Project Team Communication

This week we have explored techniques to effectively communicate within a project team.  We utilized the Multimedia Program: "The Art of Effective Communication" to identify key features of different types of communication that would be commonly used in a project team setting: email, voicemail and face to face.

I found the language of all of the messages to be very informal and nonspecific but that it was only in the face to face setting that this seemed to work.  Both email and voicemail would probably require a more formal manner of communication to clearly relay the desired outcomes.  Portny et al define formal and informal communications as (p.357):

-Formal communications are preplanned and conducted in a standard format in accordance with an established schedule. 

-Informal communications occur as people think of information they want to share.

(Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, 2008)

It seems that the more we move away from face to face interactions the more formal we need to be in our communication to ensure our messages are received.  I also believe that it would have to be a requirement to have some kind of full access log for all project team members to utilize.  If all team members could record communications in this log and read the communications of other members then it would be easier to relay information and thoughts that come from the informal conversations that occur so often in face to face settings.

In the online high school we have a contact log where instructors, advisors and administration is able to record all contact with students and then utilize this log when contacting students.  This way everyone has updated information on the student’s progress and needs.  I believe that a similar model would work for a project team log as well.

Thank you.

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.

Why Project Management is a Necessity in Instructional Design?

My worst experience, best experience and defining moment in Instructional Design were all wrapped into a year and half long experience.  My first experience in the educational industry was to create a hybrid/blended curriculum that could be used for “at-risk” high school students who were not allowed or unable to attend school during the day.  All of the students were overage and under credit for average high school students, in addition most of them were also young parents.  The problem that I faced is that by the time I arrived to begin this project, writing the curriculum, the school already had the students meeting regularly every week.  I was forced to run the program while creating the program.

At the end of the year and a half I was able to complete the Math program and start the English and Science programs with plans to add a Special Education component to each content area.  I had learned so much about teaching, online curriculum development, and the world of hybrid/blended education.  It turned out to be a true bittersweet experience.  This experience showed me the necessity of project management and as I learn more about project management, the need to follow a project management process.  Portny et al define project management as (p. 3), “the process of guiding a project from its beginning through its performance to its closure” (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, 2008)

Some of the weaknesses that made the project difficult were:

1.      The requirement to achieve all levels of the project at the same time; there was no process

2.      Limited resources and not knowing what resources were required before the implementation of the project

3.      I had to be the project manager, the curriculum designer, and the math/science teacher; spread so thin I was not able to complete anything before starting something new

Some of the strengths that made the project successful were:

1.      Flexibility to be creative and explore different options

2.      Though the number of people working on the project was low, everyone had extensive experience in their fields of study

3.      Did not have to worry about location or recruitment of students

Analyzing the project management process presented in our textbook, I believe that more focus in the “Define” and “Start” phases (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, 2008) would have relieved some of the difficulties and made the project stronger. 

Thank you.

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.