Business Case: Roadmap to IDPI Success IDE 761 ... · Business Case: Roadmap to IDPI Success Page 1 of 20 Business Case: Roadmap to IDPI Success IDE 761 – Strategies in Educational

IDE 761: Project Report

Business Case: Roadmap to IDPI Success

Page 1 of 20


IDE 761 – Strategies in Educational Project Management

03/26/2019

Submitted by:

Lei Zhang, Rachita Kapoor, Qi Wu

Submitted to:

Tiffany A. Koszalka, Ph.D.

Instructor



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Executive Summary

ID Productions INC. is a popular education and learning organization that they provide training

solutions to schools, universities, and business and industry. They are growing rapidly in the field

of training and development and have huge teams of instructional designers working for their

various clients. Their business model is composed of delivering three major products to their

clients that include short instructor-led workshops, instructor facilitated online courses, and self-

study online courses. Different teams of instructional designers are working on different products

catering to different clients. Each team follow their own set of plans, deliverables, and templates

which at times create difficulties for the client to understand if the same products has been

delivered by a single organization.

There exists the problem of fluid collaboration between different groups. In this case, we created

a project management plan for the organization to prioritize their business model. This includes

streamlining the deliverables of their various products and services so that they are in line with the

client expectations. We review the schedule and work load of their teams so that their time could

be utilized in the best possible way. Besides, we also design common templates for the various

phases of the ADDIE model that the organization uses to develop their training programs. Each of

the products that include instructor-led workshops, instructor facilitated online course, and self-

study online course have multiple templates for the various phases of product development and

hence IDP cannot maintain a brand value with their clients. The scope of the project would include

designing and developing of common templates for each of the products for each phase of the

ADDIE model. This would assist the teams at IDP to follow a standardized procedure to develop

their training programs and be in line with the client expectations.

Furthermore, the administration of IDP is never sure of the status of the projects and the teams

working on the project and therefore they cannot commit the timelines of another project to a

client and also, they cannot allocate different project to their resources. To overcome this

situation, we design timesheets to manage the time of each of the resources of the instructional

design team specialists so that their current status can be entered and monitored by the

administrators for future use. The timesheets include the names of each of the resource working

under various teams along with their current project allocation and the time for which they have

been allocated.



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Figure 1: Graphic Representation of Project



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Table of content

DEFINE PHASE ............................................................................................................................. 5

Problem/Opportunity ................................................................................................................... 5

Project Goals ............................................................................................................................... 5

Project Objectives ....................................................................................................................... 5

Success Criteria ........................................................................................................................... 6

Assumptions and Risks ............................................................................................................... 6

PLAN PHASE ................................................................................................................................ 6

Work Breakdown Structure ......................................................................................................... 6

Critical Path ................................................................................................................................. 8

Gantt Chart .................................................................................................................................. 9

Project Plan ................................................................................................................................. 9

ORGANIZE .................................................................................................................................. 11

Work Packages Descriptions / Assignments ............................................................................. 11

Team Organization Structure .................................................................................................... 12

Recruiting Criteria ..................................................................................................................... 12

CONTROL .................................................................................................................................... 13

Management Style ..................................................................................................................... 13

Status/Variance Reports ............................................................................................................ 13

CLOSE .......................................................................................................................................... 14

Milestones/Deliverables (key outcomes of major tasks)........................................................... 14

Resources .................................................................................................................................. 15

Format for Final Project Report ................................................................................................ 16

Client Sign-off Procedures ........................................................................................................ 17

Post Project Audit/Debrief ........................................................................................................ 17

Appendix ....................................................................................................................................... 19



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DEFINE PHASE

Problem/Opportunity

ID Productions INC. is a popular education and learning organization and they provide instructor-

led workshops, instructor facilitated online courses, and self-study online courses. They are

growing rapidly in the field of training and development and have huge teams of instructional

designers working for their various clients. Different teams are work on different products.

Each team follow their own set of plans, deliverables, and templates which at times create

difficulties for the client to understand if the same products has been delivered by a single

organization.

Besides, the management of IDPI is facing difficulties understanding the current status of various

projects in order to coordinate and communicate the same to their clients: The human resource

assignment is also not very clear and does not follow a procedure. The management is unaware of

which resource (instructional specialists) is working to what project and when would they be

released from a particular project so that they can be assigned to a new project.

The management is keen to grow their business to offer new products to their clients but they are

unsure of how to align these with their current projects so that the business runs in sync and each

product follows a similar plan and run simultaneously. If the management of IDPI does not find a

solution soon to align their projects and three products they deliver to their clients, it will be

difficult for them to maintain their status and trust in the industry.

Project Goals

The goals of the project would be to prepare and develop a project management plan to manage

their various educational projects more effectively in order to have a common ground related to

their products, timelines, resources, and templates. The project management plan will also assist

in managing the human resources (instructional specialists) working on various projects more

efficiently. The organization is hoping to finalize the project management plan by 30th of April

2019. The project management team has 3 months to roll and implement this plan.

Project Objectives

The project management plan for IDPI would have various milestones related to the various

objectives that the project will achieve in each phase.

Create common templates for the analysis phase of each learning product

Create common templates for the design phase of each learning product

Create common templates for the development phase of each learning product

Create common templates for the implementation phase of each learning product

Create common templates for the evaluation phase of each learning product



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Create schedule and timesheets for the various human resources (instructional design

team specialists) working on various projects

Success Criteria

The success criteria for this project is aligned to meeting the objectives of the project.

Templates for the analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation phase

are developed within the desired timelines

Human resources (instructional specialists) are assigned systematically to projects with a

start and end date

No new employees are hired but the current employees are scheduled to work efficiently

on various projects

Clients are satisfied with the quality as the various products are in line with each other

and run effectively

Assumptions and Risks

Various assumptions could be taken into consideration related to the risks involved with the

project.

Time constraint to build templates for all the phases of learning projects

Budget overruns in order to create effective deliverables

Team members not in line with a common management style as most of them have

different ways of working on a learning project

Constraint of hiring any new team members as the organization do not want to invest in

human resource at their current business status

Measuring the quality standards of various clients

Miscellaneous (people leaving the organization, ending of contract with the client,

sickness, weather

PLAN PHASE

Work Breakdown Structure

Activity Estimates:

Time – in days; Start schedule – Period 1 (each period is 5 days)

Activity No.

Activity Description

Sequence relationships Estimated

Time / Start

before after days peri

od

1 Collate the existing templates for various phases of

developing the product

2 - 3 1

2 Brainstorm on the template most suitable to maintain the

organization’s brand value and fits with the learning

product

3,4,5 1 2 1



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3 Create templates for the instructor-led workshops 6,8,10 2

3.1 Design template for the instructor-led workshops for

conducting analysis

3.2 2 1 2


designing training material

3.3 3.1 1 2


developing training material

3.4 3.2 1 2


implementing the training

3.5 3.3 1 2


conducting evaluation

4 3.4 1 2

4 Create templates for the instructor facilitated online

course

6,8,10 3

4.1 Design template for the instructor facilitated online

course for conducting analysis

4.2 3 1 3


course for designing training material

4.3 4.1 1 3


course for developing training material

4.4 4.2 1 3


course for implementing the training

4.5 4.3 1 3


course for conducting evaluation

5 4.4 1 3

5 Create templates for the self-study online course 6,8,10 4

5.1 Design template for the self-study online course for

conducting analysis

5.2 4 1 4


designing training material

5.3 5.1 1 4


developing training material

5.4 5.2 1 4


implementing the training

5.5 5.3 1 4


conducting evaluation

6 5.4 1 4

6 Review templates for the instructor-led workshops 7 5.5 2 5

7 Review templates for the instructor facilitated online

course

12 6 1.5 5

8 Review templates for the self-study online course 9 7 1.5 5

9 Work on the updates and finalize the templates for the

instructor-led workshops

12 8 2 6


instructor facilitated online course

11 9 1.5 6


self-study online course

12 10 1.5 6

12 Create schedule and timesheets for instructional design

team specialists

13 11

12.1 Develop timesheets for Instructional Designers and

Developers

12.2 11 0.25 7

12.2 Develop timesheets for Technical writers 12.3 12.1 0.25 7

12.3 Develop timesheets for Technology/e-learning

specialists

12.4 12.2 0.25 7

12.4 Develop timesheets for Programmers 12.5 12.3 0.25 7

12.5 Develop timesheets for Graphic artists 12.6 12.4 0.25 7



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12.6 Develop timesheets for Message design specialists 12.7 12.5 0.25 7

12.7 Develop timesheets for Videographers 12.8 12.6 0.25 7

12.8 Develop timesheets for Program evaluation analysts 12.9 12.7 0.25 7

12.9 Develop timesheets for Assessment analysts 12.10 12.8 0.25 7

12.10 Develop timesheets for Educational Project Manager 12.11 12.9 0.25 7

12.11 Develop timesheets for Expert Trainers (on staff) 12.12 12.10 0.25 8

12.12 Develop timesheets for Facilities site coordinators 12.13 12.11 0.25 8

12.13 Develop timesheets for Client trainers and self-study

advisors

13 12.12 0.25 8

13 Collate timesheets to manage timelines of various team

members

14 12 0.75 8

14 Finalize timesheets and circulate to the administration

staff

13 1 8

Critical Path There are 12 different activities in total, the critical path is list below (Figure 2). Some activities

(activity 3,4,5,12) contain sub-activities (Figure 3).

Figure 2 Critical Path

Figure 3 Critical Path including sub-activities



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Gantt Chart

The Gantt chart is showed in Figure 4.

Figure 4 Gantt Chart

Project Plan

Schedule (task deadlines/resources required)

Num. Task Activity Task deadline Resources

Start Date End

Date

1 Collate the existing templates for

various phases of developing the

product

03/01/2019 03/03/2019 Project Manager

2 Brainstorm on the template most

suitable to maintain the

organization’s brand value and fits

with the learning product

03/03/2019 03/05/2019 Project Manager

Instructional Designers

and Developers

Client trainers and self-

study advisors

3 Create templates for the instructor-

led workshops

03/06/2019 03/06/2019 Instructional Designers

and Developers



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Program evaluation

analysts

Assessment analysts

Expert Trainers (on staff)

4 Create templates for the instructor

facilitated online course


and Developers

Technology/e-learning

specialists

Program evaluation

analysts

Assessment analysts


5 Create templates for the self-study

online course


and Developers

Technology/e-learning

specialists

Program evaluation

analysts

Assessment analysts

6 Review templates for the instructor-

led workshops

03/07/2019 03/08/2019 Educational Project

Manager


and Developers

7 Review templates for the instructor



Manager


and Developers

8 Review templates for the self-study

online course


Manager


and Developers

9 Work on the updates and finalize

the templates for the instructor-led

workshops


and Developers



study advisors


the templates for the instructor



and Developers



study advisors


the templates for the self-study

online course


and Developers



study advisors

12 Create schedule and timesheets for

instructional design team specialists

03/17/2019 04/20/2019 Administrator staff

Educational Project

Manager



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13 Collate timesheets to manage

timelines of various team members

03/20/2019 03/20/2019 Administrator Staff

Educational Project

Manager

14 Finalize timesheets and circulate to

the administration staff

03/21/2019 03/21/2019 Administrator Staff

Educational Project

Manager

ORGANIZE

Work Packages Descriptions / Assignments



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Team Organization Structure

Recruiting Criteria

Job Title Criteria

Educational

Project Manager

5+ year management experience in instructional projects (meeting time, budget, quality

standards)

Leadership qualities (leading teams with mix skill sets, working styles)

Technical skills (project management software, writing status reports, online learning tools)

Communication skills (negotiation, giving direction/correction, personable, presentation,

writing)

Human resource skills (recruiting/interviewing, problem solving, flexibility)

Instructional

Designer and

Developer

Degree/experiences (5+ years instructor and online training)

Design expertise (design theory to practice, writing, message design, assessment)

Communication skills (writing, oral, graphic/visual, interviewing, negotiation, etc.)

Technical Writer

Degree/experiences (5+ years technical content writing)

Time management expertise

Communication skills (writing, oral)

Technology/e-

learning

Specialists

Degree/experiences (5+ years designing, developing, implementing, online instructional

solutions)



Programmers Degree/experiences (4+ years specialist in developing / programming technology-based

resources)



Graphic Artists Degree/experiences (4+ years creating graphic images, advising on graphic design and use

of visuals)





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Message Design

Specialists Degree/experiences (4+ years layout of messages, message emphasis and consistency)



Videographers Degree/experiences (4+ years creating scripts, shooting video, editing video)



Program

Evaluation

Analysts

Degree/experiences (4+ years designing, developing, implementing, analyzing evaluations)



Assessment

Analysts Degree/experiences (4+ years design, develop, assess learning needs and learning

outcomes)



Expert Trainers

(on staff) Degree/experiences (4+ years advise on workshop and online facilitator products; support

development of TTT sessions)



Facilities Site

Coordinators Degree/experiences (4+ years IDPI outside contractors who plan workshop

implementations)



Client Trainers

and Self-Study

Advisors

Degree/experiences (4+ years training specialists, facilitators, content experts)



CONTROL

Management Style

IDP Inc. believes in an open-office structure where employees at various designation have the

power and responsibility to share and implement ideas. The organization does not follow the

hierarchical structure and all the employees have the freedom to showcase their work. The

atmosphere is democratic in nature and the leadership does not take all the decisions without

consulting the various teams. The technical teams have been given the freedom to explore new

technologies and bring ideas on the table for the managers to review and showcase it to the

leadership. Similarly, the creative teams have the power to take the decisions on their style of

working depending on the project. The organization is open to constructive feedback and

criticism is discouraged across the board. The employees have the freedom to provide feedback

to their managers and the leadership. Each quarter, the managers of various teams provide

constructive feedback to their team members for improvement. Leadership skills are also

promoted across the organization.

Status/Variance Reports

Table 1 is an example of status/variance reports, task 6 starts on time and completes on schedule.

Task 7 starts early and finish early, while task 8 starts late and is in progress by March 11.

Table 1 Status/Variance Reports



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Num. Task Schedule

Time Schedule

Variance

7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25

6 Review templates

for instructor-led

Mar 7- 8 On schedule

7 Review templates

for instructor

facilitated Mar 9-10

Early start,

early end

8 Review templates

for self-study Mar 10-11

Late start, late

end

Conflict and Contingency Management

The administrative staff and the educational project manager are directly responsible for

implementing and delivering the project management plan. They have to constantly

communicate with each other and with the project management team to implement the project

plan. The administrative staff and the educational project manager have schedules meetings

twice a week with each other to discuss the status of the project and work on the deliverables.

The educational project manager conducts meetings four times a week with the various teams

working on the project. These teams include instructional designers and developers, technology

and e-Learning specialists, and message design specialists. Each team has a separate meeting

with the educational project manager and then a combined meeting of all the teams is held to

discuss the status of the project, share queries and concerns, and work on deliverables. The teams

are transparent with each other on their work status and queries. The educational project manager

promotes transparency within various team members and creates a platform that is open for all to

share their queries and concerns. The educational project manager resolves the queries raised by

the various teams and then further assistance is taken from the administrative staff, if required.

The queries and concerns regarding project timelines and project budget is discussed with the

leadership of the organization.

CLOSE

Milestones/Deliverables (key outcomes of major tasks)

Num. Task Activity Key outcome

1 Collate the existing templates for various

phases of developing the product

Template files ready for brainstorming session

2 Brainstorm on the template most suitable

to maintain the organization’s brand value

and fits with the learning product

Source documents prepared for template creating



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3 Create templates for the instructor-led

workshops

Initial version of the templates for analysis, design,

development, evaluation, and implementation phases for the

instructor-led workshops training projects

4 Create templates for the instructor




instructor facilitated online course training projects

5 Create templates for the self-study online

course



self-study online course training projects

6 Review templates for the instructor-led

workshops

Suggest changes and updates to the initial version of the

templates for the instructor-led workshops training projects

7 Review templates for the instructor



templates for the instructor facilitated online course training

projects

8 Review templates for the self-study

online course


templates for the self-study online course training projects

9 Work on the updates and finalize the

templates for the instructor-led workshops

Final version of the templates for analysis, design,


instructor-led workshops training projects


templates for the instructor facilitated

online course



instructor facilitated online course training projects


templates for the self-study online course



self-study online course training projects

12 Create schedule and timesheets for

instructional design team specialists

Timesheet documents for instructional design team

specialists

13 Collate timesheets to manage timelines of

various team members

Suggest changes and updates to the timesheet documents

14 Finalize timesheets and circulate to the

administration staff

Finalize the timesheet documents

Resources

1. Required Staff

• Project Manager

• Instructional Designers and Developers

• Client Trainers and Self-Study Advisors

• Program Evaluation Analysts

• Assessment Analysts

• Expert Trainers (on staff)

• Technology/e-learning Specialists

• Educational Project Manager

• Instructional Designers and Developers

• Administrator Staff



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2. Materials

Current templates for the instructor-led workshops training projects Current templates for the instructor facilitated online course

Current templates for the self-study online course Access to client deliverables Attendance records Project allocation records Computers/Laptops

Internet connection Paper/Pen/Whiteboard/Marker Meeting rooms

Telephone service

Refreshments/Snacks

3. Funding

ID Productions Inc. change management budget

Internal budget

Human resource budget

Administration budget

Format for Final Project Report



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Client Sign-off Procedures

1. Showcase Deliverables to different human resources (instructional specialists)

Showcase the final templates for the instructor-led workshops for the Analysis,

Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation phase

Showcase the final templates for the instructor facilitated online courses for the

Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation phase

Showcase the final templates for the self-study online courses for the Analysis,

Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation phase

Showcase the final timesheets for the instructional design team specialists

2. Prepare final Meeting with client

Schedule the final meeting with the client

Prepare the final project report

Prepare the final presentation

Conduct project presentation

3. Sign-Off

Prepare sign-off documents

Seek client sign-off on final project deliverables

Seek client sign-off on the project report

Seek client sign-off on the project presentation

4. Miscellaneous Activities

Follow-up on activities during the final meeting

Follow-up on activities after the final meeting

Finalize the project budget

Finalize the release of the resources

Post Project Audit/Debrief

1. Project Audit

Schedule debrief session on project completion status (whether it completes on time,

the effects of the project)

Schedule debrief session on final project deliverables (the effects of the project)

Develop and share copies of the final project deliverables

Develop and share copies of the final project report

Develop and share copies of the final project presentation

Complete the final audit checklist to close the project

2. Resource Audit

Schedule debrief session on project team performance



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Schedule debrief session on project takeaways

Gather feedback from project resources

Schedule a meeting to discuss strengths and weaknesses of the project

Perform evaluation for the performance of the resources

Release the resources from the project



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Appendix

Requirement 1: Use of New Technology

Rationale for Change

Our client, ID Productions INC. has recently attended a workshop on educational technologies and

was highly impressed with a latest multimedia technology that has been developed to create

training projects. The client is keen to purchase the technology for IDP so that the organization

can start using the technology to create their own learning projects. The client has asked our project

management team to check if this change will affect our latest project management plan that we

have built to implement projects and resources alignment at the organization.

After various brainstorming sessions, we have concluded that inclusion of this technology would

not directly affect our project management plan. The goal of our project is to align all the three

products offered by IDP, Instructor-led workshops, Instructor facilitated online courses, and self-

study online courses. All the teams on these projects are not in sync with each other and use their

own templates and methodologies to implement their projects. This situation has effected the brand

value to IDP with their clients and IDP is not able to manage the various projects simultaneously.

To overcome this, we have suggested to build common templates for the various phases of the

training projects including Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation. Each

team working on any of the product would use these templates to build the phase they are working

on irrespective of the platform and technology being used. This will lead to all the teams being in

sync with the projects and delivering common products to the various clients.

Another goal of the project is to maintain the time and schedule of the various resources working

on the projects. The administration of IDP is not aware of the allocation of the resources on the

projects and do not know when the resources are allocated to the project and when would they be

released from the project. This had led us to create time sheets for all the resources working on

various projects so that the administration is aware of the timelines of the resources allocated to a

certain project and they can further allocate that resource to another project.

Currently, the technology and platform are not being considered as they would use common

templates to build any project they are working on and allocate specific time to each project. The

organization is keen not to hire new resources. Therefore, that cannot be included in the project

plan to hire new resources who are experienced in this technology. The current resources might

take time to learn the new technology but as long as their schedule is allocated in the time sheet

and the administration is aware of their status, our goals and objectives of the project are met. We

would not be making any specific changes to our project management plan to implement this

change as the plan is in line with the expectations of the project.



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Requirement 2: Reduce Project Timeline by 20%

Rationale for Change

We created a project management plan in line with the initial timeline shared by the client. The

project schedule was supposed to run for 26 days from 1st of March 2019 to 26th of March 2019.

The client has now come up with a new requirement to reduce the project timeline by 20% which

reduces the number of working days to 21. We would be making updates to the project plan by

reducing 5 days from the project schedule to manage the client expectations.

We discussed the details with the client so that we could maintain the initial schedule but the client

is concerned about a major leadership meeting that would take place in the first week of April and

the client wants to wrap up the project prior to that so that the project plan could be showcased to

the leadership during that meeting. We would want to meet the client expectations as this is urgent

and hence would be making updates to the project plan so that the project can be completed within

the new time frame.

The project will start on the initial date which would be 1st of March 2019 and would be completed

by 21st of March 2019 in line with the new timelines. We would not make any changes to the

schedule of the first part of the project as creation of templates for the various phases of a learning

cycle for the three products of the client is a major part of the project and the project plan and

resource allocation for that is finalized.

We would be making updates to the second part of the project wherein we would be reducing the

timeline for creating time sheets for the various resources. Earlier the timesheets for the

instructional specialists where being created in different days but now timesheets for multiple

resources would be created in the same day. This may increase the workload on the resources

working on the deliverables but the process for creating the timesheets for instructional specialists

remain the same and hence work on can be done in collaboration.

Documents

Business Case: Roadmap to IDPI Success IDE 761 ... · Business Case: Roadmap to IDPI Success Page 1 of 20 Business Case: Roadmap to IDPI Success IDE 761 – Strategies in Educational