In this example, the problem to be solved was the replacement of an existing, outdated technology with a new technology. The old technology was a source of many complaints, and it was hoped that replacing it with a newer, more-modern solution would lead to improved user experience. The overall goals were clearly documented and were integral to the selection process. The stakeholders were mostly instructors and students, but also some staff. There was a project plan that outlined the steps, clearly outlined the goals for each step, who was working on each step, what each person was doing on each step, and when each step was scheduled to be completed. The main challenge with the success of the project was that someone, think “management”, decided to overrule the project leader’s plan to allow users to have a transition period that would have allowed users to choose between either the older or newer technology until they had time to learn the new technology. This last minute change resulted in a lot of user frustration as they were suddenly forced to learn the new technology. Also, since the change was last minute, the project plan was not designed to provide support for an immediate transition. It’s hard to plan for situations like this. You can’t include mitigation strategies for every potential project risk.
Hi Jason,
Isn’t it interesting that so many issues related to project management in our industry are not surrounded by technology issues first and foremost (which is what you might assume), it is usually the people part of the dynamic that makes things go haywire?
The more and more I gain experience in different areas of the corporate world, the more I realize how dysfunctional it can be and that “last minute” projects are more of a constant than anything else. Do you find that working on projects in higher education have more red tape than perhaps private industry? With all of the scholastic intellect held by the people you are surrounded with, do you find that it causes more opinions to be shared, ultimately causing more delays?
Hi Katie,
Some say that project management is really people management, and I think that’s usually true.
My experience is that projects in higher ed have more bureaucracy than private industry. It’s been my experience in private industry that there’s more concern for getting things done and getting things done efficiently, especially in smaller businesses. An owner of a small business doesn’t want a three-hour job to turn into the 6-month job that it can be in higher ed. I had a small project recently that literally would have been completed in under a day in a small business that took six months because everyone wanted input and insisted that additional people have input, while in the end literally nothing changed from the original day-one design. This was something that could have been changed later anyways if there was need to change it, so it wasn’t important to launch with it perfect. Because of all the bureaucracy it launched six months later than it needed to with no benefit.
Thanks for your comment!
Hi Jason,
Given our discussion on Tuesday about risk management, I would disagree with your statement that you cannot provide mitigation strategies for every potential project risk. There is a set of potential and likely risks and these are the ones that need to be continuously reviewed throughout the project. An additional set of unlikely risks should be noted at the start of a project even if the mitigation strategy is to stop the project temporarily. If your manager is known to be the type of leader who may suddenly derail the process at any point because he/she “knows better”, then that can be factored into your planning perhaps by strategic consultations with the manager at various stages in the project development. In that way, you may have some idea of where this leader’s decision may land and plan for a sudden implementation with additional support resources in place.
I suppose there is always a risk that your project team will not think of a potential risk and therefore fail to plan for it, but then there should be a brief plan of how to put the project on temporary hiatus should something unforeseen occur.
Hi Carrie,
I wasn’t able to attend the discussion and understand that it wasn’t recorded.
I’ll expand on my thoughts. The set of potential risks for a larger project is near infinite. I could make a list with hundreds of items on it, and I don’t think this would be helpful for the project. I think the list of risks should include risks that are assessed as having a high enough combination of probability and harm to be significant for the project (which is subjective and specific to the project). Risk = probability x harm. For example, a catastrophic earthquake that destroys the organization would be very harmful to the project but would also have a very low probability, so this risk would not be significant and wouldn’t be added to the list. Alternatively, a prominent instructor speaking out negatively about the project might be assessed as medium probability and medium harm, which may be considered a significant risk and make it onto the list.
Thanks for your comment!
Hi Jason! I realise this post is “old” now, but wanted to mention, I think users are more accepting of unplanned problems if they feel management is usually better prepared, or that they tried to stop problems from forming. Why did your management choose to ignore your project leader?
Hi Krista,
I agree. Users are more accepting of issues if they perceive the people working on the project as being competent and trying to do a good job.
I’d have to answer the other on Collaborate or Zoom 🙂