Personally
I was a part of creating a training program for teachers that was intended to instruct
on a specific curriculum. However, because of the goals of the organization at
the time, the curriculum training became a time for training, as well as,
curriculum mapping related to state standards and common assessments. The
training was intended to last for three days, and within those three days,
teachers had to:
- · Identify the standards that they taught each year, and how often the standards were taught.
- · Create a curriculum map for the school year that included each subject.
- · Begin writing unit plans, and creating common assessments for their grade level teams.
- · Create a school-wide curriculum map that displayed when each grade level was teaching a concept.
So while
the original goals of the training were to have the teachers identify the
standards they taught throughout the year, and to begin planning their year
using a specific curriculum, you can see that the goals of the training
expanded greatly. The training development team was basically asked to figure
out a way to cram the new goals into the time frame already slated for the
training. In the end, teachers were poorly trained, overwhelmed, and unsure of
which of the training goals were the most important in regards to completion.
If I
were managing this project, I would have given more time to the teachers, and
to the trainers to accomplish the new training goals. To control the scope of
the project, I would have had individuals complete a Change of Scope document
that outlines the proposed changes, benefits, and contingency plans for dealing
with an expanded scope.
I would
have met with the district level individuals proposing the change of scope, and
explained the reasons for my concerns. I would have then suggested options that
would have required adjustments to the time, budget, or resources to
accommodate the new goals. I know that if I had approached the district level
individuals with the new budget requirements for the additional goals that they
would have seriously reconsidered the scope change. Many times scope change
occurs because certain individuals don’t fully understand the logistics behind
the changes. A project manager must be assertive when dealing with any member
of the project team who wants to expand the project, and be prepared to defend
the direction and scope of the project.
Resources
Portny, S., Mantel, S., Meredith, J., Shafer, S., Sutton. M.,
& Kramer,B. (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and
controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Budrovich, V.
(n.d.). [Video Program].
Practitioner Voices: Resource Challenges. Laureate
Education, Inc.
