Pondering the idea of scope creep in an instructional design
project can sometimes be a subtle, almost elusive concept that emerges itself
at an inopportune time, usually met with confrontation or disagreement. I liken the scenario to a tidal wave, whereby
the scope like the wave, gradually gets larger and larger as it makes it way
toward land or towards the finished end-product. However, scope much like the tidal wave,
should have been seen from afar and everyone on land or in the project, should
have heeded the warning signs. But alas,
it is too late and the wave comes toppling down over you and the project demands
and workload become too cumbersome or costly.
It
should not be this way if the instructional design project manager is heeding
the warning signs and the small ripples in the water, miles off shore. Sometimes however, even our best efforts
cannot eliminate the inevitable likelihood of the creep monster. I recall a project almost a year ago when the
internal client demanded a training package for skill development, but was not
very clear on what sort of instructional materials were best suited for the
task at hand. We presented what we traditionally
create for skill development, and immediately it was approved. There was a significant variable not
accounted for just yet, and it was timing or a completion date. We were given a general, not later than date
but were told that it might move in either direction. This was problematic because the design
function was working towards a mythical and almost inevitable moving target. In
the end, the date changed and almost immediately conflict arose.
We had proposed from the onset a resource, effort, and duration estimate similar to Greer’s (2010) sample effort/duration table (Greer, 2010, Pg. 21). However, once the timelines were condensed we immediately had a scope outside our capability to complete. The internal client however, did not necessarily understand or care what our original estimates meant. It just needed to be done, and if it meant lessening quality of the instructional materials, so be it. This is an all too common approach faced in my current instructional design world. Can you lessen the deliverables, scale back on quality, and give us something that is still similar to training? Wait, this is about scope creep, correct? How is this scope creep? In the end, lessening quality did not help us. Timetables were so condensed.
We had proposed from the onset a resource, effort, and duration estimate similar to Greer’s (2010) sample effort/duration table (Greer, 2010, Pg. 21). However, once the timelines were condensed we immediately had a scope outside our capability to complete. The internal client however, did not necessarily understand or care what our original estimates meant. It just needed to be done, and if it meant lessening quality of the instructional materials, so be it. This is an all too common approach faced in my current instructional design world. Can you lessen the deliverables, scale back on quality, and give us something that is still similar to training? Wait, this is about scope creep, correct? How is this scope creep? In the end, lessening quality did not help us. Timetables were so condensed.
The lesson
I took from this, and as it applies to scope creep, is that the earthquake
hundreds of miles off shore may take place.
If it does, it will create the tidal wave. When the tidal wave comes, what contingencies
do you have in place, and does the client know how or if they will effect the
final deliverables? In this case, I did
not thoroughly explain how the original estimates might be affected if the
earthquake happens and the tidal wave ensues.
I end
with an all to relevant Dilbert comic relief reminder http://dilbert.com/strip/2006-11-17
References
Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.
Greer, M. (2010). The project management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.
