Scope Creep – My Parent’s 50th Wedding Anniversary

This past October 1, marked the 50^th wedding anniversary of my parents. My four sisters and I wanted to plan a fantastic anniversary party for them and began talking about it during the summer of 2010.  The five of us either had young children or children in college and were on very tight budgets so we needed to make this anniversary party with a shoestring budget.

We thought before we set a budget that wouldn’t get us anywhere, we thought we better at least get an idea of how much we would need to pay for the two most expensive components of the party; the venue and the caterer. Once we had an idea of how much we would need for those items, we immediately came to an agreement that because it was already more pricey than we had anticipated, we would need to keep the rest of the planning (table linens, decorations, bar options, guest list, entertainment etc.) to an absolute minimum. We came up with a budget of $2,500 so each of us would pitch in $500. This $500 a piece was difficult for some of us to come up with so we knew there was absolutely no flexibility when it came to the bottom line.

Although we were in agreement with the scope of the party and the budget, it didn’t take long to realize that keeping the remaining party elements to a minimum was going to be an extremely difficult task. Our first indication was when we asked our parents for a guest list. Holy cow, who would have thought the guest list, would have been more than 150 people! the population of the entire town is less than 1000 folks! Sure we knew our parents were lovely folks and had lots of family and friends but until pen was put to paper, we failed to realize just how many friends they had including out-of-state friends who would actually travel hundreds of miles to come celebrate with them.

We had received an estimate from the caterer for $13.50 per person and thank goodness it included all the glass wear and linens! This quote, however, did not include the bar. We began calculating and realized that even if only 100 people showed up, we would have chewed up $1,620.00 (which includes 20% gratuity) of the $2,500 budget already and we were JUST getting started. Thank goodness, we were able to take advantage of my parent’s membership privileges at the Calumet club and only had to pay $200 for the venue. This left us with just under $700 for decorations, DJ, and to figure out what we were going to do about a bartender. We felt confident at this point that we could accomplish the remaining party items and stay within the established budget.

That thought didn’t last very long when one of my sisters suggested we needed to get our mom a corsage and our dad a boutonniere, and we should have place cards for the tables… and what about renting a limousine to take them to the club? Another sister mentioned that she had a sister-in-law who was a photographer and we could probably hire her to take pictures inexpensively. And by the way, what gift are we going to get for our parents, sure making a party is nice, but we all agreed we needed to get them a gift as well. OK, can someone say SCOPE CREEP!!!!?????

Realizing things were starting to get out of hand; we decided to rank these items in order of importance and deal with them one at a time. From our original plan, we knew we had to have music so should we hook an IPOD to a tuner/speaker or do we stay with our original plan and look for an inexpensive DJ? It turned out one of my sister’s friends agreed to DJ for us for only $100! Decorations were a must and we ended up spending around $300 for flowers and candles. We decided with only $300 to spare the limo was out and so was the photographer. After all, we had to save some reserve in case more than 100 guests showed up. It turned out we had no choice but to go with a “pay as you go bar” and the club’s bartender only cost $75 since we had 100 guests. I agreed to make the place cards myself using some stationary I had found in my file drawer. We spent $25 for our mom’s corsage and when the florist heard it was their 50^th, he threw in the boutonniere for our dad.  We were now down to bare bones at $200 and all agreed that provided this money was not used for additional catering costs, we would buy our parents a gift with the remaining funds. Planning this party was stressful because of the budget limitations and the scope creep we experienced. However, the party itself turned out beautifully except for the fact that my dad rolled his tractor three days prior and hurt himself badly enough that he couldn’t walk and had to be pushed around in a wheel chair the entire night.

To lesson the stress and scope creep there are a few things we will do differently next time (maybe when planning their 75^th?) First of all we should have began planning a little sooner which would have given each of us more time to save toward our financial contribution. Secondly, we may have considered obtaining the guest list prior to setting the budget. The number of potential guests took us totally by surprise. Thirdly, after deciding on a budget, we should have held a brainstorming session listing all the needs and wants associated with the party. This would have allowed us to collaboratively discuss the items and rank them from most to least important. We should have also agreed that once the project (budget and deliverables) were signed off and anyone wanted to add anything else, they certainly could but it would be at their own expense. This top down budgeting methodology would have been extremely beneficial since each of us could only contribute minimally to this project. (Portny et al, 2008, p. 123).

This was certainly an emotionally-charged planning project for us which often times contributed to the scope creep because we wanted everything to be just perfect for our parents. As Greer states “Project managers should approach changes of scope in a business-like (as opposed to emotional) fashion.

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

Instructional Design Project Budgeting Tools

Creating a budget for an instructional design project can be quite overwhelming at times but I found a couple tools that can facilitate this process.

The page found at this link: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/costs.html contain good information relating to estimating the costs for an instructional design project. As you scroll down the page you can read information about training costs guidelines (for example, average costs associated with creating video, audio or obtaining images etc.). As you continue to scroll down the page you will find estimates for development hours for face-to-face as well as e-learning, a percentage breakdown of time required for each task involved in a ID project plan and finally an “excel spreadsheet cost estimator” where the user is able to plug in specific information about the ID project and receive a calculation of dollars needed for that particular project.

The link above seems quite rudimentary compared to this link: http://www.bnhexpertsoft.com/english/products/advent/module4.htm In order to view the actual tool you will need to register for a 14 day free trial.  After accessing the link, click on “Downloads” on the left navigation bar and then click on “Manage resources and training budgets.” This software is a little overwhelming at first glance but is extremely powerful. It reports it produces can be viewed as charts or as text depending on your needs.  This software takes the data input and offers a course summary including: Base of comparison, cost distribution, user recommendations, projected revenue, projected ROI, and much more. I would highly recommend you take a look at this amazing software.

Effective Communication

This week in our Project Management class we were asked to examine several ways of communicating a message; email, voice mail, and face-to-face. In all three messages the script was the same but the messages came across a bit differently depending on the mode of delivery.

In the email that Jane sent she is letting Mark know that she understands he is busy but that she needs some data that is contained in a report Mark is putting together and is evidently late in completing. She lets him know that if he cannot send the entire report, to at least send the piece of information she needs in order to complete her task on time. The email is composed in a professional manner and comes across directly. I also had to read the email a couple times to make certain I understood her request because she uses the word “report” several times within a couple sentences and it was difficult to keep track of who’s report she was referring to. It was also difficult to know how Jane is truly feeling about the fact that Mark’s report is delaying the completion of her own report.

In the voice mail that Jane left, she advised Mark she needed the same information but was able to get the urgency of the matter across a little more effectively than the email by using voice inflection. Her tone revealed that she understood the fact that he may have been in an all-day meeting but at the same time she was quite direct and her voice expressed the fact that she seemed a bit frustrated that she had not received the information from him in order to complete her report. At the end of the voicemail she relayed the urgency of her request when she added emphasis on the word “really” when stating “I really appreciate your help.”

The face-to-face request made by Jane to obtain the information from Mark seemed less formal but was also very sincere and convincing. Her facial expressions and tone helped relay the urgency and clarify the intent of her message. Her smile and the way she lengthened the word “busy” when she said “I know you are busy” helped make it known that she understood and was empathetic about him being in an all-day meeting. Her raised eyebrows and emphasis on “your” report when she was stated “because your report contains data I need for my own…” conveyed the urgency of her request.

After experiencing the three modes of communication, it is evident that if I was on the receiving end of this request, I would definitely have preferred a face-to-face request because Jane was able to convey the urgency of her message and at the same time express her understanding of the situation using appropriate facial expressions and voice inflections. The facial expressions helped personalize the request and the use of voice inflections helped the important information stand out. The only concern I would have as a project manager was that if this was an urgent request and she was dependant upon Mark in order to complete her deliverable on time, it would be advantageous to have the request for his data in writing. If a voicemail or face-to-face request is, Jane has no documentation to back up the fact that the request was made. As our text points out “To minimize the chances for misunderstandings and hurt feelings, project managers should do the following: Confirm in writing the important information that was shared in informal discussions…” (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer & Sutton, 2008, p. 357).

References: Laureate Education, Inc., (n.d.). The Art of Effective Communication. Retrieved November 21, 2010 from: http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/mm/aoc/index.html

Portny, S., Mantel, S., Meredith, J., Shafer, S. & Sutton, M. (2008). Project Management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. San Francisco: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

Communications, Promotions and Education (CPE) Brochure – Post Mortem

In 2004 my organization was formed because management realized there was a need for a team of people who would concentrate specifically with communicating and educating the 450,000 providers that were contracted with us. In the past, any provider communication or education was provided by six regionally aligned teams and the messaging was not always consistent. We also had no centralized place for the providers to access information they needed when they needed it. Of course promoting ourselves to the physician community was one hurdle but letting people within our company know who we were and what we did was surprisingly the greatest hurdle of all. In August, 2004, a project team was formed made up of a project manager, instructional designer (me) and a writer. It was decided that we would create a CPE brochure that would help us introduce our team of project managers, instructional designers, writers, and promotional specialists and explain four main points: “Who we are,” “What we do,” “How we work with you,” and “Using our services.” We had funding in place for printing costs associated with distributing the brochure to our business partners (the areas within our company that would potentially use our services). Management had given their approval and everything was a go. Our kick off meeting was held  in September, 2004 and we discussed the development of a project plan which included the budget along with a timeline for deciding on; content, tone, style, brochure specs and printing options. It seemed everything was moving in a positive direction and we felt comfortable with both the budget and timeline that was set.

I provided three prototypes for our team to view each with a different style, tone, colors, text, font etc. We had a brainstorming session and the team decided to take certain aspects of one prototype and combine them with ideas from the second prototype to create the final draft brochure that was completed by January, 2005. By March, 2005 we were in our third round of battles with the design department (if it was to be printed – design needed to set it up according to print specifications) and falling way behind the timeline established. They had taken the liberty of changing images, style etc. which encroached on what our project team had already decided upon. In May, 2005 we had the final version of the brochure but now there was talk about budget cuts and the possibility that there would be no funding to support printing the brochure. There were discussions popping up about possibly posting the brochure on the newly-developed CPE website. We sat in wait for three months until August, 2005 to be told there was no budget for printing the brochure.In September, 2005 a new leader of CPE was hired so a couple more months went by while organizational changes were made, people laid off etc. In November, 2005 we had to present the brochure at a “manager’s meeting” to get the new organizational head’s buy in.

The holidays came and went and in January, 2006 the new CPE website was launched and guess what? All the content we had included in the brochure was now available on the website! There was no need for the brochure and it was retired into the dusty archives of projects past or failed, however you wish to view it.

Trying to remember back to 2004/2005 is quite tasking on the gray matter but I can recall the processes I contributed to that lead to creating a successful CPE brochure. Not that the project itself was a success but the deliverable was of good quality and would have served the intended objective if the budget had remained in place.

• Collaborated with the project team and communicated in an effective manner

• Designed three prototypes that when combined, resulted in the development of a final draft product

• Contributed feedback on other content in a timely manner

• Attended all team meetings

• Created the presentation for the manager’s meeting and participated in the meeting

• Continued to follow-up with the project manager during the entire process

Of course looking at the project as a whole there were so many things that went wrong. Some of these items were unavoidable such as, change in management and budget cuts but there were many processes we could have changed that may have saved months of work.

• We were a new organization and I do not believe we had a good feel for the intricate details required in a project plan

• We should have completed a more thorough scoping and realized we needed to allocate time for design services

• We should have made clear to design exactly what role they played in the project. Murphy states “Designers and project team members alike must clearly define their individual roles and responsibilities (1994, p. 11).

• We knew a website was being developed and should have stayed more in tune with what that project team was including in the site. This was what Portney, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer & Sutton refer to as a “known unknown: information you don’t have but someone else does” (2008, p. 41).

• Once we knew the possibility that the budget was being cut, we could have foregone sending the brochure to design and saved both organizations the headache and hours of wasted time

I’ve used these lessons on the projects I’ve been assigned to since and I can admit with confidence that project teams are operating much more smoothly six years later. There are always lessons to learn and I make sure to apply every last one of them toward the next project I take on.

References:

Allen, S., & Hardin, P. C. (2008). Developing instructional technology products using effective project management practices. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 19(2), 72–97.

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

Murphy, C. (1994). Utilizing project management techniques in the design of instructional materials. Performance & Instruction, 33(3), 9–11. Copyright by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Used by permission via the Copyright Clearance Center

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.

 

Project Management

Hi everyone,

I’m really looking forward to engaging discussions and blogs over the next 8 weeks. Talk to you soon

Converting a Face-to-Face Training to an Online Environment?

There are several best practices that should be observed when converting a face-to-face training into an online format. I’ve contemplated strategies to mull over prior to beginning the process,  aspects of the classroom training that can be enhanced  in a distance learning environment, considerations the instructor will need to make regarding his role as an online instructor and how trainees can be encouraged to communicate online. You can find these best practices listed in the attached document entitled “Have You Used Best Practices In Your Online Learning Environment?”

Have You Used Best Practices In Your Online Learning Environment?

The Future of Distance Learning

     I recently interviewed three professionals to get their opinions on distance education; a 42-year-old manager in a corporate learning department, a 48-year-old teacher in a traditional classroom and a 56-year-old human resource director for a government organization. Overall their thoughts on distance education were surprisingly progressive considering the fact that two of the three had never experienced a distance education course in a degree program and the third had a very bad experience the one time she participated in a distance education course. However, although their overall opinions  were good they all had reservations regarding online degree programs and indicated they would not consider an online degree candidate’s credentials at face value. 

     Unfortunately the legitimate schools offering accredited degree programs are fighting for their reputation against organizations that have no motive other than to issue diplomas in exchange for payment. The existence of these diploma mills has created bad press requiring accredited and legitimate distance education institutions to take on the extra burden of educating the general public on the differences between the fraudulent companies and themselves. Because online distance education emerged within the past 5-6 years, there are many consumers of media who are ignorant of the facts and tend to lump all online education into one bucket.

      This is where those of us who are instructional designers or knowledgeable in the field of instructional design come into play. We have the responsibility to help those we come into contact with understand just how valid an online degree program can be, if obtained from an accredited institution. When I’m asked what school I’m attending, I let them know Walden University. Most of the time a quizzical look appears on their face and at that moment I let them know it is an online degree program from a University in Minnesota. Naturally their next question is usually what are you studying? My answer is instructional design and technology and of course that usually prompts another funny look to appear on their face. I take time to explain the field of ID and exactly what I do. I think that fact that I am “in the know” and can give practical examples of how courses are specially designed for online, helps lend credibility to distance education.

      With continued honest and open dialogue around distance education and the popularity of online degree programs growing each and every year, it is just a matter of time that the public realizes the difference between accredited degree programs and “true” diploma mills. Along with the factor of time, I believe experience can serve as a great teacher. As an example, advanced high school students are taking online college courses, which in turn expose their parents and perhaps even grandparents to the legitimacy of distance education. My 67-year-old mother recently went to a community center to take a tour of Alaska. She was hesitant and thought it would be a boring film strip but with her friend’s encouragement she went. Afterwards, she couldn’t stop talking about how “real” it was because of the great picture quality and narrations the couple had added to their day-by-day account of the trip. I compare my mom’s experience to that of someone who, for the first time, takes the opportunity to attend an online education program. They cannot imagine the realm of possibilities until they open themselves up to the experience. Once engaged they come to realize the extensive technologies available that make it a “real,” effective and engaging classroom.   

      In addition to taking time to explain the field of instructional design and promoting online distance education to those I come in contact with, I believe it is important to stay abreast of new methodologies and advancements in technologies that can continue to improve the quality and effectiveness of the courses I design.

Pre-Planning for Distance Education

I reviewed the open course entitled PE 720 Weight Training, offered by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/athletics-physical-education-and-recreation/pe-720-weight-training-spring-2006/#features) There were a few components that aligned with proper pre-planning of a distance education course. For instance, the layout of the homepage was well-organized and provided a good first impression with an image of a weight room, a course description, and the technology requirements. A link is also provided for the learners who may need to download the RealPlayer software needed to view the video resources. The home page contains a tool bar to the left with links to the (1) Syllabus, (2) Calendar, (3) Readings, (4) Lecture Notes, and (5) Video. A link “Download Course Materials” is also provided should the learner wish to download the course materials to access while offline.

The Syllabus link followed the recommendations mentioned in our text and contained a detailed course description, a list of objectives and the background of the instructor which were all very informative. Unfortunately, the remaining links to the course left a lot to be desired where a distance education course is considered. The Calendar link is actually a table that lists each of the 12 sessions and the name of the topic that will be covered within each session but does not refer the learner to the corresponding readings or videos. I found the Weight Training course very difficult to follow. Perhaps I’m spoiled by the way Walden has organized our course by listing all resources, media, assignments, discussions, etc. under each of the eight weeks.

The Readings link is actually a list of several books with a link to amazon.com where the student can purchase related materials. I would have thought that this link would provide access to a library of articles much like our Walden library links. The Lecture Notes link is exactly that a PDF for each of the 12 sessions with text-heavy notes, no graphs, images or other visual aids to help the learner identify the ideas being conveyed. Ideally this course should have included a short video presentation and instructions for the student to actively participate by taking their own notes.

It seems the number one rule for converting traditional face-to-face courses into an online experience was broke when this course was transitioned. As Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek state “…courses previously taught in traditional classrooms may need to be retooled. The focus of the instruction shifts to visual presentations, engaged learners, and careful timing of presentations of information” (2009, p. 127). It seems one of the very few considerations taken into account is the Video link which contains media resources (no audio) which demonstrate proper weight lifting techniques. However, the videos that were provided could have been made more engaging by adding narration to help the student understand the points they should keep in mind while performing the specific exercise. For example, the narrator could have added directions on how to position the feet and shoulders, breath properly, space the hands on the bar, etc.

Other than the layout of the home page, the heads-up about the technology required to take the course and the Download Course Materials link (allowing students to access materials even if the school site went down), this course was much disorganized and did not include the necessary visuals and/or audio to promote key concepts via a distance learning environment. I also did not find this course engaging and it did not provide socially interactive opportunities that could lead to a better learning experience for the student. Deneen states: “For most students, engagement contributes to student learning, critical thinking, and retention of meaningful knowledge” (2010, p. 1). I understand this is a self-paced course and students are not necessarily taking it in a structured time frame. However, I believe interaction could have been weaved into this course by setting up a blog for students to ask questions, dialogue and give feedback. All in all, it does not seem much pre-planning was involved with this particular course.

References:

Deneen, L. (2010), Educause Quarterly. Student Engagement. Retrieved September 26, 2010 from: http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/StudentEngagement/206552

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

Technology Solutions for Distance Education

As an instructional designer, I am faced with choosing an effective technology that can meet the needs of a trainer who is expected to deliver a workshop to six regional offices, at different dates and times. The staff attending these workshops must be able to share information such as screen captures and documents and participate in ongoing collaboration with coworkers from each of the six regions. After reviewing different distance learning technologies, I decided a wiki would be an excellent solution.

“A wiki is a collection of Web pages that are linked to each other, and reflect the collaborative works of many authors” (Beldarrain, 2006, p. 142).  Wikis can facilitate team projects by providing a web-based shared space for team members to collaborate and communicate.  Members can upload documents, files, videos, PowerPoint presentations and images for all team members to view and edit. Project management features offer tracking mechanism for document revisions and task assignments so the project progresses smoothly.

In preparing for the workshops, the trainer can add the staff members as users and include the wiki link in the workshop invitation. The trainer can conduct this workshop from her own office by simply initiating a conference call. She may have already uploaded a video or PowerPoint to the wiki to introduce the new information system the corporation just purchased and can then invite the staff members to view the video or presentation via the wiki link. Participants can share documents and files by uploading them to the wiki for all to view.  After staff members from all six regions have attended the workshop; through the wiki, staff members will have the ability to access documents that were uploaded during these workshops, make revisions (initiating an email to other members when revisions have been made), and IM coworkers, regardless of their home region. This will allow the staff to participate in ongoing collaboration. “Social networking sites and online collaboration tools make it easier for employees to collaborate and share their knowledge. Add email and instant messaging (IM) to the mix and the result is a knowledge-sharing system that can bolster communication and productivity throughout an enterprise” (McClure, 2009, p. 22).

Here are two examples of wikis can be used in distance education:

Teaching Vocabulary and Grammar Online: http://pp104-06.pbworks.com/

English for Architecture and Urban Planning: http://id2-124-dg.pbworks.com/

Although not a visual example of a wiki, Professor Penna, at the University of Delaware, explains how he used a wiki for his writing classes in both his face-to-face and distance education settings. “The wiki provided a space for teammates to write their project collaboratively. He noticed that the use of a wiki gets students to be more self-aware of the writing processes (vision and revision). Students in his classes developed their own handbook in the wiki, which is open to public eyes, but reserved to his students to edit it. His students are proud of the fact that what they wrote in the wiki pops up on Google” (2008, p. 13).

References:

Beldarrain, Y. (2006). Distance Education Trends: Integrating new technologies to foster student interaction and collaboration. Distance Education, 27(2), 139-153. doi:10.1080/01587910600789498.

McClure, M. (2009). Creating Safe, Collaborative Cultures in a Web 2.0 World. EContent, 32(5), 22-26. Retrieved September 20, 2010 from Academic Search Complete database.

PBWorks Business Edition Overview. (2010). Retrieved September 21, 2010 from PBWorks: http://pbworks.com/​content/​biz+overview?utm_campaign=nav-tracking&utm_source=top%20navigation.

English for Architecture and Urban Planning ID2-124. (2006). Retrieved September 21, 2010 from PBWorks: http://id2-124-dg.pbworks.com/.

Wikis in Higher Education (and at UD). (2008). Retrieved September 21, 2010 from University of Delaware: http://udel.edu/​~mathieu/​wiki/.

Click on link to view mind map

Mind Map Distance Education