As a Project Manager I deal with scope creep issues daily. Why? You ask…I work with many Project Team Leaders, contractors, designers, and printers and there is always a scope creeping up on one or more any given project. In 2007 I had to take on all the projects for the institute and the only Production Manager, managing all the publications for the entire institute. In 2007-2008 I produced more than 25 publications -- most of the publications were 4-color process and some were over 400 pages and a budget of over $800,000.
I learned from one project in particular, of the many projects, I had on my plate. The Latino Manual and Picture Cards was an exciting and challenging project. One because it was bi-lingual and two it was someone else’s project and I had to take over the project after the Project Manager left the agency and moved on to another job.
I had a press inspection schedule a day before I had to leave for a two-week trip out of the country. I thought the press inspection went well. I found out after returning to the office and sharing the color proofs with the Project Team Leader that the press inspection had not gone well. The colors were wrong and the Project Team Leader was very upset. Although she had signed off on the color proof the day before the press inspection, she was very unhappy with the proofs from the press inspection. I had to fix the problem ASAP. Project managers are always planning, monitoring, and controlling various project aspects ( Portny, 2008)
What made this project a little frustrating is that the project team leader signed off on the color proof however the press inspection showed a different color from what we all had approved. Project manager should always expect changes and be able to deal with it in a professional manager, that’s part of the PM’s job. (Portny, 2008)
This particular project went through a “Scope Change” there was a modification to the deliverables or work process as outlined in the original project plan. Greer (2007)
There was another project that had more than enough scope creeps and that was the Filipino Projects which consist of a 425 page manual, with handouts that were bi-lingual, 125 Picture cards, that was a 4-color process, and 12 health educational booklets, six in English and six in Tagalog. This project was the last of one of the set of multicultural projects and the team ran out of money. The materials were printed however because so much time and money was spent on some of the other projects before I took over there was not enough money or time left in the contract to convert the publication to meet 508 compliances and therefore we were not able to post the publications to the institutes website.
The Project Team Leader for this project was more than a little upset to say the least, not with me but with the Project Officer for the contract. It was known throughout the other team members that the money for each of the multicultural projects was mismanaged. There were a number of scope creep with each of the projects and they were different for each of the projects and me taking over and being the only PM for the entire institute was another major scope creep for the Project Team Leader and me as the PM because I still had my own project; therefore I had to remember that Project managers should approach changes of scope in a business-like (as opposed to emotional) fashion. Greer (2007)
Although these particular projects went through a “Scope Change” there was a modification to the deliverables or work process as outlined in the original project plan; Greer (2007) all the publications turned out beautifully. If I had to do all over again, it would probably be done exactly the same way because when you inherit someone else projects and you are the only Production Manager for the institute the only thing you can do is step in with confidence and continue to do your best and produce high quality products and stay as close to the timeline as possible.
Reference:
Portny, S., Mantel, S., Meredith, J., Shafer, S., Sutton, M., (2007). Project management: Wiley
Greer, M. (2010) Project Management Minimalist: Laureate Education Ed. © Copyright 2010, http://michaelgreer.biz/?page_id=636
Terri,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about your projects and your approach to the changes in the projects reflects your ability to react in the exact manner you cite – professionally and without emotion. Even the most well thought and planned out projects are vulnerable to changes such as the first Project Manager leaving and you taking over the responsibility for it, so it is wise to be prepared for those inevitabilities. Other suggestions for dealing with project changes include: staying calm now that you are in the project you know more about the learning outcomes expected and how you manage possible trade-offs, identify the exact changes needed and their impact, discuss with the team and the sponsor, document the change in the SOW and create a Change Scope Order (Greer, 2010). Of course, the best would be to try minimize changes and plan for contingencies thus minimizing risks (Portny et al., 2008.
Gerri
Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed. ed.). []. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/courses/59896/CRS-CW-5089754/EDUC_6145_readings/PM-Minimalist-Ver-3-Laureate.pdf
Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B. E. (2008)., Project Management Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling Projects
Hi Terri,
ReplyDeleteWe are all learning that there are situations that we can't control. By the other side, as share by Dr. Stolovich we are "Traffic engineers". It is our responsibilities that find the way to success. We are the ones who have to:
-tell the team where to go and how to go
-review the big picture (our vision)
-Identify potential problems
-work around solutions
You have done a great job, not only making it possible, but controlling your emotions. You have a big responsibility on your hands. You can't control other person's job (proof), you can do your best to redirect the traffic to meet their goal.
Thanks for sharing.
Laureate Education. (Producer). (2010). Monitoring Projects. [Online]. Retrieved from Walden University eCollege