This failed project was originally requested by a senior level manager and assigned to my colleague. The project involved analyzing vendors specializing in already created instructional materials and eventually choosing one who could provide access to an Internet-based resource library would interface with the organization’s learning management system. The online resource library was intended to provide just-in- time access for employee learning needs as well as record registration and completion statuses of completed topics. My colleague began working on the project in January of 2011. In May of 2011, my colleague transitioned out of the organization and the project transitioned to me for completion by August of 2011. I had no formal project management knowledge or experience.
Project transition information included:
- A 20-minute telephone conversation of the project from my colleague
- A spreadsheet of 15 potential vendors, 10 of which had been contacted for information regarding their offerings. Included on the spreadsheet was information by topic, delivery method, and cost.
- An outline requested topics that had been provided by the senior level manager.
I familiarized myself with the project by reviewing the information provided and having a discussion with the senior level manager who verbally granted support and approval of my recommended choice of vendor. During my work on the project from May 2011 to September 2011, I provided to the senior level manager:
- An analysis of vendor systems compatible with our organization’s learning management system.
- A spreadsheet of corporate competencies matched to compatible vendor instructional materials with corresponding available delivery formats (i.e. asynchronous, synchronous, classroom, job aids, etc.) and purchase price.
- Demonstration of and access to the chosen resource library and materials.
- A formal business proposal for approval.
Although I spent many hours on the project and provided to the best of my ability what I believed was desired, the project was not approved and eventually cancelled. What contributed to its failure was my lack of knowledge and experience in project management.
Looking back on this experience I would have taken the information initially provided to me and created a formal Statement of Work (SOW) document. I would have asked the senior level manager to fill in any gaps and approve the document prior to proceeding with the effort involved. I have come to learn that the SOW is the foundation for effective projects. The project concept must be clearly defined, enough so that you can get support from people in the organization (Greer, 2010).
Reference
Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.
Hi DeAnn…our situations our similar in the projects from our posting. I too was had no prior knowledge of project management tasks like SOW and scoping a project. Looking back now I could have done so many things differently. I did find a nice little reference on a website at http://www.spottydog.u-net.com/guides/faq/frameset.html that gives some tips on how to start a project. I think this happens to many people in the real world. Management at times is short with their budget and will not pay to hire a project manager to handle something. In these cases it would be great if the company can pay for some online or real time project management courses for people in their corporation.
ReplyDeleteHi Eric – you’re right, our blogs are quite similar this week. You highlight many of the areas in which my project may have succeeded such as a detailed SOW with specific target dates and a word breakdown structure. The one area in which we differ is that while I had one brief 20-minute meeting with the senior manager for my project, I should have also noted that I met with her bi-weekly to provide status updates to the project. After working with this particular individual, I’m not sure a signature on a statement of work would have influenced her ability to make decisions, but with timelines and her signature in place I would have been able to perhaps escalate the issue. Going forward, I plan to take Dr. Stolovich’s advice and make sure to create and have approved an SOW for all projects.
DeleteDeAnn,
ReplyDeleteWe always realize things that we would do differently if given a second chance at it. I hope that your colleague had left detailed notes about what he/she had worked on so far, so that it wasn't like you were picking it up from the beginning of the project. As we know from Greer (2010), one of the first steps a project manager must do is define the project and get support and approval from management. It sounds like this happened, why was the project then cancelled? It sounds like you were very organized and methodical in your work, was it not exactly what management had asked for? I sometimes find that even though management may say they want one thing, they sometimes change their mind and decide that the project was no longer necessary because a better idea came along or it just didn't see to be needed any longer. An SOW does sound like an excellent idea that could have helped the success of the project, but you did step in after your colleague left and had been working on the project for 5 months. Would you have written a new one to reflect what work was left or one to reflect the beginning of the project?
References
Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.
Hi Megan - thank you for responding to my blog, you ask many thoughtful questions. I believe the project was eventually cancelled due to budget constraints and honestly it seemed as if the manager would ebb and flow in their decisions to make others happy. Had I known then what I know now, I would have created an SOW with what I knew of the project based on what was left to me (not detailed) and continued working more in depth with the senior manager to create complete the right SOW and make sure it was approved.
DeleteA clearly defined project and its scope can definitely save time in the future. Your situation sounds similar to a similar case of mine, in terms of dealing with different potential vendors. In our case, we had several functional managers over specific engineering issues and one project manager over the entire project. Needless to say, there was some confusion over the roles and how they would be applied. An analysis of compatible vendor systems to provide to the senior level manager is a great way to present a thorough case instead of up-selling just one or two systems. This happens in many cases, particularly in knowledge management, information systems, or any other group that deals with databases at large. There are so many options available and the work provided by you during the transitions seemed like a great contribution.
ReplyDeleteAs a PM, a written description of job roles can help keep others accountable in the form of a work-order agreement. This identifies project identifiers which would have been a part of your statement of work, work to be performed, and an activity start and end date with the number of hours spent. I know one of the difficulties, in my case, that I can relate to when working with other vendors at the University level is defining when roles kick in and sometimes others may need to wear multiple 'hats' to keep the project going. I would have been interested in seeing your project if it had not been canceled. I'm interested in knowledge management systems and databases, so this looked like a very interesting project.
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.
Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.
Thank you for responding to my blog Nicholas. I appreciate that you related your own experience and your kind words about what you saw that I was able to contribute. Unfortunately in my instance the delay in decision by the senior manager meant there were no available funds to continue the project. An SOW would have provided much needed structure and guidance to the overall project.
DeleteDeAnn,
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you walked into a project that was not well managed from the start. The SOW would have been done in the beginning of the project; it seems that a WBS did not even exist. You provided a good output based on what you had; however, without an initial plan, if we look at the duties of the PM according to our text, the previous pm failed in the establishments of objectives and establishment of a project plan. When objectives are not clear, you may wind up coming up with results that don't meet the requirements. My feeling is that this project was going to fail regardless; because the initial requirements and stake holder expectations were not clearly established.
Reference:
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.
Thank you for responding to my blog Jorge. You are correct that the objectives were not clear and in fact kept changing. Looking back, the project was set up for failure because of lack of planning and commitment from key stakeholders.
Delete