Analyzing Scope Creep

My experience with scope creep occurred a few years ago when I was working as a graphic designer at an event planning company. The company was planning a women’s convention. My role for and during the conference was to create the program, a PowerPoint that would run during the fashion show and through the conference, and to sit at the door and sale tickets. Little did I know that I would soon end up donning a head set and running around taking care of a majority of all the behind the scenes work and more for a conference with little to no budget.

A majority of the problems consisted of poor planning, lack of a budget, and an inattentive owner. I and three others had to pretty much take over her responsibility. I had to deal with vendors and talent whose needs were not being met and ticketing and security issues. These people were promised a lot of things that I had no knowledge of (because I was only in charge of the program design and selling tickers) but yet I had to find a way to somehow accommodate them. The programs were supposed to be in color and there were only 50 of them for 200 people and the videographer was MIA. A fight broke out. There wasn’t enough A/V equipment for the demos and the venue was too large so they could hear over the fashion show that was going on. It’s a long list of issues. And where was the owner?? Sitting on her butt watching it all.

A lot of thing could’ve been to make sure these issues never happened. For the resources that were available, I and the three other people handled our situations well. Like I stated before, this all could have been avoided if proper steps had been taken for planning and budgeting, creating a contingency plan, and if the person in charge had taken been a bit more proactive. Portny et al (2008) states that project managers should identify risks, assess potential impacts, develop plans for mitigations, and monitor that risk status, and keep others informed. Since I had been thrown into the mix, I felt I had to do all of these steps in a matter of minutes. This event was definitely a lesson in risk management. Everything that could’ve gone wrong did go wrong. But the good thing about was that the convention attendees didn’t know.

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.

Communicating Effectively

How did your interpretation of the message change from one modality to the next?

In my opinion, my interpretation of the three different modalities were about the same. I did however feel that the email was somewhat too wordy. The tone of the voicemail seemed to have more urgency than the email because you could hear Jane's tone. Voicemail may not be the best choice seeing as how a lot people do not check their their messages. During the face to face, Jane's tone was different than the voicemail like it was less urgent. But on the other hand that was the fact that she was visibly standing in front of you conveying that the report that she has yet to receive is vital to her.

What factors influenced how you perceived the message?

The clear language and the tone.

Which form of communication best conveyed the true meaning and intent of the message?

I think that the face to face communication best conveyed the true meaning and intent of the message for me because it forced me to stop, listen, and focus on what Jane had to say. I was presented with an audio and visual of the message so I was able to see and hear the message. To a certain degree I think that face to face communications holds people more accountable because then the other person can't say that they weren't told something or didn't know about it.

What are the implications of what you learned from this exercise for communicating effectively with members of a project team?

From this exercise, I learned that everyone has there preferred method of sending and receiving communication. In choosing the most appropriate form of communication depends on the audience and the message being delivered. Dr. Stolovich explained that effective communication is influenced by spirit & attitude, tone & body language, timing, and the personality of the recipient.

References

Media Program "The Art of Effective Communication"

Stolovich, H. [Video]. Communication with Stakeholders Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com.

Project Post Mortem

Ok... so I don't really have a real project that I can share with you all. But in our textbook Portny et at(2008) in chapter 1 talked about how baking a cake can be considered a project, since they defined projects as temporary endeavors that result in some type of product or service. So here goes...

The Conceive Phase
Last weekend my friend and I baked a carrot cake. I wouldn't necessarily say that the project was a failure, but one of the steps could have gone a little better. I guess I can be considered the project manager of "Project Cake". So as project manager and baker extraordinaire, I was approached by my friend (upper management) with "We're baking a carrot to take to Mo's for dinner on Sunday". Of course, I was caught off guard because it was random. But I went along with the idea anyway.

The Define and Start Phase

These phases were combine because it was just the two of us. The unknown of the project was the recipe. My friend had lost it the last time we made a carrot cake. The project was scheduled to start on Sunday and end that same Sunday before 6pm. There was no projected budget. As long as it was within reason. The stakeholders were me, my friend and Mo (the consumer). The An analysis of the resources (the ingredients) was done in the store. The defined tasks included going on line and finding another recipe, getting the ingredients from the store, and making the actual cake and baking it.

The Perform Phase
The tasks were actually further broken up and assigned in this phase. My responsibilities included finding the recipe and mixing the cake batter, and making the frosting. My friend was to grate the carrots and ice the cake. We both went to the store together. The the oven balked the cake. Now the issues:

• some of the cake decided it wanted to stay in the pan
• the frosting was a little too thin for the cake
• there wasn't enough batter for 2 9in pans
• we bought duplicate ingredients

The Close Phase

The cake was completed with in time and within the budget. The consumer (Mo) was happy. The cake turned out great despite the issues. In fact, I just had a piece an hour ago. It's even better now than it was on Sunday. All of the issues were solved but they were not anticipated. They were my fault (except the cake sticking to the pan. I greased and floured both pan thoroughly!) The frosting I could have whipped a little longer til I got the consistency that was suitable for the cake or the frosting could've been put in the fridge to chill. As far as the batter, the recipe I used called for a 9x13in pan. So I made another batch of batter and cut the recipe in half. The duplicate ingredients could've been prevented if my friend had written down what we had already instead of going by memory. For future references we decided to get the spray oil with the flour in it for the pans and add pineapple.

Reference

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

Final Reflection: The Future of Distance Learning

Distance Learning has come a long way over the past 160 years. From correspondence study to courses on the World Wide Web, distance learning is an ever evolving phenomenon. This is evidence that distance learning, although slowly is gaining acceptance all over.

I think that the perceptions of distance learning in the next 5-10 years will be positive ones. I don’t see distance learning taking the place of traditional face 2 face classes, but I do see it being more widely accepted by the masses. As new technologies are created, improved, and more readily available, people will be more inclined to take advantage of distance learning. According to Dr. Siemens (2010), acceptance of distance of learning will be fueled by an increase of online communications, practical experience with new tools, the ability to communicate with diverse and global groups, and comfort with online discourse.

As an instructional designer I can be a positive force in improvement in the field of distance education by staying up to date on the currents events in the instructional design field and continuing to build my skills. I can also continue to design effective and interactive learning modules. In addition, I can help people to become computer literate so that they are able to use the minimum technologies that are involved in distance education.

I can be a proponent for improving societal perceptions by educating the public on the pros of distance learning by giving them positive examples from a student perspective and from an instructional designer perspective. I will inform them that online degree programs can provide one with a quality education just as much as a traditional program. Society should also be taught how to look for quality accredited distance learning programs. In addition, encourage institutions to take more pride in their distance learning courses and to promote them more.

References
Siemens, G. (2010). The Future of Distance Education. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=4603379&Survey=1&47=6354370&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1&BrswrOK=1&PrevRef=http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn%3FCourseID%3D4603379%26Survey%3D1%2647%3D6354370%26ClientNodeID%3D984650%26coursenav%3D1&submit1=Continue

Converting to a Distance Learning Format

In the following scenario 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, he is considering putting all of his training materials on a server so that the trainees have access to resources and assignments at all times.

Before converting his program, the trainer needs to take into consideration if distance learning is feasible or not. If so then the trainer needs to make sure that the trainees have access to and are able to utilize the selected technology. I think that it is a good idea that the trainer wants to put all of the training material online for the trainees. In order to encourage the trainees to communicate online, the trainer could set-up online activities such as creating as ice breakers and a discussion board. The trainer also needs to be aware that his role in a distance learning environment will change. The trainer will become more of a guide rather than a teacher.

References
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson

Click here to view the Best practices guide.

Open Course Websites

Open courseware is described as the publication on course material by higher education institutions and shared with others on the web (Simonson et al, 2009). The open course website that I chose to evaluate is the Historical Jesus on Stanford on iTunes. It took me a minute to find a course that I actually wanted to sit and listen to. I didn’t totally agree with all that was said by the instructor Thomas Sheehan, but it was none the less interesting.

The courses of course are presented as audio or video podcasts via iTunes. The course is broken up into ten sections and a course syllabus. The course is in lecture format with a discussion at the end of each. I listened to the Call Me Yeshua lecture. This course was not a pre-planned or designed for the distance learning environment. The course is just a recording of a series of lectures. I think that might have worked if it was a video podcast rather than audio because Sheehan uses a lot of in-class visuals whether it be handouts or examples on the chalkboard. It would have been nice it these could have been seen by the listener. Listening to this podcast, I can conclude that the course also has a website, so it can be considered a hybrid course. This course is at its best a true definition of open courseware. It was posted online as is by Stanford for the purposes of sharing with others. This course does not follow the recommendations for online instruction as listed in the course textbook. As stated above, the only course activity was the discussion after the lecture.

Overall, I think that it is great that schools of higher learning have put some of there course online for other to experience. I wouldn't mind continuing using this open course provided that the schools put more topics that are of interest to me.

References
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance (4th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Stanford on iTunes U http://itunes.stanford.edu/

Distance Learning Technologies

Asynchronous Training

In an effort to improve its poor safety record, a biodiesel manufacturing plant needs a series of safety training modules. These stand-alone modules must illustrate best practices on how to safely operate the many pieces of heavy machinery on the plant floor. The modules should involve step-by-step processes and the method of delivery needs to be available to all shifts at the plant. As well, the shift supervisors want to be sure the employees are engaged and can demonstrate their learning from the modules.

In order to improve the poor safety record at the biodiesel plant, I would suggest using a series of safety training video module. The videos will demonstrate to the employees step-by-step processes of on the job safety. These videos will be accessible to all employees working on all the various shifts at the biodiesel manufacturing plant. The videos can be placed on the company website or they can be recorded to DVDs.

Videos are a form of prerecorded media. They are essentially a single idea that can be explained with audio and/or pictures (Simonson et al, 2009). I decided to use video module because they can be stored and accessed from anywhere. To keep the employees alert and focused, each safety concept will be broken up into separate learning objects (Simonson et al, 2009). The videos modules will be will be about 3 to 10 minutes in length. To make sure that the employees are engaged and learning, the modules will a short quiz at the end of the video. If the employees are successful in answering the questions correctly, they can then move on to the next module. The video modules will also take advantage of Dale’s cone of experience (Simonson et al, 2009). The video modules fall in the observation section of the cone. The modules are geared towards adult learners, therefore adults are able to deal with more abstract content because they already have the related experience (Simonson, 2009).

Online training videos have been used by many companies for years now. Some successful examples are Fusion Shell Greeter Promo and SafetyCare Office Safety Video

Resources
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2009). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (4th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.
Fusion Greeter training http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GYnh0swVxA
SafetyCare Office Safety Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23IlZMEZnNk