I work for an online school as a teacher. Every
summer we have different committees that are assigned different projects, that
most of the time flow into the school year as well. This summer my committee was in charge of re-structuring
one of our content blocks. . Each content block lasts for 9 weeks, with 4
lessons every week. We had to look at the objectives and make a timeline of how
long we should spend on each one, and then re-work the lessons that already
existed from the year before to fit any changes we might have made. Our group
got started and really took the time to look at each objective and lesson and
made a lot of changes by getting rid of things we did not feel were really
important and extended the timeline of others that students seem to need more
time on. Our group started out on track of the deadlines put in place when all
of a sudden things started changing.
Scope creep, or scope creep, is defined as “any
addition, reduction, or modification to the deliverables or work process as
outlined in your original project plan.” (Greer, 2010, pg.35). During this time
our staff was also doing a book study, and
we talked about the book and our projects at every meeting. It seemed
that every time we talked about the book, our boss decided that “this would be
a great thing to incorporate in our new lessons.” While I admit that some of
these things were great ideas, it caused us to have to go back and start over
again every time. In the end the goal was to make better lessons for our
students come September but it also made us fall behind our deadline of having
the lessons ready to go by the first day back to class. Even though the scope
and expectations were changing our deadline remained the same and the work
continued to pile up causing a lot of stress. There was no flexibility from our
boss even though the projected deliverables at the beginning were much
different than what was expected at the end. When the staff kept feeling the
pressure of the deadline the lesson quality was what suffered in the end. So
adding in all the extra work as the project was already in motion, just ended
up making the deliverables less detailed because the deadline remained the same
and there was just not enough time to do everything being asked of us.
If I was the Project Manager there are a few
different things that I would have done. First of all if the ideas that the
book study brought across were truly valid and would make the lessons better
for the kids (which they did) then I would have still wanted them included in
the lesson revisions. The main thing
that was missing from this decision was analyzing the impact of the change as
well as discussing the impact with the project team. (Greer, 2010). When
analyzing the impact of the change I would have found that in order to not
change the quality of the finished product the schedule had to give. The teams
needed more time in order to make the changes that were being asked
mid-project. It would have been different if those changes were projected at
the beginning of the process, but these changes were thrown in all throughout
the summer which meant a lot of time was spent going back to re-work what was
already done and previously considered acceptable. The other thing that was not done was to
discuss the impact with the team. Our project manager just continually told us
that no matter what the deadline could not change because the first round of
classes needed to have the new lessons. If I were in that position I would have
had a choice to make, could I figure out how to re-work the deadline, or was I
going to be ok with over-working my staff and/or having lessons turned in that
weren’t up to par just to simply meet the deadline. Our lessons work on a weekly basis, so as PM
I would have re-worked the deadline so that as long as the lessons were done
and in the staff folder a week before they needed to be used that would be ok.
That way not all 9 weeks of lessons would need to be done by start date, just
week 1 and week 2. Then as the weeks went by the other lessons could filter in.
This would lessen the stress on my team members, make them feel like their
concerns were valued, and give them more time to turn in really good lessons,
all the while still getting the lessons in on time to teach them at the proper
time.
It was a tough situation for all of us involved.
Those who actually took the risk to voice their concern got nothing in
return. An employee or team member that
feels valued and cared about is going to put a lot more effort into the product
that they are making. That is the main thing that was lost in this particular
situation, the staff didn’t feel that their effort and time were being valued
as the work just continued to pile up and no extra time was given.
Resources
Greer, M. (2010). The project management
minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.).
Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.
Thanks for your post. I've been in a similar position of voicing my opinion to the project manager and not feeling like I am heard. I think the project manager is always in a difficult spot, but I think he or she should first be an advocate of the project. It's critical to be willing to say "we can't add this", or "we have to change the time frame" -- people and time are finite resources. You can't add without subtracting from somewhere else. Tough lesson that project managers have to learn.
ReplyDeleteSteph,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post! I almost had to laugh when I read about your principle who read the book and wanted to apply everything that was being learned. I worked in an office once with a Vice President who was known for her book club. She always had what we would call the "flavor of the month" with a book she was reading and pushing for everyone to adopt and make a part of their psyche. The problem was as soon as she picked up a new book the communication was different and she was on to a new "flavor of the month". She never stuck to one thing long enough to let it work and she wanted to implement everything. Scope creep can be hard enough to deal with when you are working in an environment that has a clear vision. But when there is constant change within the organization based on the leadership, scope creep will be major issue that can keep any project from being successful. Thanks again for the post and for taking me down memory lane. :)
Amanda