VUSSC/Singapore BC/team leaders meeting/Day 2
Project Plan (First Draft) Team Leaders’ Meeting Day 2 Tuesday 30 January 2007= (Reported by Tauvaga Vaai)
Morning Session
Topic: Project Management Overview Presenter: Mr Richard Nielsen Denrich Consulting Ltd
Introductions: 15 minutes Views and Experiences Participants in Project Management
Richard Nielson – Session facilitator. Has wealth of experience in: Retail Engineering Construction, Information Technology (shared views about terms in IT borrowed from Engineering) Online banking Applications
Dr. Wei Ying Lim (Singapore)– Not much involvement in Project Management
Patricia Benn (Antigua) – Workshop Coordination
Patricia Schlicht (COL) – 25 years of Business Administration, Project Management skills over many years, business management skills (ran her own business), practical skills and experiences in international project management at COL and before, coordinated many international workshops, policy dialogues, consultative and experts meetings, worked for Engineers before.
Tatiana Anestik (COL) – Gannt Charts, Business Management Skills, Attended training sessions on Project Management
Tauvaga Vaai (Samoa) – Implementer of projects. Not involved in decision making.
Phillip Serracino-Inglott (Malta)– Works on PRojectr. Technical expert (IT and Philosophy) Writes Proposals. Expect to go to Singapore with something to start with (structured – ie Project management tools and a plan)
Helen Askounis (COL)– Knowledge management coordinator. 16 years experience in Project Management. Coordinator of PCF in recent years. Has wealth of background in Administration. In Project management – created spreadsheets. VUSSC .
Reasons for Failure
Raichard highlighted reasons for failure in Managing Projects. Some of these reasons include the following:
- Lack user involvement – client not involved actively in decision making and application
- Lack of resources
- Unrealistic expectations
- Lack of executive support
- Changing requirements and specifications
Scope creep No change control system
- Lack of Planning
- Lack of project management culture
General discussion
Phillip: Relayed the fact that we all need better education for our countries hence VUSSC being a Political decision. Emphasize the need to develop ICT for Education as this would contribute to the progress of VUSSC.
Wei Ying states her views on the importance of the curriculum. Look at needs of people in various contexts. Set up a program that focuses on the generic with a wide scope applicable to various contexts.
The job of a Project Manager
It was explained by the facilitator that Project Management is the art of getting things done.
The facilitator explained 3 things a project manager needs to do
- Work with the customer – elaborate and enforce the goals and scope of the project
- Compile the project plan – a team process
- Manage deviations from the plan – manage deviations and not follow – the plan is never followed precisely
It was also emphasized that problem solving in the project management process is a team approach.
Wei Ying asked for suggestion on strategies that can be used as follow up on progress after the Singapore Boot Camp. According to the facilitator this will be up to the group. Patricia Schlitz reminded there is the Wikieducator as a tool.
Patricia Benn shared her views on the sustainability and motivation aspect of project implementation and continuation. Recognition and incentives from local authorities is crucial to the survival of the project.
Richard emphasized the fact that Virtual teams should have plans, know roles and responsibilities/division of tasks to be clearly defined. Regular communication between team leaders be enforced.
Richard explained project management as a system which activities range from initiating to controlling and closing. He briefly explained what is involved in each element of the project management system namely initiating, planning, executing and controlling, and closing. He emphasized process and knowledge areas in a project management system.
When planning there should be a clear and comprehensive schedule. As the project gets larger in scope and size the project plan should be well organized/itemized with clear divisions. What’s in scope and out of scope are very important elements of the project plan as such shows the boundaries for those involved. Other important elements are assumptions and constraints can become risks. Example what happens if computers break down or if anything goes wrong? This can become a risk.
The project schedule – important to meet deadlines and due dates.
Project plan acceptance is very important which should be evident by having key personnel – sponsors, decision makers and implementers – to sign an agreement.
Status Report: (Crypto*Direct*Project) Usually presented in summary form. Three parts of status report – Task, Responsibility and Reason. The report is a measuring tool that shows open issues (not resolved) and closed issues (resolved).
Helen Askounis raised her concern about the application of Project Management knowledge by Team Leaders in Singapore. Richard indicates some guidelines like: Clearly defining the tasks, assign people to implement tasks and set realistic timelines. Paul Explained the commitment of Small states as evident in the nomination Team Leaders by their governments..
In closing a project we need to do a post mortem by looking what was learned and what can be improved.
Key Principles for Managing Projects like the following
(to name a few) • Be realistic – learn to say no. We can only do so much in the allotted time of the project. We can not replace or add time. • Plan effectively – Identify objectives and requirements. Establish standards and procedures • Manage effectively
Iron Triangle of Project Management
Key elements
- Cost
- Time
- Scope
You can’t change one element without affecting the others.
Project Methodology
- Who is the owner of the project?
- Assign a project manager
- Project plan
- Project schedule
- Manage expectations
- Post Mortem
Special notes
The project success factor is all about communication. Keep communicating all the relevant information to everyone involved.
Size and complexity of project determines how we tailor projects.
Project Management should be unique to each industry (context)
Afternoon Session
Focus of session: planning for Boot Camp 2
Concerns: Training Educators who train teachers Designing a course design framework for ODL materials including conversion of conventional materials into ODL materials. Learning about wiki ICT skills Design materials for ODL – Prepare an outline of face to face workshop on how to design ODL courses. Skills to be acquired: Planning and developing a professional development program for educators
Work-plan for the Singapore Boot Camp 12 – 30 March 2007
Week 1 (4 days) First 2 days on workshop outline – objectives, content (topics) – planning the workshop. By Wed. pm a work-plan of a 3 day workshop should be ready.
Planning –
- Opening ceremony/Introduction/getting to know wiki
- Expectations deliverables and terms of reference for workshop
- Plan workshop
- Pair people with wiki skills
- Wiki recorder/administrator
- Identify free content available
- Create design templates
- Workshop on plan completed
- Design template completed
Weeks 2 (5 days) and 3
Seminars 1 -12 Completion of Project Each seminar needs a peer group review in wiki. Each seminar includes handouts, slide show, activity workbook and a facilitator’s handbook. Also includes peer review and polishing Freemind for seminar 12 Powerpoint presentations for seminar 12 ICT skills – Freemind, moodle and power-point presentation.
Upload moodle (open source)– upload moodle to wiki content. Turn into print format
Post Boot camp activites
Group size: 4 members per group. Each group will have a wiki technical person.
Plan – Refer Project – Col Plan by Richard Nielson for details.
