Analyzing Scope Creep
 

As we speak I am in the process of relocating my salon and with that come certain issues that are sometimes out of my control. Some specifics are as follows;

•   I had to wait on the landlord of the building to finish painting and other things that he promised to do

•  The moving is being done mainly by my partner who happens to work long shifts that start between 3 and 5 a.m. so he is always tired

•  I have been calling local cable companies to get services started but for some reason my new address isn’t showing up in their systems

•   I had at first thought I would be in the new location the beginning of this month but it seems like it will be closer to the end of this month

•  It takes seven to ten days for someone to come out and inspect the location once everything is done so I can obtain a Certificate of Occupancy

At first I was freaking out a bit but after having a discussion with my partner and letting him know my stress and worry and also finding out that the landlord has done his part, I feel a little bit easier since I realize that being upset won’t make things move any faster.  What has happened so far is the things at the old salon have been taken down and being moved to the new location over the weekend. Even though this isn’t all that needs to be done I feel better seeing the progress. The upside to the delay is that I am not being charged leasing fees by the owner of the new building until I receive my Cert. of Occupancy.  I just hate that I was thrown off of schedule like I was.

Even though I had the agreement between the landlord and I in writing, as discussed by Dr. Stolovitch, I didn’t have a date of completion added which caused the landlord to drag his feet a bit. So that is one thing that could have been done differently. I also could have set specific days aside with my partner to ensure that he got his part of the work done vs. not saying anything and letting the time go past.  I could have also got pricing and schedules set up for phone and internet for my new location a little sooner so that I won’t have to wait for them to come out once everything is complete.

In this week’s video resource, Managing Project Recommendations (n.d.) it is stated that the PM should List all management tasks, code the tasks as high or low, and begin with top priorities. I didn’t make a list of priorities which may have made things easier on my partner since he would have known what I need to have done first and so on.  I should have been sterner about the things that needed to be done and made sure they were done in a timely matter. 

Resource:

Stolovich, H. (n.d.) Monitoring Projects. [Video Podcast]. Available: Laureate Education, Inc.     Retrieved from

http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6290461&Survey=1&47     80224            7&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Interpreting a Message

How did your interpretation of the message change from one modality to the next? When I read the message, it seems that Jane was a bit frustrated that Mark had not yet sent her his portion of the report that she needed to finish her portion. She didn’t come off as rude or anything in the written message and she seemed understanding that Mark may have been too busy to send the report sooner. With the voice-mail message Jane seems to be professional. She has a sense of urgency and despair in her voice about the report. She also came across as very calm and understanding of Marks busy schedule. In the face-to-face she still seems professional and non-confrontational with Mark. It came across the same way as it did in the voice-mail to me.

What factors influenced how you perceived the message? Being able to hear a person’s voice is always better than just reading a message because their tone can allow us to know how they are feeling about what they are saying. Being able to see someone’s face during the conversation is even better since we can read body language.

Which form of communication best conveyed the true meaning and intent of the message?  Depending on your relationship with the person, the sort of message and the urgency of the message, I think that any form of communication can convey a message. In this instance, hearing a voice-mail allowed us to see that she wasn’t angry in her message but sort of worried but at the same time understanding of Marks busy day. 

What are the implications of what you learned from this exercise for communicating effectively with members of a project team? In order to have effective communication with team members it is always important to schedule some face to face meetings or conference calls so that everyone understands exactly what is being asked and the tone of the conversation. In my experience texting or sending emails that don’t show emotion, can become misunderstood depending on the way the receiver perceives the message.  In a project or group setting, allowing face-to-face interaction will get a lot more done faster since everyone is present and all questions can be asked at that time vs. waiting on someone to get an email or voice-mail and finding time to respond.

One thing that can be used for this message that was discussed by Stolovitch in the Communicating with Stakeholders video is; Avoid ambiguity (be clear). In the email Jane wasn’t too specific about which data she needed; it was just assumed that Mark would know exactly what data she was requesting. If the report they were working contained numerous amounts of data, Mark may have been confused as to what section she needed in order to finish up her section of the work. So trying to be clear even in a short email will take away  a lot of back and forth and waiting on responses between team members.

Reference:

Laureate Education, Inc. (n.d.). Communicating with stakeholders [video]. Retrieved from http://sylvan.live.ecollege.com/ec/crs/default.learn?CourseID=6290461&Survey=1&47=7840039&ClientNodeID=984650&coursenav=1&bhcp=1

Project Experiences

The five life phases of a project are as follows:

·         Conceive – an idea is born

·          Define – a plan is developed

·          Start – a team is formed

·          Perform – the work is done

·         Close – the project is ended
(Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton, & Kramer, 2008)

I don’t have any past experience with a specific project but I do have experience with opening and running a business so I will use that as a project example.  I started my salon two years ago with just a vision of what I wanted and a dream. I didn’t have a budget or specific long and short term goals set for the salon. At the beginning I felt that the location I selected would be great since it was next door to a Dairy Queen and a pretty busy baking supply store.  I didn’t really do any research on the demographics of the salon or any specific research on the previous salon that was there and how well it did. I was just excited to find a building that was within my budget and near the area I wanted to open business. Needless to say, two years later the salon isn’t doing very well and I will be relocating soon.  I believe what contributed to the salon’s failure was my blindness going in of the actual costs of running a salon and running it alone with no workers. I went in believing that I would get workers to rent booths and thinking that everything would be fine. If I would have done research of my area and done a price breakdown of running a business before renting out the space, I would have found that this location wasn’t the best option for me.

Parts of the PM process that may have made my first attempt at salon ownership would be;

Market demand- I should have found out the demand for another styling salon in the area I selected as well as made sure there cosmetologists willing to work in that area. Although it is hard to determine if stylists would work in an area, it may have been helpful to me if I did some sort of research on that area. I could have asked the beauty schools students not too far from my salon if they would find it beneficial to work in the area I selected. 

Define Project Specifics – Although I had an idea and knew what I wanted to do with a salon, I never sat down and wrote out a plan. I had everything in my mind of how I wanted things to go but I didn’t have a back-up plan in case things didn’t go as I wanted them to.  In defining specifics of my business, I would have had a clearer picture of reality when it comes to running a business like the costs, the time it consumes, the dedication it takes and potential failures.

Specific project-objectives and success criteria- I could have created a list of long and short-term goals that I would like to accomplish including estimated costs for each objective. I could have also included potential risk factors and ways to avoid those risks or deal with them as they came. It would’ve also helped if I gave myself a deadline to have certain things obtained within the business so that I wouldn’t end up losing so much money.  Finding other financial resources like small business grants would’ve also been useful to me. The major downfall of my current salon is the financial standing. I didn’t get booth renters or many new walk-in clientele.  With the economy falling and customers losing jobs, it wasn’t a very good idea to try and go on a business venture at that particular time.

References: 

Greer, M. (2010).  The project management minimalist: Just enough pm to rock your projects! Laureate Education Ed.

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. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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