Recently I have been involved with developing a new course at my institution. The project involved converting a certificate program into a diploma program. As a subject matter expert (SME), I worked with a team of instructional designers, project managers, writers, graphic designers, and a writer/editor to bring this course to life.
From a project management standpoint, everything was extremely well done. Learning designs were made with consultations with SME’s and industry partners, deliverables were created, and due dates were set. Reflecting on the management role, I believe they followed the 12 principles laid out by Westland (2022). If I am responsible for any change management/project management in the future, I will implement these principles to help lead a successful project. I also appreciated how they checked in with every team member once a week to ensure that we were all pulling in the same direction.
However, I found one aspect of the project challenging. Throughout the process, I never fully understood why we changed the program from a one-year certificate to a two-year diploma. The one-year program was successful, with positive feedback from industry partners and students who had completed the program. This lack of communication affected my motivation while working on the project and could have been avoided if the reasoning was communicated. From my perspective, management missed an essential step in that they didn’t communicate the change (Judson, 1991, as cited in Al-Haddad & Kotnour, 2015) and communicate the vision (Kotter, 1996 as cited in Al-Haddad & Kotnour, 2015). When I asked the project management team why we were changing the program, I was just told “because we were asked to.”
Going forward, I plan to follow the project managers’ approach to managing the project, while also ensuring clear communication of the project’s vision and objectives.
References:
Al-Haddad, S., & Kotnour, T. (2015). Integrating the organizational change literature: a model for successful change. Journal of Organizational Change Management 28(2), 234-262. https://doi.org/10.1108/JOCM-11-2013-0215
Westland, J. (2022). 12 key project management principles & how to use them. Project Manager. https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/project-management-principles
March 2, 2023 at 10:56 am
Hi Tim,
Thanks for sharing! That’s great to hear the project went extremely well! I can’t agree more that communication is key in projects. It can cause frustration when reasoning is not communicated and transparency is not addressed. In my project management experience, over-communication is still preferred over under-communication. Employees might not appreciate the flooding of emails; however, the feedback we (as project leaders/ team members) usually received was that employees would rather be notified than not.
Thanks again for bringing up this important point in project management.
Megan
March 3, 2023 at 3:29 pm
Hi Tim,
It always comes back to the why of it. I think we are always so much more likely to be open to change if we know what the rationale is. It sounds like the project planning and implementation went well – the project team were successful, but it was the change planning and leadership which could have been improved. Sharing the rationale, perhaps some data that showed why the move made sense (from an industry or student need perspective) and then outlining how success would be measured would have helped everyone to be more motivated to participate. As Megan highlighted – a lack of transparency can really lead to frustration.
March 7, 2023 at 4:51 pm
Thanks for sharing, Tim.
I really connected with your post, as one of my future goals is to create a course of my own. It was great to hear you were well-connected with various members from different backgrounds.
As a subject matter expert, what were some of your objectives? Did you create lesson plans and resources, or were you more involved in ensuring curricular competencies?
I also can sympathize with you on the lack of communication regarding the purpose of the change; many times, we have been given very little information about the ‘why’ and it is very challenging to buy-in when you don’t know why you are doing it in the first place!
March 9, 2023 at 11:53 am
Hi Terry,
Thank you for your comment!
As an SME my job was to help write learning objectives as well as develop assignments, activities, tests, and quizzes. We left the lesson plans up to the instructors that will teach the courses.
Best of luck developing courses in the future! 🙂
Tim