Learning from a Project “Post-mortem”
In the previous course, I worked on a personal mini project entitled: Roasting a chicken. Though the project was successful, Dr. Harold Stolovitch’s project post-mortem template pointed out some deficiencies. Geer (2011) advised project managers (PMs), instructional designers (IDs) and team members to take stock at the end of a project and develop a list of lessons learned to avoid repeating their mistakes in the next project. Though I did not develop an elaborate detailed document, I took note of what the participants revealed in their feedback.
Project management, a complex process targeting multiple outcomes, requires, for competency, the acquisition of a variety of knowledge and skill sets across areas of expertise (Brill, Bishop, and Walker, 2006). According to Lin (2006), instructional design is “the systematic and reflective process of translating principles of learning and instruction into plans for instructional materials, activities, information resources, and evaluation” (p.3). While the complexity of the roles of a PM requires of him or her knowledge or ideas about instructional design, the nature of the duties of an ID demands him or her to understand project management. The point is clear; the PM and the ID possess similar skills: Problem-solving skills, at the minimum. As a math teacher, designer, and project manager, I was able to generate a positive needs analysis, chose the content, structure the tasks, develop successful instruction, and to evaluate performance. I successfully created an annotated list of online resources (including the URLs) that could learners who were new to a distance-learning environment, geared my orientation specifically toward deliverable tasks, and attained the prescribed project goal and objectives.
I was unsuccessful in including training information on other various technology tools such as wikis. I could not believe. As a teacher, I assumed my participants (Ph.D., MS, and BA holders) knew how to interact with wikis. That was the greatest lesson I learned: Never assume! Some wikis have problems. If I did the EDUC 6135 before that project, I would have chosen the appropriate course management system (CMS) and learning management system (LMS).
Revisiting the past help shape personal skills. PMs and IDs should take lessons from the past to avoid the same mistakes. The digital age requires of us to remain on the learning curve for adoption and implementation of new and emerging technology and technology communication tools.
References
Brill, J.M., Bishop, M.J., & Walker, A.E. (2006). The competencies and characteristics required of an effective Project Manager: A web-based Delphi Study. Educational Technology Research and Development, (54)2, 115-140.
Geer, M. (2011). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/courses/56611/CRS-CW-4894953/educ_6145_readings/pm-minimalist-ver-3-laureate.pdf.
Lin, H. (2006). Instructional project management: An emerging professional practice for design and training programs. Workforce Education Forum, (33)2, 1-18
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Hi, Segla!
ReplyDeleteLooking back on your ID project (the cooking lesson on roasting a chicken), with what you know now about defining the roles of team members, do you think the experience would have been easier if there had been a project manager assigned? I recall that while we did each have assigned roles in the ADDIE process, we were all still involved in every part of the process. There was a lot of potential for miscommunication and duplication of effort. If you'll pardon the pun, did you ever have the sense that there were too many cooks in the kitchen?
Liz
Liz,
ReplyDeleteKnowing what I know now, things would have being different. A project needs a project manager to be successful. Many times we plan, organize, design, implement, and evaluate mini project, using effective project management tools with no awareness of such. Look at the way you relate to your weekly work load to project management. I never thougth of it that way. I always figure out sometimes too many cooks in the kitchen make life easier.