Question

How are the tasks of the Project Manager and the tasks of the Instructional Designer related? How might the completion of these tasks complement each other or compete for finite resources? Who should define the priorities of the project?

With these thoughts in mind, consider the following:

• Assume the role of the Project Manager. What do you see as the key priorities and important factors that should be considered during the initial phases of a project?

• How does the role project manager influence your thinking and priorities at the beginning of an ID project?

Post a synthesis of your thoughts regarding what should be considered the most important factors and key priorities to be addressed during the initial phase of an instructional design project. Your response should be written from either the perspective of the Project Manager, as assigned by your Instructor. Cite this week’s Learning Resources to support your argument.

Answer 1

Answer:-

How are the tasks of the Project Manager and the tasks of the Instructional Designer related?

All projects have team members with overlapping roles. Just the right amount of overlap is necessary to ensure a smooth handover of information and tasks from one team member to another. If there is too little overlap things could fall through the cracks. Conversely, if there is too much overlap it could result in unwanted friction. It’s this latter situation which we are going to look at in this post.

As I discussed in my previous post “How the lack of an Instructional Designer could hurt the learning experience“, a typical eLearning team consists of a Project Manager, a Graphic Designer, an Instructional Designer, an eLearning Developer and a Tester. Naturally for larger projects or projects with tight deadlines you may see multiple individuals in each position but basically these are the skills which are needed.

In such a team, the biggest possibility of friction exists between the Instructional Designer and the Project Manager because their roles have the greatest chance of overlap. Let’s look to see how and why this might happen.

The primary role of the Instructional Designer is to absorb the domain knowledge from the client SME, envision the most optimal way of transforming that knowledge into a delivery medium (video, interactive graphic, click and reveal interactivity, a game, etc.) and visualize how it should look on an eLearning / Web Based Training Page. (This last step should be done together with the Graphic Designer).

An Instructional Designer is most effective when he or she has direct physical access to the client. It makes it easier to have discussions, visit factories, interview other employees to gain knowledge, understand the culture of the client’s organization, etc. all things needed to deliver a high quality eLearning experience.

On the other hand, the primary role of the Project Manager is to “herd cats”, get things done and accordingly report progress to the client. Consequently, it is more important that the Project Manager is close to the team rather than close to the client. So the Project Manager may or may not have physical access to the client. It is also possible that the entire eLearning team – including the Project Manager – is based at a location remote from the client in which case the Project Manager may never get to even see the client.

So what could result from such a dynamic?

Because the Instructional Designer has a more visible profile than the Project Manager, in the eyes of the client the Instructional Designer may seem to be have more power or influence within the team. So the client may always have the instinct to go to the Instructional Designer with any problem about the project even though it may have nothing to do with the ID process.

Being bypassed in this way and overshadowed by the Instructional Designer could grate on the sensibilities of the Project Manager who is diligently working “under the hood”, managing the team and getting things done.

And this is what could lead to friction.

A situation like this is nobody’s fault. The client is simply going to the person from the eLearning team who is closest to him/her. The Instructional Designer wants to please the client and so becomes the direct conduit of information for the client. Yet, such a situation can be dangerous as it could lead to fractures within the team and therefore should be dealt with pro-actively.

Here are some tips to avoid this kind of friction in your eLearning team:

1. Clearly Defined Roles

Be sure the role of the Instructional Designer and the Project Manager are clearly defined, documented and communicated not just to the team but also to the client. Let the client know that if he/she has questions related to the project in general the contact is the Project Manager and not the Instructional Designer.

2. Compatibility

Find an Instructional Designer and a Project Manager who are compatible with each other. If they have worked together in the past and have worked well,put them in the same team.

3. Respect For Boundaries

Both the Instructional Designer and the Project Manager need to understand each other’s boundaries and respect them. So if the client comes to the Instructional Designer with a question which is clearly out of the ID scope, the Instructional Designer should ask the client to check with the Project Manager.

4. Structured Communication

Especially when the Instructional Designer and the Project Manager are remote from each other, a formal communication structure should be built and implemented between them. These could be weekly meetings or monthly meetings specifically to discuss topics which could cause friction down the road. These meetings should be in addition to general project meetings, team meetings or other ad hoc communication.

5. Mutual Deference

Linking together the clear definition of roles and the respect for boundaries is Mutual Deference. This is especially required of the Instructional Designer so that when the client comes to him or her with an issue which is clearly a Project Management issue, the ID needs to resist the temptation to take care of it himself/herself and defers to the Project Manager.

To conclude, the relationship between an Instructional Designer and a Project Manager – like most relationships – needs to be managed carefully. It is a relationship of equals which with open communication, mutual respect and the putting of client satisfaction above all else, can be a force for good for all sides

How might the completion of these tasks complement each other or compete for finite resources? Who should define the priorities of the project?.

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Every project needs to end and that’s what project completion is all about in the last phase of the project life cycle. The whole point of the project is to deliver what you promised. By delivering everything you said you would, you make sure that all stakeholders are satisfied and all acceptance criteria have been met. Once that happens, your project can end.

Project completion is often the most neglected phase of the project life cycle. Once the project is over, it’s easy to pack things up, throw some files in a drawer, and start moving right into the initiation phase of the next project. Hold on. You’re not done yet.

The key activities in project completion are gathering project records; disseminating information to formalize acceptance of the product, service, or project; and performing project closure. As the project manager, you will need to review project documents to make certain they are up-to-date. For example, perhaps some scope change requests were implemented that changed some of the characteristics of the final product. The project information you are collecting during this phase should reflect the characteristics and specifications of the final product. Don’t forget to update your resource assignments as well. Some team members will have come and gone over the course of the project. You need to double-check that all the resources and their roles and responsibilities are noted.

Once the project outcomes are documented, you’ll request formal acceptance from the stakeholders or customer. They’re interested in knowing if the product or service of the project meets the objectives the project set out to accomplish. If your documentation is up-to-date, you’ll have the project results at hand to share with them.

What do you see as the key priorities and important factors that should be considered during the initial phases of a project?

During the first of these phases, the initiation phase, the project objective or need is identified; this can be a business problem or opportunity. An appropriate response to the need is documented in a business case with recommended solution options. A feasibility study is conducted to investigate whether each option addresses the project objective and a final recommended solution is determined. Issues of feasibility (“can we do the project?”) and justification (“should we do the project?”) are addressed.

Once the recommended solution is approved, a project is initiated to deliver the approved solution and a project manager is appointed. The major deliverables and the participating work groups are identified, and the project team begins to take shape. Approval is then sought by the project manager to move onto the detailed planning phase.

How does the role project manager influence your thinking and priorities at the beginning of an ID project?

In the broadest sense, project managers are responsible for planning, organizing, and directing the completion of specific projects for an organization while ensuring these projects are on time, on budget, and within scope.

By overseeing complex projects from inception to completion, project managers have the potential to shape an organization’s trajectory, helping to reduce costs, maximize company efficiencies, and increase revenue.

The exact, daily duties a project manager must perform will, of course, depend on the industry and individual organization. But across the board, all project managers share responsibilities across what’s commonly referred to as the “project life cycle,” which consists of five phases (or processes):

• Initiating
• Planning
• Executing
• Monitoring and Controlling
• Closing

While it may be tempting to think of these as “steps,” they aren’t. Rather, these are processes project managers continually return to throughout the life of a project.