Discussion Post on Characteristics of Effective Feedback in Groups

The purpose of this discussion is to analyze feedback given and recommend best practices that could support students in giving effective feedback.

Online learning communities provide an opportunity for students to exchange ideas, work collaboratively on authentic assignments and experience various roles in a team setting. To ensure effective collaboration instructors need to provide guidance, training and support for students. Additionally, by learning together in a community, students receive and provide constructive and critical feedback (Palloff & Pratt, 2007).

For this week discussion, read chapter 8 on “promoting collaborative learning” from this week’s resources (note: use your Walden ID and password to access the resource).

Reflect on your experience as a student in the MSIDT program at Walden; based on your experience and from this week resource answer the following two questions by Friday:

1. How could instructors promote effective feedback among students in groups?
2. Think about the feedback you provided to your peers in last week’s discussion, what would you have changed/added in your feedback? Provide a rationale for your answer.

Support your answers from this week resource and your own experience.

Expectations:

This is a required and graded activity. The delay in your response will hinder the discussion of the group so try to post on time; you need to post your initial response and feedback by the indicated dates. A complete rubric is available to guide you answers; read the criteria carefully and let me know if you have any questions. I look forward to reading your posts.

View Rubric for Evaluation

Reference:

Palloff, R., & Pratt, K. (2007). Building online communities: Effective strategies for the virtual classroom. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Plagiarism Detection and Prevention

With open access to many resources in the internet, students might unintentionally copy and paste or use other people’s work withoutproper citation. In some cases, under pressure, students might intentionally plagiaries; task, time and grade pressures could motivate students to plagiarize (Stover & Kelly, 2005). To help students in understanding academic integrity, instructors need to provide clear expectations, refer to institutional polices on academic integrity, and utilize the use of plagiarism detection software.

Plagiarism Detection Software:

For example, Turnitin.com is software that checks the originality of papers, enables peer assessment and provides online grading capabilities (iParadigms, LLC, 2013). Another software, EVE2 which is an essay verification software (CaNexus.com, n.d.). The software searches the internet for suspected sites; it then sends a report to the instructor with any similarities (CaNexus.com, n.d.). A quick Google search provided many plagiarism detection tools available to students like WriteCheck and Grammarly which is also checks spelling and grammar.

Designing Assessments:

To prevent academic dishonesty, instructors could develop assignments that are based on students’ collaboration, incorporating real-life expectations (Laureate Educations Inc., n.d.). While plagiarism rates in online courses are similar to the traditional courses (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.), assessment strategies in online courses should be different from traditional courses. To elaborate, traditional exams are not effective in the online learning environments; it requires many strategies like the use of remote proctoring, retina scan and thumb printing (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.). Assessments designed for online learning needs to be authentic and challenge the students to use their research skills by discovering the answers and working with others to develop meaning and solutions (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.). These are skills required in real-life situations in the workplace. Personally, now as a graduate student, I prefer the assessments that help me to develop new skills, which then help me to find proper solutions or analysis to various authentic situations and promote the use of higher order thinking. In my undergraduate years, I found some exams that tested knowledge and memorization somewhat intimidating; maybe it was the design of the assessment or because exams were the widespread practice in assessing students’ learning and students usually got tense.

Facilitation Strategies:

Instructors need to apply effective facilitation strategies to help students in understanding the meaning of plagiarism and to prevent students from unintentional plagiarism when possible. If the instructor suspects a cheating incident, he/she could confront the students (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.) offline through email or a phone call; he/she could try to understand the reasons and inform the students about the implications. More important, is that he/she start early in the online course to educate students about the fair use, copyright and plagiarism (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.).

Additional Considerations:

Jocoy and DiBiase (2006) suggested that instructors could implement and expectation management plan which is a combination of ensuring that the students understand the institutional policies and procedures about plagiarism. Additionally, to assume that the incidents happening are due to lack of understanding of the aspects of plagiarism (Jocoy & DiBiase, 2006).

In conclusion, effective instructional strategies could prevent plagiarism. Instructors need to provide clear expectations with reference to institutional polices in the beginning of the course; they could include this reference in the syllabus and communicate it to students through the announcements. More important, is the design of authentic assessments that could promote collaboration and application of real-life skills. In the future, when facilitating online courses, I would consider these kinds of assessments rather than the tests and exams.

References:

CaNaxus.com. (n.d.). EVE Plagiarism Detection System. Retrieved from http://www.canexus.com/
iParadigms, LLC. (2013). Turnitin products: FAQs. Retrieved from http://turnitin.com/en_us/products/faqs
Jocoy, C., & DiBiase, D. (2006). Plagiarism by adult learners online: A case study in detection and remediation. International Review of Research in Open & Distance Learning, 7(1), 1-15.
Laureate Education Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Plagiarism and cheating [Video podcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_2098594_1%26url%3D
[Untitled image with a magnifier lens on a copyright word]. Retrieved April 11, 2013 from http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/copyright-infringement-claim-brings-down-democratic-national-convention-154802666.html

Impact of Technology and Multimedia

Impact of Technology and Multimedia on Online Learning Environments

One of the important best practices for teaching online is the use of a variety of activities that engage group and individual work experiences; these activities could be synchronous and asynchronous (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010). In general, the delivery of online instruction should incorporate interactions between students, instructor and content (Keengwe & Kidd, 2010). Therefore, technology should be used to enable collaboration among students (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.) and engage them in a meaningful learning experience. Technology tools could offer an enhanced learning experience. It promotes interactivity; thus, promotes students’ engagement in the online environment (Roblyer & Wiencke, 2003).

Considerations before Implementing Technology

Before implementing technology in online environments, instructors need to examine the learning objectives, and how the technology could support these objectives (Laureate education Inc., n.d.). Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvack (2012) presented four steps that instructors need to consider when selecting technologies for online instructions. They are:

Step 1: Assessing available instructional technologies
Step 2: Determine learning outcomes
Step 3: Identify learning experiences and match each to the most appropriate available technology
Step 4: Preparing the learning experience for online delivery
(Simonson et al., 2012, p. 115-118).

Another crucial consideration, in terms of students’ readiness, is to make sure that students have equal access to technology. For example, students in rural areas may have slow internet connection (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.).

Usability and Accessibility

In an online learning environment, students need to have equal access to course content and should experience the same engagement in online learning environments. Cooper, Colwell, and Jelfs (2007) stated “improved accessibility for disabled users promotes usability for all” (p. 232). Technology could help in presenting information in multiple formats, it could provide students with multiple means to express themselves and could create multiple ways of engagement; all are major principles for Universal Design for Learning (UDL) (CAST, 2012). Utilizing technology tools through this set of principles could give students “equal opportunities to learn” (CAST, 2012).

Technology Tools for the Future

As I progress in the instructional design career, I believe that I could consider the use of mobile devices in online learning. Currently, as a student, I find accessing the course through my cell phone and tablet a great way to keep me informed with what is going on in the course. I could also respond to posts in the discussion board and access my email to look for relevant messages about the course. The 2013 NMC Horizon Report for Higher Education explained that tablets are currently utilized in higher education; students could download educational applications and access content everywhere; additionally, these applications could ease the students’ social connectivity (Johnson, Adams Becker, Cummins, Estrada, Freeman, and Ludgate, 2013). Many of the web 2.0 tools have corresponding mobile applications like the aggregators, blogs and wikis (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.). This makes it easier for students to communicate and connect with the course. Another tool that I found very effective is Twitter; it created a learning community for me to get ideas and best practices in instructional design. This is a tool that I would utilize for the online learning communities.

Effective Online Instructional Strategies

When implementing effective online instructional strategies, I will be looking at how technology could support the learning outcomes. Additionally, I will be looking into the usability of the tools how the technology tool could promote learning. Audio and videos are components that could provide an alternative way to develop content; however, these tools should not replicate the face-to-face experience; rather, it should be concise and supplement course content (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010). Any technology tools should be equally available to all students; for example, videos need to have transcripts and closed caption ability. This will not only respond to accessibility needs but will enhance the usability of the tools for all students. Finally, we should not assume that students know all the technology tools; we should provide resources and tutorials to help students in navigating the tool and understanding its potential.

 

References:

Boettcher, J. V., & Conrad, R. (2010). The online teaching survival guide: Simple and practical pedagogical tips. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Cooper, M., Colwell, C., & Jelfs, A. (2007). Embedding accessibility and usability: Considerations for e-learning research and development projects. ALT-J: Research in Learning Technology, 15(3), 231-245.

Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M., Estrada, V., Freeman, A., and Ludgate, H. (2013). NMC Horizon Report: 2013 Higher Education Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. Retrieved from http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2013-horizon-report-HE.pdf

Keengwe, J., & Kidd, T. T. (2010). Towards best practices in online learning and teaching in higher education. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 6(2), 534-541.

Laureate Education Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Enhancing the online experience [Video podcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_2098594_1%26url%3D

Roblyer, M. D., & Wiencke, W. R. (2003).Design and use of a rubric to assess and encourage interactive qualities in distance courses. American Journal of Distance Education, 17(2), 77-98.

Rose, D. H., Harbour, W. S., Johnston, C. S., Daley, S. G., & Abarbanell, L. (2006). Universal design for learning in postsecondary education: Reflections on principles and their application. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 19(2), 17.

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

[Untitled image of mobile devices]. Retrieved April 4, 2013 from http://www.busyevent.com/making-a-technology-decision-for-your-event-at-the-last-minute-9-things-to-consider/

[Untitled image of the globe attached to a computer mouse]. Retrieved April 4, 2013 from http://www.useoftechnology.com/information-technology/

Setting Up an Online Learning Experience

The preparation for the online learning experience is similar to the preparation for the face-to-face environment; the main deference is “more planning must be done before students arrive at the course site” (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010, p. 56).

The Technology Available:

To be able to create an effective learning experience which challenges and engages students, instructor should utilize the technology tools available to them (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010) through their institution and online. For example, the learning management system could be used to facilitate the discussions among students; online discussions create meaningful and social environments, which promotes students’ interactions (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010).

Additionally, at the beginning of online courses, the instructors are encouraged to create welcoming and safe environment, which promote students’ openness. For this first step, instructors could post personal introductions about themselves to present the human aspect of their life (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.). Moreover, instructors may choose to put a picture, audio message or a video (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.). Technology could facilitate these activities; however, technology could be a barrier to effective online communication. For this reason, Conrad and Donaldson (2011) explained that instructors are encouraged to use and understand the technology tools available to them and provide introductory interactions that could “break the ice of using technology” (p. 52). Since there are many tools available online, instructors could select one to three technology tools which could be used to support the subject area and the learning outcomes (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010). Once the instructors select the proper tools then they could help students by building the needed skills to use these tools (Conrad & Donaldson, 2011).

Communicating Clear Expectations:

In the online learning environment, students come to the course, and they want to be successful (The George Washington University, n.d.). Without support, or a welcoming and safe environment students could drop from the course as early as the first week (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.). The syllabus provides a clear road map for students about the goals of the course, the important dates, activities and assignments (The George Washington University, n.d.). In addition, online learning environment provides “policies, procedures, and the mechanics about how to communicate and learn in an online environment” (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010, p. 72). Students have many responsibilities related to their work and family; they need to plan ahead for the upcoming projects, assignments and the associated workload (The George Washington University, n.d.). This aspect is very important for me as a student; as I am an adult learner with work and family responsibilities, it is important for me to know the expectation, the dates and plans for the course so I could plan my other responsibilities accordingly.

Additional considerations:

The other additional considerations that instructors could plan for when designing and implementing an online learning experience are: building personal connections with students (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.), establishing a weekly rhythm for the course which sustain students’ engagement with the content (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010), and developing effective discussion questions that could support the growth of the online learning community (Boettcher & Conrad, 2010).

The conclusion:

This week’s resources and discussions helped me in understanding the importance of the instructor’s presence in the online learning environment. Through effective planning, instructors could build a safe and inviting environment for students from the beginning of the course. This presence continues during the course through providing clear expectations and road map for students to help them navigate through the online experience. Ice breakers, weekly plans, and effective discussion boards are all effective strategies that could promote students enjoyment and success in the online learning experience.
References:
Boettcher, J. V., & Conrad, R. (2010). The online teaching survival guide: Simple and practical pedagogical tips. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Conrad, R., & Donaldson, J. A. (2011). Engaging the online learner: Activities and resources for creative instruction (Updated ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Laureate Education Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Launching the online learning experience [Video podcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_2098594_1%26url%3D
The George Washington University. Establishing expectations. Retrieved from http://learn.gwumc.edu/hscidist/FRED/EstablishingExpectations/index.htm
[Untitled Image of Computer Monitors Shaking ]. Retrieved from March 21, 2013 from http://aspanational.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/the-impact-of-technology-on-the-federal-government/
[Untitled image of a multitasking woman]. Retrieved March 21, 2013 from http://childrensdirectory.net/2012/07/multitasking-mama/

Online Learning Communities

This blog post provides insights on online learning communities; the post covers its impact on students learning and satisfaction, the elements of community building, how to sustain the online community and relationship to effective learning instructions.

The Impact

Online learning communities provide venues for students to challenge each other, co-construct knowledge, and provide appropriate feedback (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.).  Additionally, both instructors and students participate equally in the learning community; however, instructors should create a safe environment for students to help them in expressing themselves and explaining to them how he/she will support them thought their learning journey (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.).

Community Building

Building an effective learning community requires planning and clear vision on who will be participating in the community (Saragina, 1999) and what are the common interests for this community that will keep participants engaged. Wilcoxon (2011) suggested that the structure of a learning community should include social presence, teacher presences, structured and unstructured cognitive presence ( full article ). Palloff and Pratt in Laureate Education Inc. (n.d.) explained that the community consists of people, purpose to community, process in which the training is developed, communication and social presence.

Sustaining the Online Community

Students who start their online learning experience unprepared may drop out early in the course (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.). For this reason, instructors should reach out to students early once they recognize that the students are not present, and students, in general, appreciate the follow-up (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.). Further, it is the responsibility of the administration, instructors and students to build the community and sustain its presence. For example, institution could offer mandatory online orientations to help students getting familiar with the environment; by this means, students who  do not want to pursue online learning could then leave without affecting the enrollment in actual courses (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.).

Clip Art from MS Word

Online Learning and the Community

Effective online instruction happen when the learners are able to interact with each other, with content and the instructor (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright & Zvacek, 2012). Additionally, when designing online courses, we have to include strategies which promote students’ engagement through the exchange of knowledge and experiences (Simonson et al., 2012). Similarly, in online learning communities we have to develop rules of engagement that by stating expectations, frequency and how to engage (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.). By this means, we will be able to facilitate learner-learner and learner-instructor interactions. We also have to provide an organized learning environment to help students navigate through the course; in addition, provide opportunities for students to collaborate, be reflective and continuously reinforce their sense of presence (Laureate Education Inc, n.d.).

References:

Laureate Education Inc. (Producer). (n.d.a). Online learning communities [Video podcast]. Baltimore, MD: Palloff and Pratt.

Saragina, P. (1999). Creating an online learning community. Retrieved from http://www.ion.uillinois.edu/courses/instructors/guestlectures/saragina/index.asp

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2012). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Wilcoxon, K. (2011). Building an online learning community. Retrieved from http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/761/building-an-online-learning-community

Online Instructional Strategies

For the coming eight weeks I will be sharing on my blog best practices, reflections and strategies about online instruction.

Analyzing Scope Creep

Change in scope could affect both the budget and the timeline (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.). I was responsible for developing a workshop on group work; I did research and started the design of the workshop. After presenting and reviewing a first draft to the client, he asked to include points related to peer assessment. This is a related topic and could enhance the topic, however, it was not specified in the objectives of the workshop, so the assessment part was out of scope and considered as scoop creep. Dr. Solovich explained that scoop creep happens as a result of a new idea from senior management (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.). Besides affecting the timeline for the design, when implementing the workshop, the facilitator ran out of time and was not able to finish all the content which affected the overall quality of the workshop.

At that time, we as a team, accepted the change, but did not plan for it or for the change process. We informally handled the request for change and as a team we were committed to extending the project’s scoop without accounting for the additional time and resources (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, & Sutton, 2008).

Looking back on the experience now, as a project manager, I would have created a change control system (Portny et al., 2008). The system could be achieved by the following steps:

• Review the request for change
• Identify the impact of change on the project in terms of schedule, budget and performance
• Evaluate the disadvantage and benefits of the requested change and the appropriate alternatives if applicable
• Authorize personnel to approve or reject the change
• Communicate the change and ensure it is implemented accurately
• Report the progress and impact of the change to all stakeholders
(Portny et al., 2008).

Another idea is to suggest to the client to create an additional workshop and deal with it as a new project (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.). Additionally, I would use change request forms to formally document the change and assess the impact. These forms could be used as a tool to educate the stakeholders on the change process (Doll, 2001).

Finally, it is sometimes impossible to avoid scope creep (Portny et al., 2008), however, it is possible to monitor and control change; using clear communication and accurate change plans project managers could manage change in projects effectively.

References:
Doll, S. (2001). Seven steps for avoiding scope creep. Retrieved from http://www.techrepublic.com/article/seven-steps-for-avoiding-scope-creep/1045555

Laureate Education Inc. (Producer). (n.d.). Monitoring projects [Video Webcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_1957702_1%26url%3D

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.

[Unitiled image of a monster with scoop creep]. Retrived from http://rightideas-brightideas.blogspot.ca/2010/05/stop-scope-creep-1-killer-of-projects.html

Estimating Costs and Allocating Resources: Helpful Resources

In this blog post, I will look into few resources that could help in estimating activity duration in projects, resource cost and effort associated with instructional design projects. The first resource is a blog post by Donald Clark about “Estimating Costs and Time in Instructional Design” the post is available through this link http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/costs.html

This blog post starts with a general description about budgeting for training programs Clark (2010) explained that the budget of training programs will not be complete from the beginning, and it evolves through the ID process as we are evaluating and adjusting the design.  Clark (2010) then provides guidelines of costs associated with ID projects; in addition, he lists average estimated times and associated costs for developing e-learning components. These components include, instructor preparation time, seat time and multimedia development time (Clark, 2010).  Finally, he provides an excel sheet listing the various tasks in the ID project and cost of each resource through two worksheets and worksheet with notes. I believe that this sheet along with the data provided in the blog post could help any instructional designer in understanding budgeting for training programs.

The second resource is an article on “Labor Burden & Profits – Employees Real Cost and How Much you Should Charge” by Diane Gilson. The article is available here http://www.sleeter.com/supplemental/articles/
Labor_Burden_Gilson.pdf

In this article, Gilson (n.d.) explained in details the many aspects that constitute the employees’ salary; when developing a project budget, the instructional designer should carefully calculate the real cost of the hourly rate for resources. The hourly rate includes the normal hourly rate of an employee and the labor burden costs, which is the costs that the employee incur above the hourly rate (Gilson, n.d.). These burden costs could be transportation to/from any location, travel, vacation time during the project, health insurance and other benefits (Gilson, n.d.). The article provides examples and lists many aspects that contribute to the employee’s true hourly rate.

Another resource that I found very helpful is MS Project software that could be used to easily enter each task, its duration and the associated resources. This webpage http://www.microsoft.com/project/en-us/tips-tricks.aspx provides tips and tricks that could help when creating a project schedule. While MS project comes with the fee, I looked into free tools which could be used to estimate costs and durations; this article http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/excel-project-management-tracking-templates/ provides free alternatives to MS project like using Excel sheets to develop cost estimates. The author suggests the use of the templates in Excel which is available through MS Office and is commonly used on various computers. I went to Excel, selected “New” from the menu and then typed project management in the search area; the search resulted in many templates for risk management, communication plans and template for a project cost summery. Additional, I found a template for event management project tracker with ready worksheet to calculate durations and costs; this template could help in calculating time and cost for events associated with trainings. Below is an image form this template.

Event Management Tracker from MS Excel

References:

Clark, D. (2010). Estimating costs and time in instructional design. Retrieved from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/costs.html

Gilson, D. (n.d). Labor burden & profits – Employees real cost and how much you should charge. Retrieved from

http://www.sleeter.com/supplemental/articles/Labor_Burden_Gilson.pdf

[Untitled image of a character juggling cost, schedule and performance]. Retrieved November 29, 2012 from http://www.platinum-cpd.com/pmforhr.html

Communicating Effectively: Look, Listen, Read

In this blog I will be analyzing information received through three different environments; an email, a voice message and face-to-face message. The message is about the need for a missing report; you could view the module here http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/mm/aoc/index.html

Communication planning is one of the important aspects of an effective project management process (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, & Sutton, 2008). There are three forms of communication, verbal, non-verbal and written; the message conveyed face-to-face relies greatly on the non-verbal cues associated with the message, like the tone, the body language and gestures (Verma, 1996). These non verbal cues are not available through written messages; therefore, written message should be clear, concise and focused (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.).

Interpretation

I had similar understanding of the message for email and voice mail message; through both I understood that Jane requires a late report from Mark so she could use it to finish her report on time. My understanding was that Mark is late in submitting his report to Jane. Through the face-to-face message, my understanding shifted to realize that Mark was not late, and Jane just wanted to make sure that she gets the data or report early so she could finish her task on time (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.).

Influential Factors

The main problems that affected my understanding of the email were the use of an acronym and the many words which are not related to the main request. Without non verbal cues and with no written words, the message over the phone could be interpreted as an angry request. I believe that the tone of the message contributed to this understanding. With the face-to-face conversation, I was able to gain much more understanding than the written and verbal messages. From looking at the setting and seeing Jane, it appears to me that she requesting this data from a colleague in an amicable way. Tone and body language are important factors that could affect the message (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.).

The True Message?

I believe that the message was clearly delivered through the face-to-face interaction. There were no barriers; in addition, the non verbal cues like eye contact, face expression and body language (Nayab, 2011) helped in recognizing the intent of the message, and gave more friendly tone than the other two messages.

Implications

Communication among project teams is crucial to the success of the project. Project managers should not rely on the documented information only; they should follow-up with their teams through regular meetings and progress reports (Portny, 2008) to make sure that the information is transmitted and received accurately. There are many factors that could affect a message transmitted between a sender and a receiver; these factors are the context and the environment in which the message is delivered through (Verma, 1996). Furthermore, culture, personalities and judgment are all factors that could affect the message (Verma, 1996). Project Managers should utilize the various forms of communication to deliver relevant and appropriate messages (Tyson, 2010).  In this module, the most effective message for me was the one delivered face-to-face, but this is not always the case in projects. Teams could be located in different locations and even in the same office there is a need to send informal messages via written communications or emails. Written communication should include a clear purpose with a friendly and respectful tone (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.).

Finally, it is recommended that project managers document conversations, verbal agreements and informal massage (Laureate Education Inc., n.d.) to be able to provide any supporting information related to the project.

References

Laureate Education Inc., (Producer). (n.d.). Communicating with stakeholders [Video webcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_1957702_1%26url%3D

Nayab, N. (2011). Comparing various forms of communication. Retrieved from http://www.brighthubpm.com/methods-strategies/79297-comparing-various-forms-of-communication/

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.

Tyson, B. (2010). How important is communication in project planning. Retrieved from http://www.brighthubpm.com/project-planning/84935-how-important-is-communication-in-project-planning/?cid=parsely_rec

Verma, V. K. (1996). The Human Aspects of Project Management: Human Resources Skills for the Project Manager, Volume Two. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management institute Inc.

[Untitled image of two characters communicating through a string]. Retrieved from http://www.boscoanthony.com/tag/communications/

Learning from a Project “ Post-mortem”

In my work, we plan for numerous events; two years ago I was assigned to plan for an international conference which we anticipated will attract around 700 delegates. I started planning for the project a year before the actual event. This project fills under long-term project definition; it had many details, an initial plan and many modifications and revisions to the plans (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, & Sutton, 2008). I created a planning sheet with responsibilities and roles, schedule and anticipated cost. The event at the end was successful, and I have to say that I was so proud with work done. On the other hand, there were some pitfalls that could have been avoided to make the event even more successful with less stress on me and others involved with the project. The project involved planning, budgeting, booking venues, dealing with many suppliers, dealing with functional departments, like financial and procurement offices, and communicating with many stakeholders. There were many successful outcomes and some challenges that could have been avoided by applying project management processes.

Successes

Many elements contributed to the success of the project; first, I created a responsibility matrix and a schedule. To develop these documents, we started with a kickoff meeting, brainstormed ideas, and provided an orientation to the members about their roles, all described by Greer (2010) as best practices in starting and building project teams. Then we identified the project’s needs and described the objectives (Portny, 2008).

Another successful element was the development of a risk management plan; few months after starting the project, we were told that there is another event sponsored by the government (G20 Summit); and the main venue booked for the conference was taken from us as it was strategic to the government event.  At that time, we had to find another space; luckily we were able to find another venue. For this reason, we had to create a comprehensive risk management plan as we anticipated that this summit will affect our event. Surely, it was helpful to have the risk management plan with strategies to avoid or mitigate these risks, and we prepared a contingency plan to deal with the unknown unknowns (Porteny, 2008).

Challenges

While I started to plan for the event with project management in mind, the team functioned throughout the planning process as a committee. Vijay (1997) explained that teams working as committees may lack the strong leadership and could deliberate more than doing the assigned work. Many of the committee members were familiar with event planning, and there was an assumption that, since it has been done before then we can just do this one again (Portny, 2008). The main difference about this event was the size, thus increased complexity of the tasks. To avoid this problem, there should have been a formal start for the project with authorization from the stakeholders; the project was missing a very important element which is the charter (PMBOK®, 2008). While we had separate sheets and plans, it could have helped to have everything documented in one resource and approved by authorized stakeholders. The project becomes officially authorized when the charter is approved and signed (PMBOK®, 2008).

Another pitfall was failing to involve a key project stakeholder from the beginning of the project (Portny, 2008). Two days before  opening online registration for the conference, after building a registration site through a vendor, I needed to use a bank account to use for the credit card payments. I contacted a financial advisor, and he mentioned that we should have contacted Finance before setting up the account with the vendor as my institution has another vendor for these kinds of transactions. At that time, I realized that we should have involved a financial advisor from the beginning; while what he said sound now like common sense, at that time with the many details and me wearing many hats, I totally overlooked this part. After some discussions with management, we were able to set up the account. Not only that I missed a stakeholder, I believe that this would have been caught in the work break down structure (WBS). WBS are organizational charts to help mapping all activities related to the project (Russell, 2000). In addition, WBS help to divide the project tasks into smaller and manageable deliverables (PMBOK®, 2008).

Over all, the event was successful and attracted the many delegates that we anticipated; the project was done according to schedule, within budget and with high quality. The challenges were all lessons learned for future and similar projects.

References:

Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.

PMBOK ®Guide (2008).  A guide to the project management body of knowledge. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute Inc.

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.

Russell, L. (2000). Project management for trainers. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.

Vijay, V. (1997). The human aspects of project management (Vol. 3): Managing the project team. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management institute Inc.

[Untitled image of the components of the charter]. Retrieved November 8, 2012 http://pmpartnergroup.com/?p=227

[Untitled image of risk planning]. Retrieved November from http://www.ileviathan.com/solutions/website-marketing-plan/risk-management