During my Master’s degree we had to complete a group project online. This meant any communication took place solely on Skype calls and email. However, this also meant it was difficult to track down group members and ensure they were completing their assigned tasks and work. The project was to create a module that would teach the student how to use software or learn a specific task. Our group chose for a student to learn basic techniques for using Adobe software. The original plan was we were going to teach them five basic skills but this was changed to three as we had issues with our group members, time and thus caused our scope creep. Our project manager at the time did her best to keep track of the poor performing group members by emailing them and asking them when we could receive their sections. However, because of timezone differences and uncertainty about the delivery of these pieces the project manager had to continuously follow up with these people. After three weeks of two group members barely communicating and not completing their assigned work, they were removed from the group. The team could not continue with these poor performers as time was being wasted working about them completing their work and the focus needed to be on the task at hand.
If I had been the project manager I would have followed up with them soon and then cut them out of the group sooner. It wasn’t until a deadline was not completed that we realized they had not done their section. The Project Manager should have followed up with them before the deadline to determine what was happening. It took three weeks to have these group members taken out of the group which meant at least two deadlines being missed or changed because of them. This threw off the rest of the group and caused them to scramble to do extra work. At the best of times group work is extremely difficult however, when you are dealing with team members you have never met before, different time zones and limited communication it can be a very frustrating situation. I definitely prefer the ability to have face-to-face meetings with group members and thus prevent scope creep.
All about me.
- Liz v d Burg
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Hi All! I am a born and raised Canadian that is currently living a European life. I decided the best way to appreciate Canada was to escape it for awhile and see what other countries have to offer. I spent a year in Dublin and currently reside in Amsterdam. The plan is to live in Amsterdam for the next few years while I complete my Master's in Instructional Design and Technology. I look forward to blogging about my experiences as I begin to get closer to developing my Instructional Design skills and potentially gaining experience in this field. My goal is to complete my program and begin to develop and deliver training programs.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
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Hi Liz,
ReplyDeleteI can understand your frustration as well as the other group member’s in this project. I had a similar project and we had one group member who did not respond to anything or do his/ her portion of the assignment. There was another group member who was out of town for the first two initial assignments. Therefore both responsibilities fell on me and another group member. This is definitely a sign of scope creep, especially when you are expecting all group members to do their assigned task. We were informed by the instructor that those tasks by those group members who were not doing their parts had to be completed by the rest of the members in the group because the project would not be complete unless all parts were done. When you are working on a project with group members all across the globe, I guess you have to think about the pros and cons and be prepared if the worst occurs.
I understand the frustration and disappointment involved in some group works, Liz. I experienced similar problem during my undergrad program. When most precious time had been wasted by the two group members through disagreeing back and forth on unnecessary issues, we were unable to get anywhere with the project even when it was time to submit it. After explaining to the instructor what the problem was, he gave us extra time to complete the project however; I ended up shouldering the whole project. Anyway, scope creep as Portny (2010) asserted, avoiding it is not possible however, monitoring it, controlling it, and thereby reducing some of the pain is possible. What I learned this week about scope creep is that in order to manage it there is the need to track your time, discuss any changes to the stakeholders as soon as possible, make sure you put everything into writing, and whatever is approved must be signed.
ReplyDeleteReference
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.
Hello Liz,
ReplyDeleteI totally get your frustration, I had a similar experience during my group project. We were able to over come the issue without missing any deadlines, but it was very stressful. We actually did your communication only via email and the discussion board. (I think I did only one skype call with another team member) The issue that I saw was "communication lag", when I was working on the project and sent an email with a question no one else was working on the project.
I was looking around the web at other professionals view of scope creep, one of the comment caught my eye "Be sure you thoroughly understand the project vision. Meet with the project drivers and deliver an overview of the project as a whole for their review and comments."(Doll, 2001) I"m a big fan of the work vision, I think truly understanding the vision behind ht work is key!
Scope creep can happen with any project and it's a risk that just has to be managed.
-Rob
Oops I forgot my reference:
ReplyDeleteDoll, S. (2001, March 13). Seven steps for avoiding scope creep | TechRepublic. TechRepublic - A Resource for IT Professionals. Retrieved April 10, 2011, from http://www.techrepublic.com/article/seven-steps-for-avoiding-scope-creep/1045555