Managing Scope Creep in a Past Project

I arrived back in the Continental United States after 3 years in Germany and went to a "combat support" unit at a very high powered Army base.  At the time I was the only woman officer and I was put in the position of Battalion Training Officer. 

The time-line I was up against was the (semi) Annual General Inspection.  The unit was to undergo the AHI in 3 months. I was given the assignment of making sure that the units' soldiers had updated training.  I was to go through records, find out what soldier needed what training, and make sure he or she was properly trained before the AGI.

In the course of the investigation I noticed that a requirement for the soldiers to participate in training where trucks and equipment, and they, were loaded onto C130 cargo airplanes experience being passengers during "combat take-offs and landings."  I noticed that this requirement hadn't been met for several years so I went to the major unit on post and asked for a training slot.  This major unit is a combat division.  This was a time before equal opportunity laws were in effect and my request was met with "Lady, no.  Not only, no, but we wouldn't waste ours slots on you signal (explicative deleted) anyway."  This was not a "words to that effect" moment, but an actual statement.

The simple "go through the records" assignment was undergoing a very rapid scope creep.  The Army base was associated with an Air Force base and at that time a lot of pilots were 2-week reservists who were commercial pilots and needed annual military certification.  The Air Force graciously offered us slots.

I went back to work and several weeks later noticed that my unit had not received weapons training.  I noticed that the previous trainers had tried to get the "big combat division" to share its rifle ranges.  Of course, it needed the facilities all for itself.  I was pretty sure it would, again.

Naively, I approached the second major combat unit on base.  This unit was, and is, focused on training and had, and has, a completely different mind-set.  The Command Sergeant Major in their training office not only let us have several rifle ranges they provided buses, their ammunition, and even rations for a week's training.  The soldier received weapons training by some of the most highly qualified specialists in the world. 

Due to the generosity and professionalism of the Air Force and this other unit my combat support battalion was able to pass the AGI.

Several time-lines had not been met in previous years because of the stone-walling of this major division.  By the time I arrived the unit just expected to fail those categories.  If my boss had given me this information when I took the job I would have accepted defeat, as by that time it was a part of the culture of the unit.  He encouraged me to find the solution on my own and as long as I was experiencing a measure of success he kept me in the dark about how impossible things seemed to be.  He, of course, knew the size of the task, but in my mind it certainly was scope creep as at every turn things the tasks kept getting more Herculean.  This is one time that optimism and naivete triumphed.  This is also one time that training goals were met by a management technique of withholding information.

Unfortunately, a stakeholder or SME can withhold information at any turn in a design project.  This is a contingency that a project manager needs to understand may happen if not everyone is "on board" with the project.  In order to help prevent this I think the project manager needs to a.) develop allies within the client's leadership structure that can alert him or her to these possibilities and b.) always keep a sharp eye on the time-lines and budgets for this, and similar problems to occur.  It may seem negative and skeptical to expect, not only scope creep, but sabotage, but a wise project manager is a successful project manager.

Researching Budgeting and Cost/Time Allocation Sites

For overall support for Instructional Designers, not related to the blog assignment I would like to refer the reader to the American Society for Training and Development:

www.astd.org 

While doing this assignment I was looking for advice that I felt would benefit me, as a novice.  I think, in general, I am quite concerned that I will miss or overlook an important element tracking budget/cost and time throughout my project so I looked for advice given that would help me keep track through small steps.

www.executivebrief.com/project-management/project-scope-considerations-managing-project-budget/
The concept of Executive Brief is to break everything down to the smallest detail and then allocating your resources accordingly, at the task level.  No surprises.  A lot of detailed up-front work but avoiding pitfalls, along the way, and conducting what the author, Gina Lijoi calls "Accurate Time Capture."  She advocates "time sheeting" to compare costs and time at each task to both "Milestone Reconcile" at each point where the project is in relation to budgeted estimates in order to make corrections, if necessary, and to provide a yardstick for planning future projects. 

"While this task may seem overwhelming, it is within reach if you can breakdown work effort and measure profitability as you move through the project.  Ultimately, agility will provide you with options - and understanding where your budget is at each stage of a project will allow you to react and manage project scope successfully."  Gina Lijoi, Project Scope Considerations for Managing Project Budget, September, 2009.
"Executive Brief," the site that Ms. Lijoi published through seems to be scholarly and not selling software.  However, its resources include links to many other articles about Project Management, Software Development and other considerations for CEOs, project managers, etc. 

Next I considered less scholarly and more practical sites.  Looking for comprehensive software applications I found a company that provides detailed software links for many different sectors of the overall "project" industry, including construction, call centers, trucking, "talent" and, of course, project management.

I was interested in the whole site and because it includes Information Technology, Software Development, and Website and Content Management it will be a wonderful resource in the future.  For today's blog assignment, specifically, they have links for Task Management software, Time and Expense, Time Tracking, Gantt Charts (20) and many, many others, and listed through vendor and platforms (Windows, Web-based, Open Source, Mac, etc.

www.capterra.com/

 

Communicating Effectively with Stakeholders - Blog Assignment

Choosing Effective Communications:

• How did your interpretation of the message change from one modality to the next? - I found that the mode of communication did affect how I interpreted the message.   I expected that I would like the e-mail, dislike the voice message and like the face-to-face communication.  However, I preferred one way over the other two and I didn't expect that outcome from myself. 

• What factors influenced how you perceived the message? - I was shocked at my reaction to two of the messages, and I couldn't help feeling a little irritated that I felt that way.  I immediately became defensive and built-ridden and this was just a response to a video!  I suppose it's from teaching and from being in the Military, but I had my "whiny" filter raised, and couldn't get past it.  I am nor proud, but they were my reactions.

• Which form of communication best conveyed the true meaning and intent of the message? - I felt that it was easier to feel less irritated at the lady-asking-for-help because of the formality of the voice-mail communication.  She had a limited amount of time to tell me what she wanted and no time insert her emotions.  I read finger-pointing in the e-mail communication.  If I were to receive that message I wouldn't like it because I felt a bit put-down because I was causing this lady so much trouble, and, of course it's my fault, what have you - the emotions were so evident that I had no desire to finish whatever part of the her design I owed her.  The face-to-face informal chat felt like a confrontation, the lady draped herself all over the office cubicle in an unprofessional manner.  Again, she seemed condescending - her irritation and her emotions - and her desire to raise my level of concern by guilt didn't pay off.  However, in the voice mail she seemed more intent on getting her point across, factually  I could focus on what needed to be done without trying to contain my irritation at her "whininess," even though I seemed to be to blame for the missing design piece.

• What are the implications of what you learned from this exercise for communicating effectively with members of a project team?  - If I am working with a team I need to deal with my own reactions and not read anything into what I am being told.  On the other hand, I have to filter out any similar emotions when I am dealing with a team-member who is lagging behind, for whatever reason. I absolutely have to focus on relating facts to that team member in a non-confrontational manner.  Whether he is a peer, superior, or someone I supervise, bringing my own irritation into the situation exacerbates the mess.  I am also saying that I need to know who I am communicating with and understand their preferred means of communication.  For some people a lazy, feel-good chat is necessary, because they "lead with their emotions," for others a brief presentation of the facts and a more respectful way of asking to be of help (than was presented in the video) is better

       

Blog Assignment: Learning from a Project “Post-Mortem”

Blog Assignment: Learning from a Project “Post-Mortem”

 

Several years ago two gentlemen and I were involved in putting together a contemporary service at our church.  As the fellows, one is a Jazz piano player and one plays the guitar, are quite a few years older than I and established, well-respected members of our fairly conservative church, I had little fear of creating buy-in from the congregation… especially as the minister assured everyone that it was a one-time back-to-school event designed to accompany a rather “Low Sunday,” Labor Day; it was generally agreed that no one would be there, anyway.

Although the guitar player was out of town the “keyboard” player and I met several times to pick out music that would please people.  We met with the Sunday school teacher and minister and rehearsed entrance hymns, preludes and postludes, and communion hymns with the participants.  (I wanted the children to sing “Nine to Five” but that was deemed unacceptable.)

I copied music for the children and congregation and made sure that the music inserted in the bulletin was easily read.  I had enough copies of the service bulletin for everyone that came.

I had been to the guitarist’s 60^th birthday party.  His wife bought him a 12-string Ovation guitar.  He was very happy to be asked to play with our group.  He and his wife returned from vacation the night before the event.  They arranged their vacation so that he would be back in time.  He came to rehearsal at 8:30 before the 10:00 service.  He looked at the music.  He said, “I can only play chords in 3 keys, I don’t do flats, at all.”

Although he did play the music he was able to I knew that my assumptions were incorrect and that I had almost caused a nice event to fail, miserably.

The following “post-mortem” was based on “10 Questions” from “The Project Management Minimalist: Just Enough PM to Rock Your Projects”, 2010, http://michaelgreer.biz/?page_id=636 42

Step 1: Define the project concept, then, get support and approval – we did get approval for the music that we played.  We were in general agreement.  The music was designed to be pleasing to a broad group of people.

Step 2: Get your team together and start the project – two out of three key members of our team got together and began the project.  We picked out the music and coordinated with the minister and the Sunday school team.

Step 3: Figure out exactly what the finished work product will be – we decided to keep the ritual and liturgy, change the sermon to a choral presentation by the children, and build the music around more contemporary forms.

Step 4: Figure out what you need to do to complete the work products – the piano player chose music, got approval for music, changed music, practiced the music with each other and with the children, I ensured that our “hand-outs” were appropriate to the audience.

Step 5: Estimate time, effort, and resources – the project, sans the inclusion of the guitarist, proceeded from needs analysis to design, development quite well.  Implementation, however, was based on assumptions could have been a disaster for the whole day had the guitarist insisted that he play with us and that we would have to change the music to accommodate him.  The evaluative phase is this “post-mortem.”

Step 6: Build a schedule – we scheduled practices and appropriately designed the music to fit the service.

Step 7: Estimate the costs – monitary costs were none, except for the pre-planned design of the service bulletins, which was absorbed by the church.  The congregation was unaware of the potential problem with the guitarist.

Step 8: Keep the project moving – the project kept moving, right up until 8:30 that morning.

Step 9: Handle scope changes – handled scope changes – the guitarist played what he was able to.

Step 10: Close out phases, close out the project – the ultimate closeout of the project was our little group, the “Hummers and Strummers” was so well-received that we ran the service every fifth Sunday of the month for years. 

What processes, project artifacts, or activities did you include in the project that contributed to its success? – I believe that I answered this question within the parameters of the “Post-Mortem” above.

What processes, project artifacts, or activities did you not include in the project that might have made the project more successful – we, really, I, did not fully investigate our guitarist’s abilities.  The project was being developed just as he was leaving on vacation and I didn’t bother to ascertain whether or not he could actually play the music, I just assumed that, because he had a 12 - string Ovation guitar, he was an expert.

What did I learn from the project?  I learned that the piano player needed to rewrite music for the keys of C, D, and G, which he did, for several years.  I also learned, long before this Master’s Degree class, to ask more questions and not assume anything.

Reference:

The Project Management Minimalist: Just Enough PM to Rock Your Projects!

Laureate Education Ed. © Copyright 2010, Michael Greer, http://michaelgreer.biz/?page_id=636 42