Scope Creep?

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.

The Art of Communicating Effectively

As we have probably all realized our interpretations of various messages changes based on the median being used to deliver that message. Often times in email messages tone can be misinterpreted or misread which then makes the reader think the writer is being rude, demanding or possibly unprofessional. Also, depending on the author’s or readers backgrounds, education, technical experience and culture can also dictate how a message is expressed or interpreted. In my previous role I was supporting online Master’s students from all over the world. Often times I would have to be extremely clear and conscious of the language I was using in my email correspondences with them. I could not assume all of them understood something I was implying or assume they understood what I required of them. It was always best to lay out clearly any points or items that I wanted them to understand.

In watching the Media “The Art of Effective Communication”, I was surprised that my opinion of the message did not change all that much. Going in the order of reviewing the email to voicemail to a face-to-face message the tone, content and my understanding of the message remained the same. I found the author of these messages to have excellent tone in their email and they did not come across as confrontation and remained professional in their email communication. The communication that best conveyed their true meaning was the face to face message as you could easily see her tone, expressions, body language and need for the report to be delivered.

Depending on where your project team is I think it is best to have face-to-face meetings. This allows everyone to express themselves fully and for the complete team to witness what is being said. This way if there is something that everyone does not quite understand they can get clarification on the spot as oppose to waiting on an email response or even following through the situation with their own interpretation and possibly getting it wrong.

Learning from a project "Post-Mortem"

One of the most difficult projects I have faced was a group project completed online with classmates from my Online University program. Having not met these group members it was difficult to know their strengths, weaknesses, trust their capabilities and we were in few different time zones. The most difficult aspect of the project was our varying schedules because of time zone conflicts. It made it extremely difficult to plan group meetings, check in with each other and review issues with one another. One eventually made the project successful was three of the six group members taking over and completing the project. This made the project less stressful ensured it would be completed with the quality of work expected from our University.

The processes that we included were developed by our project manager. We had strict deadlines and specific requirements organized for each group members. The project member helped to ensure everyone understood their tasks and deadlines. This process ensured we remained on track as we had issues with group members in the beginning not contributing to the group and completing their work. So, the project manager ensured we reworked the plan in order to ensure we would remain on track and still produce quality work.

It was difficult to really learn or prevent some of the issues that arose in this group project as it was with members that were online and that I did not know. What I did learn is that some group members really pulled through and were willing to go the extra mile to fix the issues from the other group members. It was a great feeling to be working with these people as they produced quality work and worked extremely hard to make up the difference from those that did not complete their work.