Analyzing Scope Creep

 

Have you ever been so excited about a project and envisioned the perfect results so clearly, but didn’t put much thought into all the planning details that would be needed along the way? Or have you been so enthusiastic about the possibility of the many different directions the project could take, that all of a sudden it seems that the project has taken on a life of its own and has become out of control? Scope creep can happen quite easily with both personal and professional projects. Unfortunately, scope creep can have negative effects on the project. In project management, scope creep is defined as, “changes, continuous or uncontrolled growth in a project’s scope, at any point, after the project begins and occurs when the project is not properly defined, documented, or controlled” (Wikipedia, 2022).

I took on a personal project several years ago to refinish my daughter’s bed frame. It was a day bed with a trundle with high quality and functional mechanisms, so I thought it would be well-worth updating its’ looks. I have finished unfinished furniture before, so I mistakenly thought I had all the skills needed in combination with my father-in-law who was great with spray-gun painting. Therefore, the only cost involved would be the cost of the materials. In my mind, envisioning her room with matching white furniture took precedence over thinking about the project tasks and the schedule more carefully. I initially thought it would take 1-2 days to strip it, 1-2 days to paint and 1-2 days to fully dry.

Well, long story short, it would be six months before her bed was returned to her room. There were gold decorative plates that had to be taken off. The holes left behind needed to be patched. This detail was left out of my initial plans. It took about 5 days to strip, sand, and patch the bed frame well- enough to be painted. There were additional costs for better tools because sandpaper alone did not cut it. It was much more labor-intensive than planned. Refinishing is not the same process as finishing unfinished furniture! In our climate, it hardly rains in the desert, so the weather was not an initial factor. However, unbearable heat becomes a factor. I had planned on being done before the summer hit. I did not account for the windy, thus non-paint days that would occur either. Then, sadly, my father-in-law became very ill mid-way through the project. He wanted to finish the project for his granddaughter, so he would ask that we postpone the project until he was feeling better. Unfortunately, that day never came, but summer came all too quickly. The project would have to wait. We ended up paying my friend’s dad to use his spray gun to paint. So, the project was over budget by $300, beyond the anticipated completion date by six months, and the quality of the paintwork did not compare to my father-in-law's craftsmanship.  

Looking back now from the lens of project management, a more thorough and detailed task analysis should have been done including the skill level needed for each task. The scheduling should have included cushioning for uncontrollable variables, such as weather and team member availability. I now know that in our climate, a project like this must be started in the Fall/early Winter and not the Spring, if it involves outdoor work. A more realistic plan with a better cost/benefit analysis would have allowed us to decide if this project’s ROI was worth it. Other options could have been considered such as selling it and purchasing a quality used bed frame that was already in good shape, or leaving it as it was, saving money, and buying something new. But once we were into the project, and there was already an initial investment, the other options didn’t seem feasible. Although the project was finished, the project completion results were not optimal, because many decisions were based on assumptions from past experiences, rather than good planning.  According to Peter Landeau, “Good project managers don’t just make decisions on gut instinct. They prefer to minimize risk to the best of their ability and act only when there is more certainty than uncertainty” (Landau, 2021, p.1.).

References

Landau, P. (2021, June 9). Cost-benefit analysis for projects: A step-by-step guide. ProjectManager. Retrieved April 10, 2022, from https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/cost-benefit-analysis-for-projects-a-step-by-step-guide

Scope creep. (2022, April 10). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scope_creep

 

 

Project Schedule

Are you looking for ways to streamline planning an ID’s project schedule?

 

Check out Harvest using the following link: https://www.getharvest.com/

                                         

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Harvest has many time tracking and expense tracking features to keep your current projects on the right path. Time tracking data can transfer right over to invoicing. Overall, it is a simple system to use. It is compatible with many other systems that companies may already have in place. The website lists 56 integrations. There are many valuable data analysis reports. Investing in this software is an investment in granting the team insight into the following three critical areas:

·       Understanding past data to enhance future projects scope and pricing estimates

·       Knowing why particular projects yield favorable profits and others do not

·       Recognize when it is a good time to grow the company

Having a system like Harvest and reflecting on past projects in systematic ways, allows for continual evaluation of the company which provides longevity as well as opportunities for growth of the company. The price is $12 a month for unlimited seats and unlimited projects.

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  Also check out HUBPlanner using the following link: https://www.hubplanner.com/

 

                                                

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This is a great program to plan, schedule, report, and manage the team, organized in one central digital location. Rather than having multiple spreadsheets in multiple locations, the information is clear, concise, transparent and at your fingertips within the HUBPlanner system. It provides an overview of the resource management for all ongoing projects. The most helpful feature allows the project manager to quickly visualize who may be over-scheduled with work and who may be under-scheduled to make better future project decisions. With a drag and drop scheduler, it is intuitive to use. The price of the software is between $7-$18 a month and there are no contracts, so it can be canceled at any time.

 

 

Communicating Effectively

 

                             Effective communication is more than words...

Effective communication is so critical to the overall success of the project. The Collective Leadership Institute explains just how important by stating, “the capacity for constructive, result-oriented dialogue and value-based collaboration is at the core of humankind’s ability to master challenges such as climate change, poverty, economic justice, energy security, resource management, peace, and population growth among others” (Aakhus & Bzdak, 2015, p.198). However, communication is so much more than just words or the content. How the message is received depends on many variables such as the overall tone, the timing, the body language, or even the personality of the recipient (Laureate Education, n.d.). The type of communication also may vary such as formal or informal, written or oral, as well as in-person or through online connections.

Project managers should figure out the type and style of communication that each stakeholder prefers. Troy Achong recommends that the project manager modifies his or her communication style to match that of the client’s preference (Laureate Education, n.d.). Although each stakeholder may want the same outcome at the end of the project, they each may have their agenda throughout the process.

In “The Art of Effective Communication”, the same words or content are presented using three different modalities: an e-mail, a voicemail, and a face-to-face meeting (Laureate Education, n.d.). Yet, I believe that the overall message can be interpreted in different ways, even though all three were sent in a business-friendly and professional way, as Dr. Stolovitch recommends (Laureate Education, n.d.). The preferences and personality of the client are what may differ and may have an impact on the success of the communication message.

If the client prefers email, he or she may be checking email throughout the all-day meeting and may be able to quickly send over the data needed. The client may feel satisfied that this was completed and there will not be a pile of work to do when returning the next day because of the all-day meeting. However, if the client gets frustrated by too many emails, especially ones that pile up while working on other important tasks, the actual data needed may be further delayed and a negative communication climate may start to develop. Also, since it is a written form of communication, it is more difficult to develop a shared-work relationship. It is more impersonal.

Communicating by voicemail lends itself to being a little bit easier to develop good working relationships because the tone of voice and sincerity levels can be more easily understood. However, it goes back to the client’s preference. If he or she is annoyed by voicemail boxes filling up, and would simply prefer an email instead, then that preference outweighs any benefits of voicemail over email.

Face-to-face interactions offer the full capacity to understand the intent and overall message because the tone of voice and body language can be interpreted the most accurately. In the video of the face-to-face meeting, it was apparent that the woman sincerely wanted to work well as a team, but also needed to make sure she was doing her job on time and making her needs known to make that happen. I think sometimes face-to-face meetings create a stronger investment by both parties into the discussions and outcomes. However, if the client is too busy for face-to-face meetings, and would be annoyed by them, then all of the benefits are still not great enough to disregard the client’s true preferred method of communication. When people say communication, communication, communication, it should be inferred that the preferred method is considered as well.

References

Aakhus, M., & Bzdak, M. (2015). Stakeholder engagement as communication design practice. Journal of Public Affairs, 15(2), 188–200. https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1569

Communicating with stakeholders [Video]. (n.d.). Laureate Education. https://class/waldenu.edu

Multimedia Program: “The Art of Effective Communication"  http://cdnmedia.waldenu.edu/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/mm/aoc/index.html

Practitioner voices: strategies for working with stakeholders [Video]. (n.d.). Laureate Education. https://class.waldenu.edu

 

 

Project Review Post-mortem

                                    Scope Creep Can be Overwhelming

Reviewing projects post-mortem, or after the finished product has been delivered has important benefits. Learning from experience can be very beneficial (Terzieva and Morabito, 2016). Taking the time to develop a list of pitfalls, can help instructional designers and project managers avoid those same pitfalls in future projects. For this blog post, the project being reviewed post-mortem culminates in a multimedia presentation of an organizational profile, including, the analysis of a change that the organization underwent.  For the assignment, it scored high marks. However, in retrospect, it was not a completed project backed with enough pride to be included in the instructional design portfolio.

The processes included in the project that were successful were all related to the analysis phase which included staff interviews. Explanations of the company culture, which was a school district, the leadership, in this case, district administration, and the effects of crisis remote teaching during the pandemic from the teacher’s perspective were done well. Part one of the deliverable document was comprised of descriptions of the change process, the resistance encountered, communication strategies, and overall effectiveness. Part two of the deliverable document was composed of further analysis of the change and how the leaders planned and implemented the change process. As a leader, it is always better to gain insight and input from your team before making big decisions (Schermerhorn et al., 2008). Part three was a 5–7-minute video presentation. The part one and two deliverable documents were thorough and rooted in theory. The video presentation had some decent instructional design components, but overall, was too deep in scope. Conclusions and recommendations were not clearly communicated because the topic was so broad. Overall, the multimedia presentation complied with Mayer’s instructional design principles, such as the principles to reduce extraneous processing including the coherence, signaling, redundancy, spatial, and contiguity principles (Mayer, 2014).

The change analyzed was crisis remote teaching, which became too large of a topic. Scope creep set in as a passion for the subject grew in the design and development phase. Narrowing down the content in the deliverable analysis documents to create a sound multimedia presentation, with only 5-7 minutes of viewing time became difficult and frustrating. Choosing to uncover how crisis remote teaching affected the organization in one specific area, such as student engagement for example, rather than an overview of all the effects of pandemic teaching would be a better path to take in designing a project like this one again. Creating a statement of work (SOW) to define the project’s approach, deliverables, timeline, and budget, would have made the end product more successful (Laureate Education, n.d.). Overall, the final video presentation complied with Mayer’s instructional design principles in general, but the design could have been of higher quality. Without the scope creep issue, the content would have been more concise and more time could have been spent designing and developing the best quality materials.

When looking through the rearview mirror, it is clear that this project is an example of the negative effects of scope creep. All of the ideas included in the project are valid and beneficial, however, they should not all be included in one project. There is enough content for several more projects when broken down into smaller topics with clearer objectives. Now that an understanding that scope creep happens frequently has been gained, a plan to avoid this pitfall with new projects can be created before it ever has a chance to set in.

 

References

Mayer, R. E. (2014). The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning. The University of Cambridge.

Project kickoff [Video]. (n.d.). Laureate Education. https://class.waldenu.edu

Schermerhorn, J. R., Hunt, J. G., & Osborn, R. N. (2008). Chapter 1, "Introducing Organizational  Behavior". In Organizational Behavior (10th ed., pp. 4–12). John Wiley & Sons.

Terzieva, M., & Morabito, V. (2016). Learning from experience: The project team is key. Business Systems Research, 7(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1515/bsrj-2016-0001

 

 

Distance Education

 

Defining Distance Learning:

The definition of distance learning is continually evolving and can be subjective according to personal experiences, type of profession, and technological savviness. Although the 2020 worldwide pandemic may have brought distance learning to light for many people around the world, the basic concept has been in existence for decades, even centuries. The earliest form consisted of correspondence studies, followed by European open universities about 40-50 years ago, and most recently with the exponential growth of distance education resulting from the development of the worldwide web in the 1980s and 1990s (Laureate Education, n.d.).

Having completed my undergraduate degree before the introduction of the internet, my early definition of distance learning narrowly encompassed the availability of higher education for working professionals raising a family. At that time, I questioned the validity of distance education for most other groups and wondered why traditional learners would choose a path that may be inferior. I also knew distance learning to be available as an alternative placement for K-12 students through private, public, and charter schools. Alternative to me at that time meant, options for children who could not be educated in the traditional in-person system.

In 2014, I became a graduate-level distance learner myself at a state university that offered a great program, but my family obligations and geographical distance did not make it feasible to commute. In my online classes, I met traditional-age students, who lived within the university community but chose to take some classes online. I began to realize that the rigor was comparable, if not greater, and my respect for distance education grew. I was grateful for the opportunity and enjoyed the flexibility. I agree with Dr. Michael Simonson’s definition of distance education as institutionally-based, formal education that is composed of not only distance learning, but an equally important component, distance teaching. It is not the same as self-study. Communication technologies are used to link the learning group (teachers, students, resources) who are separated by geography and time (Laureate Education, n.d.).

The technology capabilities were much more limited than they are now and little to no interaction during the initial learning phase was available. This made is very difficult to grasp complex concepts such as how the hearing mechanism in the human brain works. The environment was challenging and students like myself needed to be self-disciplined and responsible to succeed. I struggled with learning from teaching strategies that seemed to be transferred without adaptation from in-person learning to distance learning. However, I could see the evolution happening. Change does not happen perfectly overnight and I persevered because I was highly motivated to finish. Veletsianos and Houlden discuss the idea that "more flexibility brings with it more independence which in turn call for learners to be more responsible, more self-directed and more self-motivated" (Veletsianos & Houlden, 2019, p. 461).  This may require more time on the students' part. It may lead to isolation from the support of instructors and peers and may lead to attrition. 

The 2020 pandemic made distance learning for continuing education and certification renewal in speech and language available at little or no cost to me for the first time in my professional career. A live webinar presented by highly qualified and experienced professionals were strongpoints. However, the evaluation was basic and the application was non-existent, lacking two important ID principles. Therefore, I am left to question the overall effectiveness. Moller et al., state, “It is not only possible but likely, that users of e-learning have never encountered a product built according to sound ID principles” (Moller et al., 2008, p. 71).

 As an educator and mother living and teaching in a state with a severely underfunded K-12 public education system, I became acutely aware of public and charter school distance education programs. My definition of distance learning broadened to include quality online and blended education opportunities. I became more knowledgeable about how to assess the quality of various programs because they are not necessarily equal. The quality of distance teaching is key. It is also important to distinguish between crisis remote teaching and quality distance education. My revised definition remains the same at the core as previously mentioned but with broader applications and higher quality distance teaching strategies. Applications include corporate training, distance and blended learning in K-12, higher education, and corporate settings, as well as personal education that enhances a growth mindset. Technology has evolved and more effective teaching strategies exist now, including simulations for example.

As technology continues to evolve, so too will the changes in the teaching strategies used in distance education. Learners themselves will continue to evolve and so the methods will adjust to reach new learner needs. Trends such as gamification and micro-learning will be incorporated into distance learning. Learning will be more interactive and part of the metaverse. Avery Akkineni says, “2022’s word of the year will be Web 3.0” (Costa, 2022). However, more research is needed and will continue to be needed to evaluate the effectiveness of sound instructional design principles. I’d like to see more targeted instruction that is more inclusive of diverse learner needs, rather than massive open online courses (Simonson et al., 2019). Distance education will continue to evolve, but will instructional designers be able to ensure sound instructional principles are employed and projects are evaluated, assessed, and applied appropriately?

References

Costa, C. (2022). Inside the metaverse economy, jobs and infrastructure projects are becoming real. CNBC Technology Executive Council. Retrieved January 15, 2022, from https://doi.org/cnbc.com

Distance education: The next generation [Video]. (n.d.). Laureate Education.

Moller, L., Foshay, W., & Huett, J. (2008). The evolution of distance education: Implications for instructional design on the potential of the web (Part 1: Training and development). TechTrends, 52(3), 70–75.

Simonson, M., Zvacek, S., & Smaldino, S. (2019). Definitions, History, and Theories of Distance Education. In Teaching and learning at a distance (7th ed., pp. 31–42). Information Age Publishing.

Veletsianos, G., & Houlden, S. (2019). An analysis of flexible learning and flexibility over the last 40 years of distance education. Distance education, 40(4), 454–468. https://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2019.1681893

Pandemic crisis remote teaching is not the same as quality distance education...

                                 Zachary Wright, High School Senior, 2021

                

 

  

Reflection: Fitting the Pieces Together

 Fitting the Pieces Together 

Learning Theories

In considering and reflecting on a deeper understanding of the learning theories, my views on learning have been refined and expanded. Initially, there was some confusion between the differences in learning styles, theories, and strategies and their applications. Some terms and concepts have been clarified and some are now emphasized more and others less so. I continue with the belief that pieces of conflicting learning theories can be used within the same instructional lesson as a foundation for authentic learning. However, I have now expanded those components from beyond only behaviorist and cognitive considerations to also include constructivist, social learning, connectivism, and adult learning elements. I have further realized that I learn best by blending different components based on all of the learning theories. Which components of each theory depend on the learning goals and objectives.

As a graduate student in an online master’s program in instructional design and technology, I associate most with the adult learning theory pieces. I am acutely aware of how life experiences, including my cultural, political, physical, and social views, affect my learning. I am self-motivated to grow through action-based and experiential learning to solve problems. In this case, creating and designing effective instructional content are the “problems to be solved”.  Experts in the field of online learning have found that “the quality and quantity of students’ self-regulatory beliefs and behaviors vary greatly; those with more adaptive profiles experience greater success” (Artino, 2008, p. 39). Also, “the available research evidence suggests that promoting self-reflection, self-regulation, and self-monitoring leads to more positive learning outcomes” (Means, et al., 2009, p.45).

However, sometimes I need behaviorist principles, such as the rewards of feedback to grow in my learning. I often use the cognitive concepts of building schemata and connecting prior knowledge to current learning. Working on instructional design projects, while learning new software, and sharing them with others for modeling and feedback employs constructivist and social learning principles.  

I have learned to de-emphasize trying to connect learning styles, including using strengths and weaknesses terminology, to teaching styles. I still believe in self-advocacy in asking for support from instructors by asking for other ways of explanation with difficult concepts or a different angle to tackle challenging problems. However, this does not mean that the support should be delivered only in a certain preferred learning style. Life-long learning and growth come from improving in all areas of the multiple intelligences.

Technology plays an important role in learning. It is a resource to quickly find information. It is used for data processing to record information. These two aspects have been intertwined in education and I have been using them for quite some time now. Technology being used as a means to create has long been used in the consumer sector but is only more recently becoming more mainstream in K-12 education. I am enjoying learning the tools to create and design sound instructional content. Technology being used to network is also an area of explosive growth. Networking is a component of the theory of connectivism and is crucial to learning in real-time, in a fast-paced and quickly advancing technological world. Already available in the consumer market, technology that mimics human interactions, is currently on the horizon in education. It’s an exciting time!

 

References

Artino, A. (2008). Promoting Academic Motivation and Self-Regulation: Practical Guidelines for Online Instructors. Tech Trends, 52(3), 37–45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-008-0153-x

Means, B., Toyama, Y., Murphy, R., Bakia, M., & Jones, K. (2009). Evaluation of evidence-based practices in online learning: A meta-analysis and review of online learning studies. U.S. Dept. of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development. Policy and Program Studies Service, 1–93. https://doi.org/eric.ed.gov/?id=eD505824

 

 

Connectivism

 Mapping Your Learning Connections

With today’s high-tech world changing at an explosive rate, how learning occurs must be revisited to emulate these societal shifts. Behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism all were applied before technological innovations influenced learning. They are still valid today when viewed in different ways that incorporate the changing landscape of our high-tech world. George Siemens states, “Over the last twenty years, technology has reorganized how we live, how we communicate, and how we learn” (Siemens, 2005). Learning used to be like a complicated puzzle. After the hard work of gaining knowledge and skills though, careers came together like the pieces of a puzzle. Today, learning is much more complex, like a weather system with multiple, continual, and rapidly changing factors. It’s a new dimension of learning with diverse knowledge sources (Siemens, 2005).

How do we continue to learn and flourish? It’s become more about learning how to learn, where the capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known (Davis, et al., 2008). Can we reach out to people in our networks to increase our cognitive capacity? Can we accept a diversity of opinions? Can we use visualization strategies to make connections and see patterns within rapidly changing environments? Learning does not happen in isolation. These are the principles of Connectivisim.

With rising technological advances, my network has grown larger as seen on the mind map included (click to enlarge). I continue to make connections with professionals across the varying disciplines that I have worked closely within. In the past, they may have been more face-to-face connections with local people. However, now my connections are through digital tools and are broadened to include more worldwide networking, rather than simply local. It seems like this is now the best of both worlds. I strive to make face-to-face connections when feasible but to increase my knowledge base, I also use digital tools.

I typically use Facebook groups and Linked In to stay connected and reach out to new people. YouTube videos have helped me to develop many new skills needed to complete a project or activity without waiting for formal training. In the last five years, I asked some very detailed field-specific questions to two different highly trained professional superiors and both referred me to find YouTube videos. Initially, I was shocked, but now in retrospect, it has made me more confident in both my abilities and my learning. I use a combination of internet search engines coupled with friend and colleague discussions when I have questions. I feel most comfortable discussing information that I have found on the web with a friend to get their thoughts on its credibility and validity. Even if they disagree with my opinion, I am open-minded and listen to their thoughts on the subject. If I selected them to discuss a certain topic, it is because I respect their opinions, even when different from my own. I usually always “walk” away, whether in-person or digitally, with an expanded viewpoint about the subject. That to me is experiencing Connectivism in a nut-shell.

References

Connectivism [Video]. (n.d.). Laureate Education. https://class.waldenu.edu

Davis, C., E., Edmunds, & Kelly-Bateman, V. (2008). Connectivism. In Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology (In M. Orey ed.). https://doi.org/textbookequity.org/Textbooks/Orey_Emergin_Perspectives_Learning.pdf

Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. International Journal of Instructional Design & Distance Learning, 2(1). https://doi.org/itdl.org/journal/jan_05/article01.htm

In summary, decision-making is still part of the dynamic learning process, but it is now based on swiftly changing foundations. The human capability to perceive when new information transforms the environment based on decisions made yesterday is key. Developing networks that facilitate learning in real-time is essential (Siemans, 2005).