Being that I am an educator, I cannot think of any good examples of how scope creep reared its ugly head and became a problem in a project that I was working on. The best example I can come up with is recently when I worked on our Professional Development Committee and we developed a three-day inservice schedule for our teachers that took place this past week. This committee is responsible for scheduling different workshops and providing a schedule for each teacher to follow. I have been a member of this committee for the past three years, and never has it ever been this difficult. Granted, we usually work on one day at a time, but this year the district planned the inservice to be three days in a row instead of three days throughout the year.
Portny et al (2008) says that scope creep is unavoidable, but there are things we can do to make it manageable. My committee and I made the mistake of letting others make too many changes. We always let the supervisors and principals make requests prior to us beginning the planning process. However, this time they were making changes right up until the end. There were changes made on a daily basis, and with seven different schools involved, it was very difficult for our committee to keep track of all the changes that were being made. It was the most stressful inservice scheduling that I have ever been involved in. Too many people gave their input, made changes, and denied changes that we made.
For this process to be successful and to run smoothly, the planning should have been left to the committee. We gave professional courtesy to supervisors and principals, but in the long run, it made our jobs way more difficult. In addition to trying to keep up with everything going on, it also added a great deal of time to our project. Ideally, this schedule should be done a week before the inservice begins, but this time we were still making changes the first day of the inservices.
If we had a change control system in place, this process may have been more manageable for us. Additionally, if we would have said no to certain requests, or not allowed others to deny our changes, this process may have gone more smoothly. Needless to say, on Friday when the last workshop session had concluded, I felt a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. In evaluating the process, I have learned several things that I will remember for next year.
Now I know this is not the ideal example of scope creep, but it is the closest thing a vice principal will face.
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.
February 14, 2013
February 7, 2013
As a Project Manager, it is important to consider the estimating costs and the allocating resources. There are several different ways to create a budget, and several different points of view when it comes to a budget plan. However, it is important to keep in mind that you don't want to overestimate or underestimate the budget, so the task is not an easy one. With that said, I found a few online resources that explain how to estimate costs associated with an ID project.
The first site was http://woork.blogspot.com/2009/02/simple-process-to-estimate-time-and.html. This blog was very informational and provided excessive charts and tips on how to estimate costs. It gives every step from start to finish on what to do when creating a project. This site can be extremely beneficial to anyone developing a project, but more specifically a budget plan.
The second site that I found useful was http://www.cognitivedesignsolutions.com/Information/ProjectMgt.htm#planCosts. This site has every aspect of the design process. A PM could really benefit from using this site, because it provides everything from project objectives to scope. This site was actually helpful to me when I was working on my Project Schedule. It has an abundance of information pertinent to creating a project.
As I stated, these online resources are beneficial to a PM, as they have been helpful to me in this stage of my project. I would recommend these to anyone in my situation who could possibly need some assistance with estimating costs and allocating resources.
The first site was http://woork.blogspot.com/2009/02/simple-process-to-estimate-time-and.html. This blog was very informational and provided excessive charts and tips on how to estimate costs. It gives every step from start to finish on what to do when creating a project. This site can be extremely beneficial to anyone developing a project, but more specifically a budget plan.
The second site that I found useful was http://www.cognitivedesignsolutions.com/Information/ProjectMgt.htm#planCosts. This site has every aspect of the design process. A PM could really benefit from using this site, because it provides everything from project objectives to scope. This site was actually helpful to me when I was working on my Project Schedule. It has an abundance of information pertinent to creating a project.
As I stated, these online resources are beneficial to a PM, as they have been helpful to me in this stage of my project. I would recommend these to anyone in my situation who could possibly need some assistance with estimating costs and allocating resources.
January 24, 2013
Communicating Effectively
Communication is important when working with a project team. When I first read the assignment, I thought that the face-to-face communication would be the most effective. And from the reading, I have learned that most people think the same, because “telephone and email communication lacks important nonverbal cues to help us understand the message” (People Communicating, 2010). However, I think differently after reviewing all three modalities, and here is why.
I think that although face-to-face communication is effective because you can read body language, in this instance Jane is not very convincing in her approach. I understand that this scenario was prompted, but I feel that there was no conviction in what she was saying. Body language plays a role in communication (Types of Communication, 2012), and Jane’s body language in this passage is very blasé, and does not communicate to Mark the seriousness of the matter.
The voicemail had the same kind of tone and voice inflection. I did not hear the urgency in the voicemail, as it seems very nonchalant and nice. I don’t think that being nice is necessarily a bad thing, but being too nice leads to people not understanding the urgency in what you are saying. If I my deadline was threatened because of another individuals delay, I would make sure that he understood how important it was to me. She could have been a bit sterner in her voicemail.
As for the email, I think that this was the best approach to get this message across. When dealing with email, there is more room for interpretation, and in this instance I think that was probably a good thing. Another good thing is that an email can always be retrieved at a later time, which is not true at all of face-to-face conversations, and only partly true of voicemails. I have learned in my professional capacity, that there should always be a paper trail, or something you can track. You never know when things can come back to bite you, and definitely this could be one of those instances, so I truly think that the email was the best approach for this situation.
Through this exercise, I was able to gain a deeper perspective of the different modalities of communication. It helped me to see how each approach has its place and time. I truly think that communication is essential when working on a project team, but I think that the approach you take in communication is even more important. It was nice to see these in action, and the weekly resources also helped to convey the need for communication.
Resources
People Communicating (2010). Face to Face Communication, Retrieved From: http://www.people-communicating.com/face-to-face-communication.html
Types of Communication (2012) Communication through Body Language, Retrieved from: http://www.typesofcommunication.org/communication/nonverbal-communication/communication-through-body-language/
Communication is important when working with a project team. When I first read the assignment, I thought that the face-to-face communication would be the most effective. And from the reading, I have learned that most people think the same, because “telephone and email communication lacks important nonverbal cues to help us understand the message” (People Communicating, 2010). However, I think differently after reviewing all three modalities, and here is why.
I think that although face-to-face communication is effective because you can read body language, in this instance Jane is not very convincing in her approach. I understand that this scenario was prompted, but I feel that there was no conviction in what she was saying. Body language plays a role in communication (Types of Communication, 2012), and Jane’s body language in this passage is very blasé, and does not communicate to Mark the seriousness of the matter.
The voicemail had the same kind of tone and voice inflection. I did not hear the urgency in the voicemail, as it seems very nonchalant and nice. I don’t think that being nice is necessarily a bad thing, but being too nice leads to people not understanding the urgency in what you are saying. If I my deadline was threatened because of another individuals delay, I would make sure that he understood how important it was to me. She could have been a bit sterner in her voicemail.
As for the email, I think that this was the best approach to get this message across. When dealing with email, there is more room for interpretation, and in this instance I think that was probably a good thing. Another good thing is that an email can always be retrieved at a later time, which is not true at all of face-to-face conversations, and only partly true of voicemails. I have learned in my professional capacity, that there should always be a paper trail, or something you can track. You never know when things can come back to bite you, and definitely this could be one of those instances, so I truly think that the email was the best approach for this situation.
Through this exercise, I was able to gain a deeper perspective of the different modalities of communication. It helped me to see how each approach has its place and time. I truly think that communication is essential when working on a project team, but I think that the approach you take in communication is even more important. It was nice to see these in action, and the weekly resources also helped to convey the need for communication.
Resources
People Communicating (2010). Face to Face Communication, Retrieved From: http://www.people-communicating.com/face-to-face-communication.html
Types of Communication (2012) Communication through Body Language, Retrieved from: http://www.typesofcommunication.org/communication/nonverbal-communication/communication-through-body-language/
January 21, 2013
A Project That Could Have Gone Better
Last year, while I was still a teacher, I was also the advisor of a club known as the Renaissance Club. The purpose of this club is recognize and reward students and staff, and to boost school spirit and morale. As part of this club, we do many activities and events to raise money for this club to allow us to do things for the teachers, staff, and students.
Last school year, our big fundraiser was a Students vs. Staff Flag Football game. This event should have raised enough money for us for most of the year. However, we encountered many problems leading up to, and also the night of the game. First, the t-shirts cost more money than originally anticipated. Normally, the Graphic Arts students design and screen print any t-shirts that we need for events. Unfortunately, we found out only two weeks before the event that they would not be able to do the shirts for us because they were not at that point in their curriculum yet that they were working on printing. This caused us to have to order shirts from a company, and also put a rush on them because we had less than two weeks to get them back. This cost the club more than $400 extra in unnecessary fees.
The second major roadblock that we hit was after the game when several of our staff members filed Workman’s Compensation lawsuits for injuries they sustained during the game. There were three teachers who missed a lot of school, and the administration ultimately blamed the club for not taking the proper precautions and for not having faculty members sign waivers to play. This was never communicated to us, so I feel it was not completely our fault.
Overall, this project could have been more of a success had we had better planning, and had the administration conveyed their expectations a little more effectively. In looking back, we should have known way ahead of time that the t-shirts were going to have to be ordered, so that is something that we should have checked on well ahead of time. Also, since this game, the district has had all employees sign a waiver that states that we waive liability if we get hurt on school grounds doing anything not related to our teaching duties. If this waiver had been in place prior to the game, we could have prevented a lot of issues.
However, with all of that said, the club still made a lot of money on the night, and the students had a lot of fun, which is ultimately why we did it. If we are to do it again, which we probably will, better planning will be in place, and the success will not hinder of t-shirts and injured staff members.
Post-mortem Questions:
1. Are you proud of our finished deliverables (project work products)? If yes, what's so good about them? If no, what's wrong with them?
I am proud that the game itself was a success, and it ran smoothly and people had fun. I am also proud of my club for all their hard work.
2. What was the single most frustrating part of our project?
The single most frustrating part was the rushing around at the last minute to get the shirts done, because of poor planning and making assumptions. In addition, they didn't arrive until the day before, and that in itself was extremely stressful for me.
3. How would you do things differently next time to avoid this frustration?
I would make sure ahead of time that the graphic arts students could print our shirts so that we didn't have to put out extra money to have them rushed from a printing company. Another thing I would do differently next time is to have teachers sign waivers, so that in the event of an injury, then cannot sue the school district.
4. What was the most gratifying or professionally satisfying part of the project?
Students and staff having fun, walking away with smiles and new t-shirts was gratifying for me and balanced out all of the other frustrating parts of the project.
5. Which of our methods or processes worked particularly well?
Every other aspect of the game worked extremely well. The club ran a successful concession stand, there was a large group of spectators, and overall we made money on the event. Many administrators attended the event, and praised us for a successful night.
6. Which of our methods or processes were difficult or frustrating to use?
The whole process of making the t-shirts was frustrating. Being that the students were playing against the staff, it was almost essential to have them wear t-shirts. I do think that the Graphic Arts class teacher could have been a little bit more flexible in helping us, being that he knew what he was doing and could help the advanced students along. Also, after the fact, the administration blamed us for all of the teachers who filed for workman's compensation. One teacher even sued the district, which ultimately they blamed us for.
7. If you could wave a magic wand and change anything about the project, what would you change?
I would have not relied on the graphic arts students to screen print our shirts. I would have gone with a reputable company well in advance, as to not incur rush fees, and to ensure the shirts arrived sooner than they did. It was stressful not knowing if they would arrive on time.
8. Did our stakeholders, senior managers, customers, and sponsor(s) participate effectively? If not, how could we improve their participation?
Yes, I do believe that all the stakeholders, advisors, and customers did their parts to make it a successful endeavor.
Reflection Questions:
1. What contributed to the project’s success or failure?
Poor planning, and blame from the administration contributed to the not-so-succesful part of the event. All stakeholders contributed to its success.
2.Which parts of the PM process, if included, would have made the project more successful? Why?
Of the parts of the PM process, I believe that objective and scope made it more successful. We still met the ultimate goal, and that was to bring teachers and students together to engage in a friendly-fire football game. This increased camaraderie and morale. The scope creep was probably the t-shirts, but despite that, we were still able to make the event a success.
Last year, while I was still a teacher, I was also the advisor of a club known as the Renaissance Club. The purpose of this club is recognize and reward students and staff, and to boost school spirit and morale. As part of this club, we do many activities and events to raise money for this club to allow us to do things for the teachers, staff, and students.
Last school year, our big fundraiser was a Students vs. Staff Flag Football game. This event should have raised enough money for us for most of the year. However, we encountered many problems leading up to, and also the night of the game. First, the t-shirts cost more money than originally anticipated. Normally, the Graphic Arts students design and screen print any t-shirts that we need for events. Unfortunately, we found out only two weeks before the event that they would not be able to do the shirts for us because they were not at that point in their curriculum yet that they were working on printing. This caused us to have to order shirts from a company, and also put a rush on them because we had less than two weeks to get them back. This cost the club more than $400 extra in unnecessary fees.
The second major roadblock that we hit was after the game when several of our staff members filed Workman’s Compensation lawsuits for injuries they sustained during the game. There were three teachers who missed a lot of school, and the administration ultimately blamed the club for not taking the proper precautions and for not having faculty members sign waivers to play. This was never communicated to us, so I feel it was not completely our fault.
Overall, this project could have been more of a success had we had better planning, and had the administration conveyed their expectations a little more effectively. In looking back, we should have known way ahead of time that the t-shirts were going to have to be ordered, so that is something that we should have checked on well ahead of time. Also, since this game, the district has had all employees sign a waiver that states that we waive liability if we get hurt on school grounds doing anything not related to our teaching duties. If this waiver had been in place prior to the game, we could have prevented a lot of issues.
However, with all of that said, the club still made a lot of money on the night, and the students had a lot of fun, which is ultimately why we did it. If we are to do it again, which we probably will, better planning will be in place, and the success will not hinder of t-shirts and injured staff members.
Post-mortem Questions:
1. Are you proud of our finished deliverables (project work products)? If yes, what's so good about them? If no, what's wrong with them?
I am proud that the game itself was a success, and it ran smoothly and people had fun. I am also proud of my club for all their hard work.
2. What was the single most frustrating part of our project?
The single most frustrating part was the rushing around at the last minute to get the shirts done, because of poor planning and making assumptions. In addition, they didn't arrive until the day before, and that in itself was extremely stressful for me.
3. How would you do things differently next time to avoid this frustration?
I would make sure ahead of time that the graphic arts students could print our shirts so that we didn't have to put out extra money to have them rushed from a printing company. Another thing I would do differently next time is to have teachers sign waivers, so that in the event of an injury, then cannot sue the school district.
4. What was the most gratifying or professionally satisfying part of the project?
Students and staff having fun, walking away with smiles and new t-shirts was gratifying for me and balanced out all of the other frustrating parts of the project.
5. Which of our methods or processes worked particularly well?
Every other aspect of the game worked extremely well. The club ran a successful concession stand, there was a large group of spectators, and overall we made money on the event. Many administrators attended the event, and praised us for a successful night.
6. Which of our methods or processes were difficult or frustrating to use?
The whole process of making the t-shirts was frustrating. Being that the students were playing against the staff, it was almost essential to have them wear t-shirts. I do think that the Graphic Arts class teacher could have been a little bit more flexible in helping us, being that he knew what he was doing and could help the advanced students along. Also, after the fact, the administration blamed us for all of the teachers who filed for workman's compensation. One teacher even sued the district, which ultimately they blamed us for.
7. If you could wave a magic wand and change anything about the project, what would you change?
I would have not relied on the graphic arts students to screen print our shirts. I would have gone with a reputable company well in advance, as to not incur rush fees, and to ensure the shirts arrived sooner than they did. It was stressful not knowing if they would arrive on time.
8. Did our stakeholders, senior managers, customers, and sponsor(s) participate effectively? If not, how could we improve their participation?
Yes, I do believe that all the stakeholders, advisors, and customers did their parts to make it a successful endeavor.
Reflection Questions:
1. What contributed to the project’s success or failure?
Poor planning, and blame from the administration contributed to the not-so-succesful part of the event. All stakeholders contributed to its success.
2.Which parts of the PM process, if included, would have made the project more successful? Why?
Of the parts of the PM process, I believe that objective and scope made it more successful. We still met the ultimate goal, and that was to bring teachers and students together to engage in a friendly-fire football game. This increased camaraderie and morale. The scope creep was probably the t-shirts, but despite that, we were still able to make the event a success.
January 10, 2013
Last summer, my school district implemented a new online lesson planner, called OnCourse, which also has an integrated website that staff are required to also use. The implementation of this course took only roughly 5 months, and that was from start to finish. In August of last summer, they called in two teachers from each school, which totaled 18 teachers, and trained us in using OnCourse. In September and October, it was our job to turnkey the program to the other staff members in our schools. By December, it was mandatory that all staff members be using this program to submit their lesson plans. This brought on all kinds of problems for the other trainer and I in my school. The only time it was offered during school hours was at an in-service we had in October, which was only a one hour training. Although OnCourse is not extremely difficult to use, it is extremely tedious and time consuming, and you can't miss any steps. So, needless to say, the one hour training was not nearly enough for some staff members. However, they would have to get trained on their own time, which meant the same for the trainers. To combat this problem, we had other teachers who were well-versed with the program to help us reach all the teachers who still needed assistance. This process was extremely tiresome, and in my opinion, could have been avoided.
First, the development of the program was already in place well before our training began. I feel the trainers should have been given more time to be trained, and the first couple of in-services throughout the fall should have been completely dedicated to learning this program. Here we are in April, and we already have several teachers that are still having issues with the program. In my professional opinion, the district tried to save money by only training a few teachers, but in the long run it is way more than any of us bargained for.
If it was up to me, I would have had the trainers from OnCourse come to each school, and successfully train all the teachers. It would have eliminated the middle man, and all the extra time and energy put into training the last of the teachers. We could have still have go-to people for the staff to reach out to in the event that they had an issue, but it would have been much easier in the long run. The whole process took 5 months, but the teachers only really had 2 months to become familiar with and begin using OnCourse. If that was too expensive, then maybe the supervisors from each department could have been trained, and then they could have turn keyed it to their department, which usually only consists of about 20 people.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Am I overthinking the issue here?
First, the development of the program was already in place well before our training began. I feel the trainers should have been given more time to be trained, and the first couple of in-services throughout the fall should have been completely dedicated to learning this program. Here we are in April, and we already have several teachers that are still having issues with the program. In my professional opinion, the district tried to save money by only training a few teachers, but in the long run it is way more than any of us bargained for.
If it was up to me, I would have had the trainers from OnCourse come to each school, and successfully train all the teachers. It would have eliminated the middle man, and all the extra time and energy put into training the last of the teachers. We could have still have go-to people for the staff to reach out to in the event that they had an issue, but it would have been much easier in the long run. The whole process took 5 months, but the teachers only really had 2 months to become familiar with and begin using OnCourse. If that was too expensive, then maybe the supervisors from each department could have been trained, and then they could have turn keyed it to their department, which usually only consists of about 20 people.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Am I overthinking the issue here?
March 15, 2012
Communicating Effectively
Communication is important when working with a project team. When I first read the assignment, I thought that the face-to-face communication would be the most effective. And from the reading, I have learned that most people think the same, because “telephone and email communication lacks important nonverbal cues to help us understand the message” (People Communicating, 2010). However, I think differently after reviewing all three modalities, and here is why.
I think that although face-to-face communication is effective because you can read body language, in this instance Jane is not very convincing in her approach. I understand that this scenario was prompted, but I feel that there was no conviction in what she was saying. Body language plays a role in communication (Types of Communication, 2012), and Jane’s body language in this passage is very blasé, and does not communicate to Mark the seriousness of the matter.
The voicemail had the same kind of tone and voice inflection. I did not hear the urgency in the voicemail, as it seems very nonchalant and nice. I don’t think that being nice is necessarily a bad thing, but being too nice leads to people not understanding the urgency in what you are saying. If I my deadline was threatened because of another individuals delay, I would make sure that he understood how important it was to me. She could have been a bit sterner in her voicemail.
As for the email, I think that this was the best approach to get this message across. When dealing with email, there is more room for interpretation, and in this instance I think that was probably a good thing. Another good thing is that an email can always be retrieved at a later time, which is not true at all of face-to-face conversations, and only partly true of voicemails. I have learned in my professional capacity, that there should always be a paper trail, or something you can track. You never know when things can come back to bite you, and definitely this could be one of those instances, so I truly think that the email was the best approach for this situation.
Through this exercise, I was able to gain a deeper perspective of the different modalities of communication. It helped me to see how each approach has its place and time. I truly think that communication is essential when working on a project team, but I think that the approach you take in communication is even more important. It was nice to see these in action, and the weekly resources also helped to convey the need for communication.
Resources
People Communicating (2010). Face to Face Communication, Retrieved From: http://www.people-communicating.com/face-to-face-communication.html
Types of Communication (2012) Communication through Body Language, Retrieved from: http://www.typesofcommunication.org/communication/nonverbal-communication/communication-through-body-language/
Communication is important when working with a project team. When I first read the assignment, I thought that the face-to-face communication would be the most effective. And from the reading, I have learned that most people think the same, because “telephone and email communication lacks important nonverbal cues to help us understand the message” (People Communicating, 2010). However, I think differently after reviewing all three modalities, and here is why.
I think that although face-to-face communication is effective because you can read body language, in this instance Jane is not very convincing in her approach. I understand that this scenario was prompted, but I feel that there was no conviction in what she was saying. Body language plays a role in communication (Types of Communication, 2012), and Jane’s body language in this passage is very blasé, and does not communicate to Mark the seriousness of the matter.
The voicemail had the same kind of tone and voice inflection. I did not hear the urgency in the voicemail, as it seems very nonchalant and nice. I don’t think that being nice is necessarily a bad thing, but being too nice leads to people not understanding the urgency in what you are saying. If I my deadline was threatened because of another individuals delay, I would make sure that he understood how important it was to me. She could have been a bit sterner in her voicemail.
As for the email, I think that this was the best approach to get this message across. When dealing with email, there is more room for interpretation, and in this instance I think that was probably a good thing. Another good thing is that an email can always be retrieved at a later time, which is not true at all of face-to-face conversations, and only partly true of voicemails. I have learned in my professional capacity, that there should always be a paper trail, or something you can track. You never know when things can come back to bite you, and definitely this could be one of those instances, so I truly think that the email was the best approach for this situation.
Through this exercise, I was able to gain a deeper perspective of the different modalities of communication. It helped me to see how each approach has its place and time. I truly think that communication is essential when working on a project team, but I think that the approach you take in communication is even more important. It was nice to see these in action, and the weekly resources also helped to convey the need for communication.
Resources
People Communicating (2010). Face to Face Communication, Retrieved From: http://www.people-communicating.com/face-to-face-communication.html
Types of Communication (2012) Communication through Body Language, Retrieved from: http://www.typesofcommunication.org/communication/nonverbal-communication/communication-through-body-language/
March 8, 2012
A Project "Post-Mortem"
In addition to my teaching duties, I am also the advisor of a club known as the Renaissance Club. The purpose of this club is recognize and reward students and staff, and to boost school spirit and morale. As part of this club, we do many activities and events to raise money for this club to allow us to do things for the teachers, staff, and students.
At the beginning of this school year, our big fundraiser was a Students vs. Staff Flag Football game. This event should have raised enough money for us for most of the year. However, we encountered many problems leading up to, and also the night of the game. First, the t-shirts cost more money than originally anticipated. Normally, the Graphic Arts students design and screen print any t-shirts that we need for events. Unfortunately, we found out only two weeks before the event that they would not be able to do the shirts for us because they were not at that point in their curriculum yet that they were working on printing. This caused us to have to order shirts from a company, and also put a rush on them because we had less than two weeks to get them back. This cost the club more than $400 extra in unnecessary fees.
The second major roadblock that we hit was after the game when several of our staff members filed Workman’s Compensation lawsuits for injuries they sustained during the game. There were three teachers who missed a lot of school, and the administration ultimately blamed the club for not taking the proper precautions and for not having faculty members sign waivers to play. This was never communicated to us, so I feel it was not completely our fault.
Overall, this project could have been more of a success had we had better planning, and had the administration conveyed their expectations a little more effectively. In looking back, we should have known way ahead of time that the t-shirts were going to have to be ordered, so that is something that we should have checked on well ahead of time. Also, since this game, the district has had all employees sign a waiver that states that we waive liability if we get hurt on school grounds doing anything not related to our teaching duties. If this waiver had been in place prior to the game, we could have prevented a lot of issues.
However, with all of that said, the club still made a lot of money on the night, and the students had a lot of fun, which is ultimately why we did it. If we are to do it again, which we probably will, better planning will be in place, and the success will not hinder of t-shirts and injured staff members.
Post-mortem Questions:
1. Are you proud of our finished deliverables (project work products)? If yes, what's so good about them? If no, what's wrong with them?
I am proud that the game itself was a success, and it ran smoothly and people had fun. I am also proud of my club for all their hard work.
2. What was the single most frustrating part of our project?
The single most frustrating part was the rushing around at the last minute to get the shirts done, because of poor planning and making assumptions. In addition, they didn't arrive until the day before, and that in itself was extremely stressful for me.
3. How would you do things differently next time to avoid this frustration?
I would make sure ahead of time that the graphic arts students could print our shirts so that we didn't have to put out extra money to have them rushed from a printing company. Another thing I would do differently next time is to have teachers sign waivers, so that in the event of an injury, then cannot sue the school district.
4. What was the most gratifying or professionally satisfying part of the project?
Students and staff having fun, walking away with smiles and new t-shirts was gratifying for me and balanced out all of the other frustrating parts of the project.
5. Which of our methods or processes worked particularly well?
Every other aspect of the game worked extremely well. The club ran a successful concession stand, there was a large group of spectators, and overall we made money on the event. Many administrators attended the event, and praised us for a successful night.
6. Which of our methods or processes were difficult or frustrating to use?
The whole process of making the t-shirts was frustrating. Being that the students were playing against the staff, it was almost essential to have them wear t-shirts. I do think that the Graphic Arts class teacher could have been a little bit more flexible in helping us, being that he knew what he was doing and could help the advanced students along. Also, after the fact, the administration blamed us for all of the teachers who filed for workman's compensation. One teacher even sued the district, which ultimately they blamed us for.
7. If you could wave a magic wand and change anything about the project, what would you change?
I would have not relied on the graphic arts students to screen print our shirts. I would have gone with a reputable company well in advance, as to not incur rush fees, and to ensure the shirts arrived sooner than they did. It was stressful not knowing if they would arrive on time.
8. Did our stakeholders, senior managers, customers, and sponsor(s) participate effectively? If not, how could we improve their participation?
Yes, I do believe that all the stakeholders, advisors, and customers did their parts to make it a successful endeavor.
Reflection Questions:
1. What contributed to the project’s success or failure?
Poor planning, and blame from the administration contributed to the not-so-succesful part of the event. All stakeholders contributed to its success.
2.Which parts of the PM process, if included, would have made the project more successful? Why?
Of the parts of the PM process, I believe that objective and scope made it more successful. We still met the ultimate goal, and that was to bring teachers and students together to engage in a friendly-fire football game. This increased camaraderie and morale. The scope creep was probably the t-shirts, but despite that, we were still able to make the event a success.
In addition to my teaching duties, I am also the advisor of a club known as the Renaissance Club. The purpose of this club is recognize and reward students and staff, and to boost school spirit and morale. As part of this club, we do many activities and events to raise money for this club to allow us to do things for the teachers, staff, and students.
At the beginning of this school year, our big fundraiser was a Students vs. Staff Flag Football game. This event should have raised enough money for us for most of the year. However, we encountered many problems leading up to, and also the night of the game. First, the t-shirts cost more money than originally anticipated. Normally, the Graphic Arts students design and screen print any t-shirts that we need for events. Unfortunately, we found out only two weeks before the event that they would not be able to do the shirts for us because they were not at that point in their curriculum yet that they were working on printing. This caused us to have to order shirts from a company, and also put a rush on them because we had less than two weeks to get them back. This cost the club more than $400 extra in unnecessary fees.
The second major roadblock that we hit was after the game when several of our staff members filed Workman’s Compensation lawsuits for injuries they sustained during the game. There were three teachers who missed a lot of school, and the administration ultimately blamed the club for not taking the proper precautions and for not having faculty members sign waivers to play. This was never communicated to us, so I feel it was not completely our fault.
Overall, this project could have been more of a success had we had better planning, and had the administration conveyed their expectations a little more effectively. In looking back, we should have known way ahead of time that the t-shirts were going to have to be ordered, so that is something that we should have checked on well ahead of time. Also, since this game, the district has had all employees sign a waiver that states that we waive liability if we get hurt on school grounds doing anything not related to our teaching duties. If this waiver had been in place prior to the game, we could have prevented a lot of issues.
However, with all of that said, the club still made a lot of money on the night, and the students had a lot of fun, which is ultimately why we did it. If we are to do it again, which we probably will, better planning will be in place, and the success will not hinder of t-shirts and injured staff members.
Post-mortem Questions:
1. Are you proud of our finished deliverables (project work products)? If yes, what's so good about them? If no, what's wrong with them?
I am proud that the game itself was a success, and it ran smoothly and people had fun. I am also proud of my club for all their hard work.
2. What was the single most frustrating part of our project?
The single most frustrating part was the rushing around at the last minute to get the shirts done, because of poor planning and making assumptions. In addition, they didn't arrive until the day before, and that in itself was extremely stressful for me.
3. How would you do things differently next time to avoid this frustration?
I would make sure ahead of time that the graphic arts students could print our shirts so that we didn't have to put out extra money to have them rushed from a printing company. Another thing I would do differently next time is to have teachers sign waivers, so that in the event of an injury, then cannot sue the school district.
4. What was the most gratifying or professionally satisfying part of the project?
Students and staff having fun, walking away with smiles and new t-shirts was gratifying for me and balanced out all of the other frustrating parts of the project.
5. Which of our methods or processes worked particularly well?
Every other aspect of the game worked extremely well. The club ran a successful concession stand, there was a large group of spectators, and overall we made money on the event. Many administrators attended the event, and praised us for a successful night.
6. Which of our methods or processes were difficult or frustrating to use?
The whole process of making the t-shirts was frustrating. Being that the students were playing against the staff, it was almost essential to have them wear t-shirts. I do think that the Graphic Arts class teacher could have been a little bit more flexible in helping us, being that he knew what he was doing and could help the advanced students along. Also, after the fact, the administration blamed us for all of the teachers who filed for workman's compensation. One teacher even sued the district, which ultimately they blamed us for.
7. If you could wave a magic wand and change anything about the project, what would you change?
I would have not relied on the graphic arts students to screen print our shirts. I would have gone with a reputable company well in advance, as to not incur rush fees, and to ensure the shirts arrived sooner than they did. It was stressful not knowing if they would arrive on time.
8. Did our stakeholders, senior managers, customers, and sponsor(s) participate effectively? If not, how could we improve their participation?
Yes, I do believe that all the stakeholders, advisors, and customers did their parts to make it a successful endeavor.
Reflection Questions:
1. What contributed to the project’s success or failure?
Poor planning, and blame from the administration contributed to the not-so-succesful part of the event. All stakeholders contributed to its success.
2.Which parts of the PM process, if included, would have made the project more successful? Why?
Of the parts of the PM process, I believe that objective and scope made it more successful. We still met the ultimate goal, and that was to bring teachers and students together to engage in a friendly-fire football game. This increased camaraderie and morale. The scope creep was probably the t-shirts, but despite that, we were still able to make the event a success.
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