Estimating Costs and Allocating Resources

Estimating Costs and Allocating Resources

Learning about the different responsibilities, roles, performance tasks or duties of a project manager has really unfastened my eyes completely throughout this course. I’ve learned thus far that instructional designers find themselves being managed by a project manager, may be performing every role an must manage themselves, or may serve as the project manager and be less involved with the day-to-day development, Stolovitch (n.d.). Budrovich (n.d.) explained that every project requires the management of five variables: time, resources, expertise, quality, and scope. With that in mind, each component of a project has to have a budget that is formed by estimating costs and allocating resources to get the project completed successfully. There are so many resources and tools to utilize to assist a novice to experience project manager during a project. The Bright Hub PM website provides forms/templates, and software on Excel project budgets. They have created Excel forms for overall project budget, monthly project budget, and task project budget. So there is no need to recreate the wheel when you have templates/forms already out there and accessible to use. This would save time, which is a very crucial component of a project. Check out the site by clicking on the link below.

http://www.brighthubpm.com/templates-forms/75727-use-our-excel-project-budget-template-to-simplify-your-life/

EnrichUK Good Practice Guidebook also provided a great amount of useful information on the vital steps of taking on a project and completing it successfully. I focused in on the following sections: planning tools and techniques, risk management, costs and budgets, and monitoring and controlling sections because these are the phases that I’m learning and constructing currently during this course. I gained valuable information and I suggest you check out this website also. Allocating resources for a project seems to be the main stress that a project manager has to experience to make sure the budget is accurate in order to fulfill the requirements for each task/activities included in a project.

http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/nof/support/gpg/ProjectManagement/#Costingandbudgets

References

Bowen, R. & McDonough, M (2011). Use Our Excel Project Budget Template to

     Simplify Your Life. Bright Hub Inc. Retrieved on 11/29/12, from:

http://www.brighthubpm.com/templates-forms/75727-use-our-excel-project-budget-template-to-simplify-your-life/

EnrichUK Good Practice. Project Management. (2004). Retrieved on11/29/12, from: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/nof/support/gpg/ProjectManagement/#Costingandbudgets

Stolovich, H. (n.d.). Project Management and Instructional Design. [Video Media].

     Laureate, Inc.

Communicating Effectively

     Communication is a key component in any relationship, situation, and mainly during a project. Effective communication has to take place among all project team members in order for the project to move forward and achieve its goals. For this week’s assignment, I had to view the multimedia program “The Art of Effective Communication.”  The piece of communication was presented in three different modalities: as written text, as audio, and as video.

Written text (email)

Jane sent an email to Mark expressing that she needed a data report so that she could complete her task in the project and meet her deadline. Jane displayed understanding, used clear and concise communication, and provided options for the solution. Dr. Stolovitch (n.d.) agreed that effective communication with stakeholders should be clear, concise, and focused in order to help everyone stay on target. I felt the email was professional and to the point. This informal written correspondence assisted Jane in quickly communicating what she needed form Mark, but also provided Jane with documentation of the discussion. Emails can be a convenient method to communicate, but could cause a gray area when it comes to trying to figure out someone tone or attitude within the message.

Audio (voicemail)

I felt I interpreted the same message from the voicemail Jane left Mark, but it had a different influence of communication. The voicemail seem to have added a more understanding tone and warmer delivery. Jane still was clear on her request, kept a good pace of conversation, provided great tonality, and displayed a professional attitude. The voicemail exposed Jane’s professional attitude about getting her task done in the overall project and also provided Mark with flexible options.

Video

In the beginning of the assignment, I knew the face-to-face form of communication would produce the best result. When you are F2F communicating with someone, you can interpret their body language, sense their emotion, and clearly listen and get immediate feedback from the information presented.  One-on-one meetings are particularly useful for interactively exploring and clarifying special issues of interest to a small number of people (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, & Kramer, 2008). The video did provide a visual of a non-confrontational attitude from Jane. Jane was smiling, giving eye contact, and still using a calm and professional tone. She also provided different methods for Mark to give her the data information that she needed to complete her part of the project.

Overall I felt the voicemail and F2F methods of communication were effective during this activity. Emails are widely used to communicate things quickly to people, but again I feel gray area can interfere with the intent of the message. I have learned that you can use different methods of communication to deliver a message effectively, but you should make sure the intention of your message is clear, concise, friendly, and professional.

References

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.

Stolovitch, H. (n.d.). Communication with stakeholders. [Video Media]. Laureate

     Education, Inc.

Learning from a Project "Post-Mortem"

Learning from a Project “Post-Mortem”

Project managers should plan to conduct and hold a postproject evaluation after any project is performed (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, & Kramer, 2008). A postproject evaluation, or project postmortem, is an assessment of project results, activities, and processes in order to recognize project achievements, identify techniques that worked, and approaches that didn’t work (Portny et al., 2008). I’m a Physical Education teacher and I haven’t had the opportunity to conduct a formal project, but I consider organizing a May Day annual event at my elementary school as a major project.

Each year the PE department organizes a May Day event for the students to participate in relay races, carnival games, and witness live entertainment. The planning for this project starts in February, even though it’s in May. We have to create a blueprint version and submit it to our administrators for approval, then get financial funds approved, and then gather all resources and people needed to assist in the actual event. Scheduling is a big headache due to having to work around other school calendar events, fieldtrips, and lunch schedules. May Day is a strenuous project, but I love the outcome every year.

After the May Day event, the PE department normally sits down and reflects on the pros and cons of what happened so that we can revise and improve the event for the following year. After answering the “Post Mortem” review questions, I was able to reflect on the approaches that produce great outcomes and things that caused obstacles in our events. We along with the entire school are always proud of the May Day event. The teachers, students, administrators, and parents show great gratitude each year. The most effective component of this project is the planning. The other stakeholders, administrators and teachers, tend to interfere with the scheduling by approving fieldtrips and other activities during May Day week, which then causes schedule changes. This obstacle could be eliminated if the administrator participated effectively in this project by only allowing the 1^st week in May to be reserved only for May Day events.

Regardless of what the project involves, it's important for project managers and team members to take stock at the end of a project and develop a list of lessons learned so that they don't repeat their mistakes in the next project (Greer, 2010).

References

Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your

     projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.

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.