Some project budget resources. If you're feeling bored.

            This week in EDUC 6145, we are tasked with meditating on the sometimes difficult art of generating a project budget.  The beauty of the World Wide Web is that it connects individuals around the world with experts, individuals who have experience in a particular topic about which one is curious or needs more information.  The resources below seem to be worthwhile places to look for the project manager who many need some pointers in budget generation for projects.

TechRepulic:  "Creating Your Project Budget: Where to Begin?"  TechRepublic's website is a collection of various resources related to the world of information technology.  If one has a question somehow connected to IT, he or she is probably able to find an answer about it on this site.  As projects in IT are a reality, it would only make sense that there would be a "Project Budgets 101" style article on this site; there are a few of them, actually.  The one linked is the one I found to be the most helpful.  It is helpful because it spells out in clear terms all the important parts of a budget to consider (basics, project costs, risk assessments, etc.) and provides tips for how to incorporate each one piece in the budget.

Tuts+:  "6 Budget Planning Steps to Professional Project Estimates"  Sometimes I do well with accomplishing a task of I have a checklist that I can go through; this resource on planning professional project estimates from Tuts+ is more or less that.  One has to appreciate the amount an diversity of business and project related information on this site.  This article is just an example.  The information is laid out well and follows a logical pattern.  One of the most useful things about this article especially is the idea of being able to maintain higher budget numbers but simplify the presented information so that it does not overwhelm the client.

            I am not a professional at budget creation.  Who am I kidding?  I'm not even an amateur of the process.  Should I ever need help or information on doing it for a project, however, I will not hesitate to refer to either of the sources above.

Modalities and messages.

            Communication is a tricky task.  Sometimes, we can focus so much on our message that we do not consider how we are going to deliver it.  The mode of delivery is just as important as the words themselves.  In an activity for a grad school class, EDUC 6145, we students were tasked with viewing a multimedia presentation and analyzing the communication modalities and how they affect the delivered message.

            The email comes off as attempting to be professionally cordial but leaning towards curt.  Phrases like "Because your..." are connected to the potential inability of Jane being unable to complete her task, it infers that Jane is blaming Mark for her problems.  Wrapping up with wording such as "...or even if (italics for emphasis)..." drives home through the connotation of her words that she is not happy and Mark is to blame.

            The voicemail allows for a deeper level of communication than just the text of an email message could accomplish on its own.  While the email seems as if it the tone could be construed as condescending, the email seems more colleagial in its purpose.  In this instance, Jane's vocal inflections reveal the deeper message that she is concerned about getting her own job done and that there is a hope that Mark could help.  The word choice is the same, but vocal tone makes the difference.

            In the face-to-face message, Jane seems downright friendly in the way that she expresses her desire to get her own job done.  And while the email example could seem like Mark totally is to blame, the face-to-face interaction makes it seem that Jane is not blaming Mark, but hoping that he can help her out.  Her voice is softer, her body language and facial expressions do not come off as accusatory, and Jane comes off as looking for a favor.

            As a member of a project team, communication is a vital piece of the task.  The entire team needs to be on board with the project and the members should feel like they trust each other.  Email is an okay communication tool for simple messages.  A message that is too complex runs the risk of carrying misleading wording; in the last example, Jane is not blaming Mark, but her email indicates that she could be.  To keep a team united in a project process, all members should strive to use interpersonal communication that relies on more than just words to accomplish the task.

Reference

Laureate Education (Producer). (n.d.) The art of effective communication [Multimedia object]. Retrieved from http://mym.cdn.laureate-media.com/2dett4d/Walden/EDUC/6145/03/mm/aoc/index.html. 

Project "Post Mortem" Review: The Critical Thinking Rubric

         

            In the school where I teach, along with content area, we as teachers assess students on five different school-wide learning outcomes: Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Oral Communication, Work Ethic, and Written Communication.  In faculty meetings, we discussed the idea that critical thinking looks different depending upon the content area; we came to the conclusion that departments should each have their own rubric for critical thinking tasks.  With our principal's approval, over the next three months, departments were tasked with developing their own Critical Thinking rubric to use instead of the school-wide one.  At the conclusion of three months, we had a rubric that was about three quarters done; we never finished it.  We, as an English department, are using the school-wide rubric this year.
            At its onset, the project seemed as if it would be successful.  Each member of the English department was excited about the notion of autonomy in developing our own assessment piece for a department.  We were also excited about being able to meet as a small group instead of as a large faculty unit.  We all bought in to the process we were preparing to undertake.
            The project to develop an English department Critical Thinking rubric tanked for a few reasons.  The first reason was that there was no clear leader to be a type of project manager.for the group.  Simply having a project manager to be able to keep the group organized.  Portny et al. (2008) state that having a project manager who can keep the group on track "dramatically increase(s) their chances of success (p. 6).
            Another reason we did not succeed in the project is that we had a lack of vision for how to accomplish the project objectives, and many weeks were spent repeating the same steps and conversations over and over again.  We had defined what our final deliverable should look like, but we skipped the next step, which Greer (2010) explains as determining tasks and phases (p. 17).  We did not bother to create any type of accountability charts or planning calendars to ensure that every piece of the rubric was generated so that it could be revised and then finalized.  Making that necessary step would have contributed more so to our success.
            A final reason is that the point in the school calendar when we began the project was an inopportune time for we English teachers.  Tenth grade was preparing for graduation qualifying exams.  AP Language and Literature was preparing for AP exams.  Twelfth grade was working on getting seniors ready to graduate.  In short, we were all busy with things which in reality took a greater precedent than completing a rubric which our employment statuses would not have been in jeopardy if we didn't finish.
            It would have been nice to have finished an English Critical Thinking rubric, but it did not happen.  That said, this year has been off to a solid start and with the first trimester ending next week, I can honestly say that I do not think this year would be going much differently if we had finished it.

References

Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your      

            projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, 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.