Training 2009: Atlanta, Georgia

1. Training 2009: Atlanta, Georgia Strategies for Successful eLearning Project Management Presented by: Mark Steiner, President, mark steiner, inc. Wednesday, February 11, 2009, 08:30 AM - 09:30 AM Session 612 Format:Breakout Session Track(s):Advanced Training Topics, Instructional Designer/Developer, Training Manager/Supervisor Objectives:1. List ten vital principles for PM success. 2. Explain unique challenges of eLearning projects. 3. Identify specific strategies to ensure the success of your eLearning project. Brief Bio:For over 15 years, Mark Steiner has designed, developed, and managed custom eLearning and interactive media programs for a variety of clients. His project roles have varied from group director to project manager, and lead instructional designer to lead programmer and he is intimately familiar with proven eLearning methodologies. Contact:mark@marksteinerinc.com, (773) 392-7967

2. Training 2009: Atlanta, Georgia Strategies for Successful eLearning Project Management Mark Steiner Wednesday, February 11, 2009 08:30 AM - 09:30 AM Session 612

3. Introductions Purpose of Session Project, PM Definition Project Phases Project Planning Relationship between PM and Estimating Project Risks WBS, Critical Path Producing a Workable Schedule Project Evaluation and Control Measuring Progress Leadership Team Building Review and Questions Agenda

4. Our First Quote • Learning is not attained by chance. It must be sought for with some ardor and attended to with some diligence. (Abigail Adams)

5. Speaker Background • BS Industrial Tech. ‘88 • MS Instructional Design ‘92 • 15+ years eLearning & interactive media des./dev. experience • Successfully competed 100+ eLearning/interactive media projects • Presenter - eLearning Confs. US & Europe • Started mark steiner, inc. in March 2001

6. Audience Background • Project Manager/ID/Developer mix? • Average size of projects/teams? • eLearning experience? • Any PM horror stories?

7. Purpose of Session • Provide information, experience, and anecdotes regarding project management, especially as it relates to eLearning projects

8. Audience Exercise • Fold the paper in half • Turn the paper 90 degrees • Tear off the best corner • Fold the paper in half, again. • Tear off the next best corner. • Fold the paper in thirds, exactly. • Turn the paper 122 degrees • Tear off outside corner. • DONE!

9. SO WHAT !!!!!! • eLearning Projects are usually complicated. • Often there are many people fulfilling many roles, and somehow, the work must be communicated and managed. • The most successful, well run, least painful projects ARE NOT LUCK! • One key to a successful project is a well-defined and managed process, combined with the tools to support it.

10. A quote . . . • Lots of folks confuse bad management with destiny. –Kin Hubbard

11. Project Definition • Definition of a project: a one-time job that has a definite starting and ending point, with a clearly defined scope of work and budget, and is multitask in nature (usually using a temporary team). • A project is a problem scheduled for a solution. (J. M. Juran) • Project Management: The application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements. • PMBOK Guide 3rd edition p 368.

12. Project Management Definition • Project Management is the facilitation of the planning, scheduling, and controlling of all activities that must be done to meet the project objectives. • The Four Constraints: Good, Fast, Cheap . . . Scope • C=f(P,T,S) Cost is a function of Performance, Time, and Scope. • You can assign values to only three of the constraints. The 4th will be whatever the relationship dictates it will be. • Another way to look at a project: People, Tools, Systems

13. Project Phases • Definition - If you don’t know what you’re doing, how will you know when you’re done? • Planning - How will we do what we’re supposed to do and when we’re supposed to do it? • Execution - Do it. • Closeout - Did we do it? How did we do?

14. Defining the Project • There is always an easy solution to every human problem: neat, plausible, and wrong.(H. L. Mencken) • The way a problem is defined determines how it is attempted to be solved. • If the definition is wrong, you will develop the right solution to the wrong problem. • You can’t solve a problem with the same thinking that created it in the first place (Albert Einstein)

15. A Few Planning Quotes • The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one. (Mark Twain) • Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work. (Peter Drucker)

16. Planning the Project • Planning is really just answering the questions of Who, What, When, Why, How Much, How Long. • The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes a creative mind to spot wrong questions. • Why Plan? There is a higher probability that things will accidentally go wrong than that they will they will accidentally go right. • By definition, No Plan = No Control

17. Project Plan Elements • Problem Statement • Project Objectives • Work Requirements/Deliverables • Exit Criteria • Work Breakdown Structure • Schedules • Required Resources • Project Controls • Major Contributors • Risk Areas and Contingencies

18. Mistakes in Planning • Not involving in the planning . . . the people who must do the work. • Ready-fire-aim. • Broad-brush planning (if you aren’t careful, ballpark estimates become targets). Specifically, never have a task greater than 40 hours. • Microplanning (never plan more than you can control, also, at some point the real work needs to begin). • Failing to plan for risks

19. A Few Quotes on Estimating • It is better to be approximately right than precisely wrong. (Warren Buffett) • Virtually every important action in life involves educated guesswork. Too few chances reliably translates into too few victories. (Thomas W. Hazlett)

20. Relationship between PM and Estimating • Estimating = Guessing! • An exact estimate is an oxymoron. • Goldratt’s Principle: A project will accumulate delays but will never accumulate gains. • Consensual estimating . . . None of us is as smart as all of us. (Phil Condit) • The beginnings of a project plan start with estimating: tasks, resources, scheduling.

21. Project Risks • A risk is anything that may happen that could create an adverse effect on the schedule, costs, quality, or scope. • What we anticipate seldom occurs. What we least expect generally happens. (Benjamin Disraeli) • Ask yourself: What could go wrong? • Quantify and prioritize risks. • Develop contingency plans for prioritized risks that cannot be ignored. • Three ways to manage risk: avoidance, mitigation, transfer

22. WBS, Critical Path • WBS = Work Breakdown Structure • WBS does not show sequence. It’s purpose is to capture and organize the tasks. • WBS should be outcome-based, not action-based. • A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is not an exhaustive list of work. It is instead a comprehensive classification of project scope. • Critical Path: the longest path through the project. Because it has no slack, all activities must be completed as scheduled or the end date will slip one day for each day a critical activity is delayed.

23. Producing a Workable Schedule • Failure to consider resource allocation almost always leads to a schedule that cannot be achieved. • How does a project get to be a year behind schedule? One day at a time. • Giving a person who knows nothing about PM a powerful scheduling software just allows them to document their failures with great precision. • Mock up a schedule on paper or a simple program first (Word, Excel). • Never schedule more detail than you can control. • You cannot do a time or cost estimate without considering who will actually perform the task. • Nobody is ever productive 100% of the day; it’s probably more like 80%. • A schedule should be used to manage the project, not make you a slave to the software. (MS Project)

24. Project Evaluation and Control, Measuring Progress • A perfect method for adding drama to life is to wait until the deadline looms large. (Alyce P. Cornyn-Selby) • Control: to compare progress against plan so that corrective action can be taken when a deviation occurs. • The difficulty of measuring progress does not justify the conclusion that it shouldn’t be done. You cannot have control unless you measure progress. • Unless you know both cost and schedule, you will have no idea where project actually is. • The 15 % Rule: If you are 15% into the project (based on time) and you are in trouble, you will stay in trouble! • I prefer Excel to Project, as it is more manageable day-to-day.

25. Conducting Project Reviews SIX PHASES OF A PROJECT Wild Enthusiasm Disillusionment Total Confusion Search for the Guilty Punishment of the Innocents Promotion of the Non-Participants

26. Conducting Project Reviews • Over the course of the project, reviews should be used to discuss: Status, Realignment, Risk, Elevate Communication, Request Assistance • Project reviews conducted as witch hunts will produce witches! • Stay in the positive: What have we done well? What can we improve upon? • Create a Lessons Learned document. The objective is to improve future performance. • There is a big difference between an excuse and an explanation: excuses are unacceptable, explanations are acceptable.

27. Leadership • Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. (Warren Bennis) • Leadership is the art of getting others to want to do something that you are convinced needs to be done. (Vance Packard) • You are only a leader if you have followers. (James McGregor Burns) • Kouzes and Posner’s 5 Fundamentals to Leadership • Challenge the process • Inspire a shared vision • Enable others to act • Model the way • Encourage the heart

28. Team Building • A team is a group of people who are committed to attaining a common goal, enjoy working together, and produce high-quality results. • Teams don’t just happen, they must be built. • If you want people to be committed to your project, you’d better address WIIFM • There are two kinds of authority: power over people, and the ability to make decisions and act unilaterally. • Every team must deal with: goals, roles and responsibilities, procedures, relationships. • Communication is the key.

29. Review • A project is a problem scheduled for a solution. • The Four Constraints: Good, Fast, Cheap & Scope • Four Phases: Definition, Planning, Execution, Closeout • Planning is really just answering the questions of Who, What, When, Why, How Much, How Long. • Every project must plan for risks. • Produce a workable schedule with consensual/multiple inputs and the right amount of task detail. • You must measure progress, take control and corrective actions. • Conduct positive Project Reviews to increase future performance. • Be a leader, not a manager. • Communication is the key to a successful team and project.

30. Questions • He who is afraid to ask is afraid of learning. (Danish proverb) • Contact Info: mark@marksteinerinc.com http://marksteinerinc.com Thank You!