Prior to moving to my present
school I was the principal of small rural primary school. The school lacked
space and had no room for expansion. The board of management deliberated on the
way forward for months. Meanwhile I went
around and found out all the individuals who owned land in the community and
requested that they donate, least or sell land to the school. One man donated
two acres of land to build a school. Then the board of management began making
plans to build a school.
A goal and concept definition was created. A
market research was carried out. The financial cost and project strategy was developed.
The project charter was then approved. Suddenly the Government at that time
came up with a plan to build an international airport. The land for the school fell
within the parameters of that proposed airport. The officials sat with the team
and a negotiation was made with the government. Instead of paying for the two
acres of land the school was donated five acres of land in a better location for
the school building. The whole dynamics of the project was changed.
The change of location also
brought with it the desire to merge my school with another small rural school.
Hence there was a scope creep. In fact a new project was developed. A steering
committee was developed and from that a project team and was formulated. This
team brought in more technical experts and skilled personals. A new budget was made.
A sense of urgency was created. The project developed speed and within two
years the school was built.
The stakeholders managed the
issues which came about as a result of the change quite effectively. Everyone
supported the change and gave their commitment to work with the new project plans.
Had I been the project manager the only thing I would have done differently was
to negotiate for a better plant model and give it a more modern appearance. In
the capacity that I served I tried to influence the team to do so but was not
successful. Honestly up to this day individuals are still complaining about
this lack of vision.
Hi Ursula
ReplyDeleteThe project you describe sounds like there was a great deal of changes that occurred. Scope creep “typically happens due to the inadequate requirements gathering, poor initial planning, and an unclear protocol for change implementation” (Gube, 2008, para. 1). From what I understand about this project, the Theory of Constraints was followed. As indicated by this theory, critical components of all project to be prioritized. This allows for completing the key tasks in a timely manner.
Gube (2008) suggests managing scope creep by allowing an adequate amount of time to plan the project and be task oriented. In your example, was adequate time given to plan this new project? Were the key tasks managed to open the school on time and within budget?
Reference:
Gube, J. (2008, February 6). Eight tips on how to manage feature creep. Retrieved from Six Revisions webpage: http://sixrevisions.com/project-management/eight-tips-on-how-to-manage-feature-creep/
Hi Jenifer,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your response to my post and thanks for the insight that you shared.
Quite frankly I do not think there was sufficient time to plan for the second. As mentioned before a sense of urgency was created and individuals moved with urgency thus certain aspects such as a careful design for the building was not done. The team accepted the design of a volunteer group who had a general plan that is done for every assisted group.
Key tasks were managed to open the school on time. However the budget had to be adjusted. There were no plan contingencies thus when it happened the team had to come together to readjust the budget and return to the stakeholders for more funds.Again the sense of urgency created led stakeholders to provide additional funding without any problem.
Hi Jenifer
ReplyDeletePortny et al(2008)state that 'New technologies and materials become available or new requirements and needs become apparent during a project, any of these could lead changed projects."p.346
In the project the need for merger became apparent during the project and thus the changed project came about. Somehow this change could fall under the category of scope creep.Do you agree?
Reference
Portny, S. E., Mantel, S. J., Meredith, et al (2008). Project management: Planning, scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc
Hi Ursula,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading about the scope creep you experienced with your school joining a rural school. Did you merge with the other school and what do you mean about another plant? Thanks
Hi Ursula,
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting scope creep experience. You stated "Had I been the project manager the only thing I would have done differently was to negotiate for a better plant model and give it a more modern appearance. In the capacity that I served I tried to influence the team to do so but was not successful. Honestly up to this day individuals are still complaining about this lack of vision." How do you describe your participation during the project? What was the role of those individuals that agree with your idea?
Hi Ferdinand,
DeleteI served on the resource team.I assisted in formulating the budget for the project. In the initial phase my participation was very strong. Most of the funds used in the early phase came from funds raised from my school for the project before the change. The project manager was a very strong-will individual and did not accept accept advice from individuals. He did quite a bit of micromanaging. Some of the persons who agreed with me were one of the contractors on the team, the accountants,and two teachers.Many other ideas were thrown out. In my opinion, the project kicked off simply because the need for the school building was the premiere thing.None of the schools had a proper building and none had adequate facilities. Unity in getting the school was strong and arguments were avoided. The project manager's ideas prevailed most of the times. Individuals disagreed on many points but not openly.
Portny et al(2008) state that "project managers should never abuse their authority but they make and enforce decisions based on this agreed power."p.258. My project manager did abuse his power.
Hi Trevae,
ReplyDeleteThank you Trevae. The word school plant is just a term used for school building.Yes the schools were merged.They were two small schools in close proximity.It was felt that joining them would be cost effective, better improved resources and a better image for both schools.