Project Management: Resources for Determining Cost

One of the hardest parts of project management is constructing the budget.  Determining the cost of a project is not only extremely important to a project’s success, but an accurate cost estimate may be vital to getting the project off the ground initially.  There are numerous resources that can help an instructional designer effectively construct an accurate budget for a project.  Below, I have highlighted two resources that I personally find extremely informative.  Check out the links and let me know how you would use them to plan your next project!

Project Management for Instructional Designers

Amado, M., Ashton, K., Ashton, S., Bostwick, J., Clements, G., Drysdale, J., Francis, J., Harrison, B., Nan, V., Nisse, A., Randall, D., Rino, J., Robinson, J., Snyder, A., Wiley, D., & Anonymous. (DATE). Project Management for Instructional Designers. Retrieved from http://pm4id.org/. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike (BY-NC-SA) license. 
http://pm4id.org/9/1/

This is a free online text book on project management that is specifically directed towards the needs of the instructional designer. The text covers project management from the time you begin profiling a project to the projects closure.  It provides helpful tips and charts for that will help to manage time, communication, and risk.  Although I have found the whole book to be extremely helpful and filled with clear, relatable examples, I found Chapter 9 dealing with costs and procurements to be very insightful.  The chapter goes into detail of how to define estimated costs for a project during the conceptual phase and then move toward a more detailed budget once the project has been approved.  If I were to use this text as a resource to plan a project, I would try to mimic how they break down costs in their cost estimate chart and then roll up, or group costs by type, to give an overall cost analysis.  I feel that the roll-up would be very useful throughout the project to see where the majority of the budget is being spent and to make decisions about how to reallocate spending if necessary.  This is a site that I will be bookmarking for future use as I move on to managing projects in my future endeavors.  

4 Tools for Estimating Costs in the Project Management

Usmani, F. (2014). PM Study Circle. Retrieved from 4 Tools to Estimate Costs in the Project Management: http://pmstudycircle.com/2012/06/4-tools-to-estimate-costs-in-the-project-management/

http://pmstudycircle.com/2012/06/4-tools-to-estimate-costs-in-the-project-management/

This blog post describes four ways of estimating costs when planning a project.  I felt the explanations were clear and easy to understand.  It describes how each type of estimate is computed and compares the types based on accuracy and speed.  I felt that most beneficial part of the blog post was the explanation of a Three-Point Estimate, specifically the Program Evaluation and Review Technique.  I can see how this technique could lead to a more accurate estimate if time was taken to calculate it correctly.  Although it would require more time and money, I feel that the benefit of having a more accurate cost analysis would be worth the extra initial effort.  

Good communication is essential to a successful project.  When choosing how to communicate with team members during a project, it is important to understand how the mode of communication can affect the message.  Email, voicemail, and face-to-face conversations can all say the same thing, but send much different messages based on the tone, facial expressions, and word choice.  It is important to choose wisely how to communicate to ensure that the proper message is relayed.

The multimedia program at http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/mm/aoc/index.html showed how email, voicemail, and face-to-face communication can shade a message.  When I looked at the email message, it took a casual and understanding tone.  Although the content of the message seemed important, it did not give the sense of urgency.  It read as a simple reminder of a task that needed to be done in the time of the receiver.  The voicemail, which used the same script as the email, had an almost sarcastic tone at the beginning that I did not pick up on from the email.  It was not as friendly and still did not convey a sense of urgency.  The face-to-face conversation took on a friendly tone but left a sense of urgency and expectation.  It gave the sense that, although the speaker was understanding, they were waiting for a timely reply.  

I feel that three factors greatly affect how messages are interpreted: tone, facial expressions, and choice of words.  Tone is important for interpretation of a message.  This is why email is often an ineffective mode of communication when dealing with urgent or important matters.  Email leaves a lot of room for interpretation and cannot be trusted to convey all messages.  Facial expressions are also used to interpret a message.  Based on the facial expression of the person delivering the message, the listener can determine how serious the matter is and how urgent it is.  It can also give you clues to the speaker’s attitudes.  In this case, the speaker shows an understanding attitude by smiling and using a friendly tone.  This message could not have been as effectively delivered through email or voicemail and could have easily been misunderstood or misinterpreted.  Finally, word choice can often be used to interpret a message.  Choosing words carefully is important in all communication. However, it is more important to carefully choose words when delivering them through email and voicemail where facial expressions cannot be used to interpret the message. For communication that must be done via email, it is important to begin with a clear purpose to lessen the confusion of the intent of the communication.  Emails should be clear and concise and should specify if and when a reply is expected (Communication With Stakeholders, n.d.).              

It is important to evaluate the content of the message before deciding on a mode of communication.  Communication that is of greater importance or that is vital to a project should always be done face-to-face to ensure that the correct message is being sent.  When communication is misinterpreted, it can cause unintended conflict that can only be detrimental to the progress of a project.

References: 

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

Baptism By Fire: My First Training Project as a Novice Teacher

As I enter my second week of my Project Management course, I am reflecting back on some of the projects I have worked on previously and how the project management process worked its way unknowingly into the tasks I was assigned.  I was lucky enough to be hired at a local school district the year after graduating from college.  I entered my first year of teaching fresh off the Praxis exams and eager to spread knowledge to my middle school students.  Little did I know, I would be spreading my knowledge to a much different audience. 

It turned out that same year that my home state of Pennsylvania had changed some of its requirements for teacher certification, specifically those that were directed at special education teachers who co-taught in the main stream classrooms.  New regulations made it mandatory for teachers to hold a degree in a specialized area as opposed to a general special education degree.  No one was exempt.  Teachers who had taught for years (some had more than 15 years in) were now being required to show that they were highly qualified and worthy of holding a teaching certificate. The state was requiring these teachers to show their qualification in a variety of ways.  One requirement for special education teachers serving at the elementary level was to pass a general education praxis test that covered the three main subject areas: English, math, science, and social studies.  The stakes were high for the special education teachers.  If they did not pass the test, they were not considered highly qualified and could not teach.
   
However, the school administration quickly came up with a solution.  They would find someone who had recently taken the test to create a training to prepare the teachers in our district to take the high stakes test.  The test was very similar to the test I had just taken to receive my own certification, so the project fell to me. I immediately had two concerns.  First, the scope of the material that needed to be included in the training was very broad.  I needed to find a way to narrow the scope into something more manageable while still giving the teachers the best opportunity to pass the test. How would I determine what the teachers needed to know as opposed to what would be nice for them to know (Murphy, 1994). My second concern was that as a new teacher, I was unsure how the teachers would approach the training.  Would they see me as a subordinate and resent me for leading the training? How would I gain buy-in?  

The answer to my concerns would be relieved during what Portney, Mantel, and Meredith (2008) call the Define Stage of Planning.  I decided that it was possible to tackle both concerns at the same time.  I began by making contact with the teachers that were required to take the training.  I asked them what their main concerns were regarding the test.  What areas did they feel were their strengths and weaknesses?  How would they like to approach the material?  The communication with the teachers helped me to gain there buy-in because they were involved in the process.  They knew that I was concerned for their future and wanted to work with them to help them keep their certification.  It also helped me to slowly begin to narrow down the scope of the material.  By defining my project, I was able to identify the needs of my learners and create a clear and manageable plan that help me to meet those needs (Portny, Mantel, & Meredith, 2008).  

I was ready to move into the Start Phase of the project (Portny, Mantel, & Meredith, 2008).  Through the discussions, I found an overwhelming anxiety toward the math and literary terms.  My experience left me with the realization that these were two of the most tested areas on the exam.  We would need to cover them in detail.  The science and social studies were much harder to narrow down because of the generality of the test.  I collected text books from grades 3-8 and started to make a list comprised big ideas that were covered in both content areas.  I continued to talk with the teachers about what concepts they felt comfortable with and which ones they felt needed to be covered in the training.  It took me four weeks to plan out the training by focusing on large ideas and key concepts that would make good test questions. 

The training took place over a six week period and was scheduled to end the week before the test date.  The group was made up of 8 teachers who were required to pass the test.  We approached the material through small group learning.  Sometimes the learners would lead instruction on concepts that they were familiar with while I acted as a facilitator to the group.  I provided resources and practice material that we reviewed as a group and clarified key concepts that I identified as being appropriate testing material.  At the end of the six weeks, I felt that we had all done the best that we could to prepare for the approaching exam.  Although I sensed some anxiety, I felt that the teachers overall had confidence in their new knowledge and ability.  

It was 6-8 weeks before we knew the results of the test.  I was anxious knowing that the careers of those eight individuals relied so heavily on the training that we had put together as a team.  In the end, all of the 8 teachers passed the test and renewed their teaching certifications.  I felt that the team approach and successful communication allowed us to narrow the scope of the material in a way that had the most benefit for the learners.  By establishing communication early in the project, I was able to gain the necessary buy-in from those participating in the training and get to know them as learners.  This is what led to the success of the training. 

If I were to change anything about the project, I would probably go back and ask the administration to assign one or two more individuals to the project.  Being a young teacher and having this extra assignment placed a lot of stress on me during my first year.  I think any project can benefit from having more than one set of eyes on it.  By having another teacher to help with the planning, I think it would have added more variety to the instruction. However, overall I feel the project was a success and was a great learning experience. 

    
References

Murphy, C. (1994). Utilizing Project Management Techniques in the Design of Instructional Materials. Performance and Instruction , 9-11.

Portny, S., Mantel, S., & Meredith, J. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects . Danvers, MA: John Wiley & Sons Inc.