Fail to Plan – Plan to Fail
Mayberry suggests that instructional designers “examine what you need to do to avoid project pitfalls and keep all systems on track.” (Mayberry, 2004). With this in mind, he suggests that one looks at the project management basics, project constraints, and realities of project management.
When looking at the project management basics, having effective management yields a number of benefits. Clear feedback and direction, a plan that provides direction, performance feedback and status reports are benefits that are gained by effective project management. Project constraints must always be considered. The three major constraints are the scope – what they are wanting delivered, time, and available resources. Finally, the realities of project management need to be considered. There are a few realities that must be looked at with the management of online learning development these realities are customer expectations are critical to the success of your project, team members may not always work well as a team, and online learning materials are developed within an unstable environment.
Mayberry suggests that if this is a new task for you it may be overwhelming, but if you keep these ideas in mind it will help you understand the big picture better. He closes by stating “You're on the road to project management success if you remember the basics: deliver on time, to scope, and within budget—and if your team will work with you in the future.” (Mayberry, 2004)
As one looks at the concepts and ideas presented in this article, it makes a lot of sense. Whenever looking at the creation of any project, having a plan that is well thought out is critical. As I look at the planning that is done at the school that I teach at along with the organization and planning that is done within organizations that I am involved in, you can tell who has planned things out and who has not. Having a plan that is well thought out is critical. Teachers that have a Plan A and have no problems with this may do a great job on that lesson, but if they do not have a Plan B and something does not go as planned have difficulties.
Whenever one is planning a project, one must always look at all the components. Items that are not always thought about such as what resources are you going to have available – not just physical resources, but also financial resources – are important. Making sure that everything is planned out is very important. If people are not willing to take the time to plan out everything and ask the “what if” questions in order to create a Plan B, then the creators are failing to plan effectively and there is a very good chance that there will be a problem.
Having worked with several different teachers and administrators, it is always interesting to see who has a Plan B in case there are problems and who doesn’t. I know some of my current administrators are ones that usually have a Plan B, but it is only because they have had experiences where things that were planned did not work out as they had planned and they have learned from the experience. However, we should not be doing this with our students and programs. We should look at things and try to discover all or as many problems as possible before we put the programs out for our students to try. By doing this, we will have a higher success rate and it will be a more enjoyable process for all.
Mayberry, E (2004). Fail to plan - plan to fail. Retrieved October 16, 2008, from ASTD Web site: http://www.astd.org/LC/2004/0704_mayberry.htm