Dealing with Scope Creep

Over the years I have been involved in several projects that experienced “scope creep”. One of the largest projects with which I experienced this was originally a project to create an online course for high school and higher education across the state.  

As I had contracted to do several of these in the past, this was nothing new.  However, just as the project scope and deliverables were being completed, the client decided to move the project due to political pressure and a consortium of several states wanting to create the same course.  The states in conjunction with SREB decided to outsource that particular one course project and my role would be only to import into the statewide Moodle LMS and market the course along with our other course offerings (I worked for a state education commission at the time).  

Two weeks after receiving this news, the client came back to ask if I would be willing to take on the rest of their grant deliverables.  The $50,000 course had now turned into a $500,000 project.   As it was a much larger project, the timeline was extended by 6 months and I was able to define what deliverables I would provide to make an impact statewide on the number of students becoming aware of opportunities in post-secondary education.  Again, I was tasked as the project manager for what turned into multiple multimedia deliverables. I would really define this more as scope explosion rather than scope creep through creep did occur after the initial explosion. 

There was some pressure from stakeholders and team members to include activities or deliverables that were not originally envisioned as part of the project as the work ensued.  This was especially a problem with the client who drug their feet when it came to deliverables agreed upon.  They were continually coming asking to add other small projects.  As one project was of high political visibility and included several highly sought advocates for the cause (Dr. Richard W. Riley, former US Secretary of Education and former SC State Governor for one), I did rework some of the deliverables and adjust timelines midstream.  

Throughout the entire process, I had to maintain a strict approval process in order to meet the deliverables within the allotted timeframes and continually fought to get time allotted from the assigned team members’ managers, which had been approved within the initial project development.  However, when it came time to need them, the team members and equipment were continually pulled for “priorities” (non-revenue producing) of other projects.  I continually had to go to the project sponsor, the VP of Education, to get cooperation.  One project which was $50,000, the department manager would not answer emails nor come to meetings.  This was a vital project within the multiple project work this had become.  Due to time constraints and lack of available subject matter personnel as they were all within his department, I was forced to outsource this particular project to an advertising agency.

In the end, I met all the deliverables and the project(s)  assets were beneficial and met the desired outcomes of the project.  I learned a tremendous amount about project management including creating and using a Gantt chart to manage large projects.  This allowed everyone including the client to visually see how delays affected not only one small asset or project  but also the project as a whole.  

Estimating Costs and Time in Instructional Design

This week, my  task has been to allocate the resources and estimate the costs associated with an ID project. Fortunately, many resources exist to help with these estimates for project managers as they begin to manage ID projects, and the ID community is always eager to help fellow Instructional Designers, if you know where to look.  Here are three resources that would be useful in estimating the costs, effort, and/or activity durations associated with ID projects. 

At Don Clark's "Big Dog & Little Dog's  Performance Juxtaposition" website http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/costs.html,  instructional designers and ID project managers

The Art of Communication

In the Walden University multimedia program “The Art of Effective Communication”, the message scenario for Mark’s missing report was delivered in three distinct ways.  Here we discuss how you communicate with different project stakeholders is equally important but can have distinct differences in the way messages are interpreted.  Below we discuss the difference in one message delivered in three ways.

Face to Face

The first of the communication methods we will discuss is that of the face to face discussion.  Jane seems almost apologetic in the beginning of her request of the missing report

Learning from a Project “ Post-mortem”

In a previous project management endeavor writing a large multi-million dollar federal grant which involved all the departments of the organization, it was important to follow the project management process.  I began with reading the terms of the grant to establish the intent and scope of the project.  I then had to design and present a proposal to convince the leadership team this was a worthwhile endeavor as it would require resources from all departments both in the grant proposal and the resultant grant fulfillment if the grant was awarded.  The proposal as also a way to sell the project internally to all departments and to attain a project sponsor who could work around roadblocks or uncooperative department employees. 

The grant writing group consisted of three to five participants (three constant and two as needed) with myself as the lead.  The writing

The Art of Communication: Same Message, Three Ways

In the Walden University multimedia program “The Art of Effective Communication”, the message scenario for Mark’s missing report was delivered in three distinct ways.  Here we discuss how you communicate with different project stakeholders is equally important but can have distinct differences in the way messages are interpreted.  Below we discuss the difference in one message delivered in three ways.

Face to Face

The first of the communication methods we will discuss is that of the face to face discussion.  Jane seems almost apologetic in the beginning of her request of the missing report promised.  The hesitancy and smiling face shows almost a demeanor of inferiority to Mark.  Jane needs to “lean in” and ask Mark in a businesslike but more authoritative stance and tone.  It was too casual a conversation beginning if the missing report really is “important and urgent”.  The playful smile, along with head tilt and casualness of the arms folded on top of the cubicle sends the signal that she is being playful and relying on team camaraderie to get what she wants.  Then her tone changes to one of almost being too stern, which may cause Mark to be offended, especially if he is just returning from an all-day intensive meeting.  While she may be trying to be authoritative, in this face to face scenario, Jane just comes across as friendly to attack mode.

Voicemail

The second method of communication, voicemail is more informal and meaning is often interpreted from the tone of voice which may lead to misunderstandings or misinterpretations.  In this scenario, the tone does convey the importance and urgency of the need for the report.  She keeps the message very neutral while convey the importance.  She is very businesslike in her tone and keeps it steadily so until the very end when she conveys sincerity in her tone in the verbal signoff of “I really appreciate your help.”

Email

The third by email appeared very businesslike and though opened with a possible excuse for the delay, “emphasized the urgency and importance of the assignment (Portney et al., 2008., p. 258).”  The email is written in a way which shows an act of authority as Mark has committed to doing the report needed by Jane.   Rather than demanding the report, Jane offers Mark the opportunity to tell her when he will be able to deliver it as promised and relays her own urgency for her request as well as the importance of his report to her own.  Jane was also confirming in writing the important information that was shared in a previous discussion.  This tends to alert the recipient that there is now a formal paper trail to the fact that there was a discussion on the importance of the report and subsequent need for urgency.  Written communication enables one to present factual data more efficiently, chose their words carefully in order to minimize misunderstandings, provide historical records of the information shared, and share the same message with a wide audience (Portney, et al., 2008, p. 358).”

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.

The Art of Effective Communication
http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/mm/aoc/index.html

Learning from a Project "Post-mortem"

In a previous project management endeavor writing a large multi-million dollar federal grant which involved all the departments of the organization, it was important to follow the project management process.  I began with reading the terms of the grant to establish the intent and scope of the project.  I then had to design and present a proposal to convince the leadership team this was a worthwhile endeavor as it would require resources from all departments both in the grant proposal and the resultant grant fulfillment if the grant was awarded.  The proposal as also a way to sell the project internally to all departments and to attain a project sponsor who could work around roadblocks or uncooperative department employees. 

The grant writing group consisted of three to five participants (three constant and two as needed) with me as the lead.  The writing of the proposal was a great way to identify the project needs and proposed solutions as well as organizing a plan and estimating and allocating resources.  I was solely responsible for crafting the budget as I was familiar with the amount of detail required for federal grants.  The grant writing group began by defining the project by first identifying the project need, then confirming the project addresses the identified need and finally determining the importance o the project to the organization.  We then considered the strategy for the grant  proposal and established objectives.  We looked at limitations and based on politics (not stepping on other state agency toes), organizational employee constraints (recent reductions in force had caused employee shortages), and short turnaround time for the project grant proposal deadline (4 weeks), and incorporated many of the limitations identified into the project plan.   During the project,  we also had to deal with project unknowns as they occurred due to the short turnaround time for the grant proposal.

The grant proposal itself actually served as the project statement of work and the project undertaken was to develop the statement of work (grant proposal).   Had we actually received the grant this would have become a new project with a project manager assigned to manage the grant.  Despite the outcomes of the grant project (we did not get the grant award), it was an excellent exercise in each department understanding departmental needs vs. wants as well as each department defining how they are essential to the organizational mission and any large statewide projects undertaken.    This project also allowed for each department to understand the interrelationships among and between the departments which allowed them to break down some of the communication barriers which had been erected in the previous decade. Prior to this project undertaking, each department had become silos unwilling to share information of contributed to other departmental projects as they vied for organizational control and recognition during a time of extreme budget cuts.  This is not to say that the project totally eliminated the issues, but it did go a long way in building communication and relationships.  Group writing of the grant contents with an outside legal expert doing the editing was also a great idea as it took away any internal strife of wording getting stricken or changed. 

The single most frustrating part of the project was the lack of buy-in, cooperation, or collaboration from the engineering department representative.  In hindsight, we should have asked for another representative from the department as soon as we realized he was being uncooperative.  Also in retrospect, I would have spent more time up front personally convincing the departmental directors of the value to the organization and how they were an essential part of the grant as well as how it would benefit them.  This would have saved valuable time in getting departments to cooperate as there was one member of our department who had been instrumental in creating the rifts between departments in the last decade and assuring other departments that he was not involved nor in charge of the project would have smoothed over many roadblocks up front.  

Perceptions on the Future of Distance Learning

In the future, the majority of the controversy surrounding online learning will have fallen by the wayside as more and more students take online learning courses and advanced degrees online.  According to Simonson et al, the 2009 Sloan Survey of Online Learning found that more than million students took at least one online course in the fall of 2008 (Simonson et al,. 2012, p.342)  According to Melissa Venable, “Online degree options are growing in numbers, both through online institutions and initiatives by traditional schools to offer online versions of their existing degree programs. The Sloan Consortium report, Class Differences: Online Education in the United States, 2010, provides evidence that "online enrollments have continued to grow at rates far in excess of the total higher education student population." This increase in online education enrollment will likely result in more graduates with online degrees in the job market (Venable, 2011).”  All of this will lead, in the next 5 to 10 years, to an acceptance by the majority of the population, or at least here in the US, as to the value and validity of distance learning.

As an instructional designer, it is my job and my duty to provide quality online coursework and online assets to continue this increased trust and acceptance.  “Research has demonstrated that aesthetics plays an important role in shaping user responses to products and websites. Users also draw on aesthetic factors to judge usability and credibility. In the technology setting of online classes, it is therefore important for educational institutions and faculty to consider the educational function of visual content and the aesthetic judgments that are being made by students. Including visual content and applying aesthetic standards during online course development can ultimately improve not only the visual appearance of course content but can also improve how students react to and interact with those courses (David & Peyton,2010).”   As distance education in the United States continues to increase in importance, instructional designers and the instructional design field will continue to be a critical component of the process of improvement.  Quality instructional design in distance education can “serve as a catalyst for change and growth in the education arena (Simonson et al., 2012, p. 289)” as well as the government and private business sectors.

Students are at the core of the success in distance learning experiences.  Quality learning and the experiences of students not only depends on the efforts and preparation of the instructional designer but is also determined by the efforts and preparation of the distant learner (Simonson et al., 2012, p.239).  As instructional designers and facilitators we will need to provide instruction which is student centered so that they learn to be independent knowledge seekers in their jobs and careers post course as well.

In the past , “employer assumptions about the quality of online programs have included a lack of academic rigor, low levels of interpersonal interaction, as well as questions about student commitment to the pursuit of education (Venable, 2011).  Programs such as the MS in IDT through Walden University, and the quality of the instructional designers coming out of such programs will help mitigate the previous perceptions.  As technology continues to increase at the pace we have seen in the past 5 to 10 years or even beyond, we will see the field of instructional design continue to grow and change to meet these demands.  As an instructional designer in this program, my role will be to counter misperceptions of those perceptions based on legacy experiences or media misinformation and through positive role modeling and quality instructional design act as a positive force in changing these perceptions for the better. 

David, A., & Glore,P., . (2010, October). The Impact of Design and Aesthetics on Usability, Credibility, and Learning in Online Courses. In World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education (Vol. 2010, No. 1, pp. 42-42).

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and Learning at a Distance: foundations of Distance Education. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc

Venable, M. (2011, June 6). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.onlinecollege.org/2011/06/06/online-degrees-the-employers-perspective/

Converting F2F to an Online Format

As an instructional designer, given the following scenario and asked to assist the trainer, I would recommend several steps to follow in transitioning a face-to-face course to a blended online course.

 A training manager has been frustrated with the quality of communication among trainees in his face to face training sessions and wants to try something new.  With his supervisor’s permission, the trainer plans to convert all current training modules to a blended learning format, which would provide trainees and trainers the opportunity to interact with each other and learn the material in both a face-to-face and online environment.  In addition, the training manager is considering putting all of his training material on a server so that trainees have access to resources and assignments at all times.

First,

The Impact of Open Source

 “The process of systematic planning for instruction is the outcome of many years of research. An analysis of the application of this process indicates that when instruction is designed within a system, learning occurs.  The instructional design development process must be based on the unique characteristics and needs of students meshed with the teaching style of the instructor and the course goals and content  (Simonson et al, 2012).”

In analyzing a free, open source course called Gamification developed by the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business and offered on Coursera, it is important to analyze the learners, the content, the teaching strategies and media, and the learning environment to determine if the course was pre-planned and well executed.  As this is a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), we can only analyze this course and these findings cannot be extended to other Coursera courses as they are all designed independently. 

Evolution of Distance Learning

Distance learning continues to change and evolve as it has for many decades and even centuries. Simpson claims that it dates back as far as Moses with the Ten Commandments and that “St. Paul’s epistles represent a very early form of distance education (Simpson, 2012).” Nasseh discusses the brief history of distance education in the United States from the early 19th century through the late 20th century. (Nasseh, 1997) We are now in the earliest of the 21st century and the definition is continuing to evolve at a frenetic pace. This is in large part due to the evolution of technology in education and knowledge sectors. This technological evolution does not show any signs of slowing down anytime soon either. We are really still in the infancy of what distance, now often called online, learning will eventually look like to students, instructors, educational institutions, countries and even the world. My prediction is that the biggest changes will occur when computer AI (artificial intelligence) is fully implemented into education and training. I have seen some remarkable projects still in their infancy using AI that would have a profound effect on learning and how we teach. It has the potential to meet each student where they stand in any subject, teaching the way they learn best, and re-teaching when mastery is not reached or when needing refreshment of skills or new knowledge in a particular subject. This will continue to drive the change in the definition of distance learning in the future.

Walden EIDT 6510 Online Instructional Strategies Welcome & Invite

I would like to welcome all my Walden University EIDT 6510 online classmates to my "Open Minds in Instructional Design" blog. 

I also invite you to post your comments below any blog posts to begin online community building dialogue for this course.     

Photo credit: owenwbrown via Foter.com / CC BY