A project involving technical change that I played a part in revolved around implementing a hybrid delivery model for adult students in traditionally face-to-face classrooms. While I was not in a leadership position, I worked closely with the project manager and was aware of the happenings during each phase (at least from Phase 2 when I joined the team).
The reason for implementing this program was to offer adult students more options in their studies to increase retention and successful outcomes. Clear goals were set out and an implementation plan in phases was established. It helped that the overall bringer of change was a Ministry which dictated a lot of the criteria in bringing in Hybrid learning (e.g., Learning Management System, course shells, etc.). Teachers were trained and brought onboard, but the student outreach could have been fleshed out more. At this point (Phase 5), there are still students who are not aware of the Hybrid delivery (even after being enrolled). I believe more buy-in would have created a more successful roll-out with less resistance from teachers and students. More information on the benefits of Hybrid learning could have been disseminated to the school population.
There was a limited collaborative approach where stakeholders were consulted on what was coming, but as this was a Ministry directive, the actual implementation was fairly set in stone. As a Board we worked towards adapting this change to our students’ needs as we knew the same implementation plan would not work for every institution.
I had arrived to the process later in the game, so I may have missed this step, but I feel there needed to be more consultation before implementation and not just consultation during. When all parties are informed and make contributions, you reduce the amount of surprises during the transition and can come up with more innovative methods as you progress to the next stage.
Hi George,
While reading your post, I related to your expertise since I have been involved in a project which lacked consultation. I absolutely agree with you that regular consultation with everyone involved in the project can make the process much smoother and the project more successful. through my search of project management sources, I came across this article and I thought to share it with you:
Art of communication in project management: https://www.pmi.org/learning/library/effective-communication-better-project-management-6480
May
Hi May, thanks for your comment. Unfortunately many stakeholders go through a process without consulted. While it may be due to poor planning, communication can be implemented at any point of a project (though it makes sense to do so from the beginning. In my experience, I’ve found that often not all stakeholders are identified properly at the beginning of the process.
Thank you for the reference.
George