Estimating Costs and Allocating Resources

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project-budgeting

 

image source:http://www.northwestern.edu/fm/images/old/project-budgeting.jpg

Although developing project budgets is a relatively challenging task (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, and Kramer, p. 119, 2008) it is a necessary part of the process and having access to the right tools and resources can be challenging. In my search for resources, I came across a few but I will briefly describe to of them.

 

The first resource I found was on an ID page called The Learning & Teaching Office Blog which can be accessed by clicking on the name or following this link:- https://lto.blog.ryerson.ca/2014/05/09/resources-in-project-management-instructional-design-projects/. This site seems to provide a comprehensive outlook on resources for scheduling and budgeting in an article titled, Project Management: Instructional Design Projects. The writer provides a range of resources including articles, software that is paid for and alternatives for those who do not have the luxury of spending money on project management software. I now have a point where I can start exploring actual tools from toward completing my project and if cost is a problem I even have options to explore.

 

The second resource is from a project management consulting setup called Striking Project Management (http://strikingprojectmanagement.com/project-estimation/). They give techniques, which can be employed for estimating projects of varied complexities. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were other techniques other than the bottom-up and top-down approach. This resource helps me to extend what I already know and not take an entrenched position as to having to choose one technique out of two.

 

There is a ton of resources available and with experience; I just might mind one even better than these two.

 

 

 

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

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depositphotos_4556166-Communication-crosswordAccording to Dr. Stolovitch, communication should be clear and concise; the format for responses must be specified.

In the email communication, Jane has done a great job outlining the situation and providing a possible solution as recommended by Dr. Stolovitch (Laureate, 2012). The way I see it, Jane is probably the PM or ID and requires feedback from a team member to complete their work. It is possible that this person may have not met the deadline if one was clearly communicated either because they were not in on the scheduling or they simply have poor work habits. As much as the tone is apologetic which may not be appropriate, it is probably the best way to get to this team member’s attention if they are the bossy kind (Laureate, 2012).

The voicemail provides an alternative means of getting to Mark. The tone used does not communicate a sense of urgency and Mark seems to have the option on how to send the data. I would however, choose this over the face-to-face meeting which seems lazy with no sense of urgency. The tone and body language leaves much to be desired.

It is quite clear that moving from email to face-to-face, the message got weaker. The email had so much clarity and provided a means for the recipient to go back and review the message if unclear about any aspect. The activity presented in the art of effective communication provides a clear example of how the same message must be communicated in a different style based on the mode of delivery but make sure that the urgency and content are all consistent regardless of the means. I also realize that in communicating challenges, it is necessary to provide a possible solution while ensuring that tem members are clear on how and when to respond.

These are all lessons that I have learnt and will transfer to any situation whereby I need to communicate with stakeholders and clients.

References:

Laureate Education, Inc. (2012). “ Communicating with Stakeholders“ Boston, MA: Dr. Harold Stolovitch

Laureate Education, Inc. (2012). “ Project Management Concerns: Communication Strategies and Organizational Culture“ Boston, MA: Dr. Harold Stolovitch

 

Project “ Post-mortem”

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MyCloud

A few years ago, I was tasked to design and create a website for an institution and the greatest challenge was that they were not certain what they wanted but they felt I was the right person for the job and I could meet their unknown expectations. Whenever I asked for a meeting, I was told to go and put something together so the next seemingly sensible move was to put together a team based on skill, knowledge and understanding of the institution, effectiveness and level of access to the networks and resources in the institution as suggested by Jane Suchan (2013). Although I did not have insight into project management, I clearly understood that I needed to work together with a group of people to “execute tasks necessary to meet customer requirements” (Suchan).

I must say that after close to two years of trying to squeeze water out of stone, I was very pleased with the final product. A product that met the needs of the local institution and fit into the broader international institution.

Building the team was not so easy and working with them was even more challenging. There was no project charter and it was assumed that all team members understood their roles. There was no meeting with the major stakeholders; the clients  made it clear they wanted to deal with only one person, me. What they did not realize was how hard they made the job and that a meeting with them would have secured buy-in from other team members (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton and Kramer, 2008).

This project was reworked so many times that by the time it was completed, only two of the team members, myself and the photo editor were still working on the project and I quit right after it was delivered. I could not go through all this whenever updates had to be done.

The one thing that was a weakness in completing this project was yet still a strength and that is the engagement of team members. Others just sat and listened and would not complete tasks assigned them. The novelty of being on the website design team was just that but those who worked together were able to complete tasks and meet deadlines.

This project would have been more successful in terms of meeting objectives and deadlines with stakeholder involvement. Yes, the overall management in terms of time, resources, etc. is relevant but it can be grueling tasks if all parties are not involved with a clear charter from the get go.

Reference:

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.

Suchan, J. (2013). Build effective project teams. In Office.com. Retrieved May 13,       2015, from http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project-help/build-effective-        project-teams-HA001211172.aspx