used in engineering.
One of the steps outlined by Greer as steps needed to manage a project were already taken care of for me by the previous PM. Like defining the project concept, getting support and approval. Step 2, getting my team together and starting the project, was started by the first PM, hence my being there, and then was taken over by me to find whoever I needed to help me be successful. Step 3 was already decided for me because we knew that we wanted good enrollment and retention in our courses and of course student success, money was of minor concern at this point.
In the end I feel the big problems with the project were the, what I feel, bad planning of the first PM and project team. Followed by a bad division of job responsibilities and inexperienced PM. Also since no one had done anything like this before there were a lot of people that didn't know what to do or expect. I feel to many people tried to take on to many different jobs at once to try and make this project successful.
References
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.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Welcome
Welcome to those of you that are viewing my blog. My name is Stephan and I am currently enrolled in an online course called Project Management in Education and Training.
I would like to say that I appreciate your interest and look forward to teaching you and learning from you as the weeks go by and as I post to this blog
I would like to say that I appreciate your interest and look forward to teaching you and learning from you as the weeks go by and as I post to this blog
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