EDUCAUSE | Project Management

E07 Podcast: Improving IT Governance Through Formal Change Management

kellywalker — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:31:15 -0600

This 24-minute podcast recorded during the EDUCAUSE 2007 Annual Conference features Danny Smith, Senior Director IT Services, Marquette University speaking on Improving IT Governance Through Formal Change Management.

The session abstract:

Changes to complex systems require careful planning and coordination to ensure additional incidents are not created in the production environment. This presentation will detail how Marquette University implemented ITIL-based change management to stabilize the infrastructure, gain visibility of work, and comply with financial audits.

E07 Podcast: IT Project Management Methodology - How Much Is Too Much? It Depends!

kellywalker — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:51:34 -0600

This 25-minute podcast recorded during the EDUCAUSE 2007 Annual Conference features David B. Allen, Assistant Director, Applications and Architecture, University of Rochester and Doug Ryan, Project Manager, University of Rochester speaking on IT Project Management Methodology: How Much Is Too Much? It Depends!

The session abstract:

With focus from leadership and commitment across IT, the University of Rochester has developed and implemented a flexible project management strategy. It helps align projects into manageable programs that support the university's strategic mission. This presentation will highlight the development process, challenges, and implementation of a successful project management methodology.

E07 Podcast: Wiki and Project Management

kellywalker — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 12:56:25 -0600

This 41-minute podcast recorded during the EDUCAUSE 2007 Annual Conference features Geoffrey Corb, Senior Director, Student Information Systems, The Johns Hopkins University and Stephen Hellen, Project Manager, The Johns Hopkins University speaking on Wiki and Project Management.

The session abstract:

This session will introduce wiki concepts and explore their use in project management and in supporting IT systems in higher education. JHU's implementation of a new student information system extensively uses an enterprise wiki, which will be highlighted, along with use cases, examples, and lessons learned.

What comes first: business or technology?

smiltenb — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 15:55:02 -0500

For many years technology projects at MICA followed a simple formula: implement tools and services and then get people interesting in using them to improve business. This approach worked pretty well for us -- as a small, private visual arts college. People on our campus really respond to things they can see and experience -- particularly when it comes to technology. So building or upgrading a system first and then showing that what it could provide was an effective approach.

But now we are victims of our own success. We became so adept at our old "build it and they will come" methodology that we ocassionally trip over ourselves as we try to embrace the MICA Connected approach. One of the great refrains of MICA Connected came from someone in our HR office who, after working here for several years, attend her first Oracle/PeopleSoft Higher Ed User Group conference. When she got back exclaimed, "It just makes so much sense: first you have to get your business straight, then you get the technology to help you do it better".

While the model of putting business before technology is spreading like wildfire throughout MIculture we still easily slip back into our old model. A great debate is going on within our department as we try to formalize a process for delivering improved systems for faculty. Some believe that we need to have something to show faculty and staff so that they can get on board. Others think that we need to do our homework first -- to talk with faculty about the business requirements and then model technology to meet them.

Old habits are hard to break -- and maybe there are some times when they still serve us well. What about other institutions -- do you have good models for putting technology first? Or successful models for putting business first?

Tackling the Weird and the Wonderful: A Process For Ingesting New Client-Initiated Projects

khascall — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 19:27:01 -0500

I spent some time today chatting with a colleague about the process we've been following for what might be called "project ingest" -- specifically, when non-IT groups or individuals come to you and say "I have an idea!"....what's next?

I'm in an Academic Technologies department -- I run our projects group. We get some weird and wonderful stuff, filled with unknowns -- so a flexible and creative process that still qualifies as a process is particularly important. Before these get to me, they pass through some kind of filter -- sometimes, the filter is just "the Senior Director says 'Help this person!'", and sometimes, the filter is a group we call START. They support our course management system, and help faculty with short-term projects, particularly ones that can be fulfilled with existing off the shelf products. If we already have something that fulfills most of what they need, they try to fill it that way.

But if not...well, that's where things get interesting :). 3D Modeling? Custom programming? Experiment with a new software package for teaching? Weird new multimedia installation? Innovative technology extravaganza? Hm..........let's talk.

Step 1: Consulting. I usually estimate this as 3 hours per project per quarter. We offer this with no promise of providing anything more, and we write a report on that meeting, as well as any follow-up we agreed to do, from a purely neutral point of view. This is for information only -- it will be useful to us if we do the project, but it may also end up in the hands of another IT group, a funding agency, etc. Some important parts of the consulting report are:

    The Project: describe what the person wants to do, as you understand it, with all the components you think are required.
    Next Steps: what's to be done next -- broad issues to be addressed, preferably ones that came out in the course of the discussion.
    Additional notes & considerations: thoughts, observations, specific issues, small areas of follow-up that you committed to.

I think the best way to do any kind of consulting is to go to the faculty office or the conference room nearest to the staff or students you'll be working with. It can be a little inconvenient, especially if you're going with a team, but I think it says something important when someone in "Central IT" with a capital C makes it a point to get out of their office and stump across campus to the place the clients live. I think it makes the person more comfortable, and thus more able to communicate with you. If there are materials they want to show you or another person who should have been included, then they're sure to be on hand rather than accidentally left behind. I also make it a point at the end to try to open the door to anything else that might be on their mind with respect to central IT. They've got me in the room -- are there any nagging issues I might be able to help with? Things that bother them or other feedback on services?

In this stage, it's important to really listen to the faculty/student/staff member -- and to resist the urge to offer a specific solution to the problem. Ask questions and make observations, but don't quote any prices, or commit to a role in the project. I have a hard time holding back my impulse to Do The Thing Now....but thanks to my Senior Director, I'm learning :)

Step 2: Tech Feasibility Study.

If appropriate, we may offer to do a technical feasibility study. This is a focused bit of research into a particular technical question, and may include anything from a few paragraphs of analysis to a package of demonstration code. We report on this effort and share our results. This study may also result in the production of a white paper.

Step 3: Statement of Work and Project Estimate.

This describes everything we're going to do, and how much it will cost. Even if you're not going to charge for the service, it should quote your rates -- that way they know what you're giving them, and if you need to justify anything later, you have a basis for it.

This is a negotiated contract, based on the consulting you've done, and this is where the committment and the specifics start to play a role. Once you've done 1&2, this part is fairly straightforward.

Step 4: Service Level Agreement.

This part is new territory for us. In the past, we've described our scenario as "best effort" -- we have this much staff, and they'll work very hard for you if something goes wrong, but if you need someone to carry a pager 24/7, we need to bring the data center into the mix. Increasingly, however, we're feeling the need to quantify that "best effort" a little more tightly. I'm part of a central IT working group which is working on defining our approach to SLAs.

So, that's what I have so far. I'll probably modify this in the future, and perhaps add some links to samples. Comments? What's your project ingest process? Hm, that sounds like a name for a punk band -- put your hands together, people, it's the Project Ingest Process! (Yawwwwwwr!)

EDUCAUSE2006 Podcast: Developing Project Managers

Carie417 — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 09:17:15 -0600

In this 47-minute recording from the 2006 EDUCAUSE Annual Conference, we'll hear from Jane Bachand, Amy Baker, Pamela Heath-Johnston & Deborah Lauriano in a session entitled Developing COllaborative Project Managers in IT. They share the steps they've taken to change from a traditional organization of technical project managers to an organization with well-rounded project managers who have additional leadership, administrative, analytical, interpersonal, and organizational skills.

Communication Tools: the Whole Enchilada

smiltenb — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 21:30:09 -0600

Thanks to everyone who gave me feedback on project communication tools! As
we have been researching tools and recommendations, the institutional needs
for these systems has started growing. In addition to project management we
are wondering about how collaboration tools can also meet communication
needs within our department:

as a repository for documentation (how to install...)
to provide an overview of what is going on in the department (this
week...this month)
as a place where all the bits of information can be brought together into
a big snapshot

I have no expectations that technology will provide us with the sole
solution to improving communication and workflow, but I¹d really like to
hear more ideas and stories about how other institutions are effectively
using collaboration applications. We narrowed down our list of possible
solutions to four: mediaWiki, drupal, typepad and Teams.

And since drupal consolidates many kinds of content (wiki, blog, RSS, etc.)
we felt that it was the product most worth looking at. Yeah...simple,
right?

One of our graduate students did most of the initial research into
the applications and he presented his findings to some members of the
department who lead academic technology and some who lead administrative
technology. We started zinging ideas and brainstorms until we happened upon
the real solution: we want the whole enchilada.

We want tools that help us improve intra-departmental communication, manage
open-ended projects and communicate with those outside our institution. And
while we¹re at it, can¹t this same system be used for distance learning and
course management? Can¹t we have galleries of student work, class lectures
from instructors and course reminders?

Oh yeah, and we want to be mostly free and standards based and EASY to use.

Spang Bovey
(http://connect.educause.edu/blog/nspang/lms_vs_social_software/2540) and
William Allen (http://connect.educause.edu/blog/wallen/end_of_lms/16635)
have interesting posts about the future (or not) of LMS systems. We have
decided to take a divide and conquer approach < I will spend a bit more time
with drupal and see if it meets our needs (with a focus on communication,
collaboration and project sharing) and my academic counterpart will spend
time with moodle and other systems to see what they might offer.

Thoughts, experiences, warnings and insights much appreciated!

2007 NERCOMP Annual Conference Program to Focus on Community and Collaborations

cluckett — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 12:49:50 -0600

The 2007 NERCOMP Annual Conference, “Connections, Collaborations, and Community,” will be held March 19–21, in Worcester, Massachusetts. View the program and register by February 26 to save money with low, early-bird rates.The conference will focus on the following topic areas:

Enterprise Services and Administrative Systems
Leadership, Planning, and Organizational Development
Library and Research Initiatives
Policy, Regulations, and Security
Technology for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment
Technology Support
Corporate and Campus Solutions

The two keynote speakers are:

Charles M. Vest, President Emeritus, MIT
Brewster Kahle, Director and Cofounder, Digital Librarian, and Chairman of the Board, Internet Archive

In-depth, half-day preconference seminars will spotlight project management, teaching and learning and social computing, learning space design, and career development strategies.

ISO Project communication tools

smiltenb — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 21:01:29 -0600

For the past two weeks I've been trying to identify and assess web based applications that would meet several needs within the broad umbrella of project communication/management:

provide a quick overview of what's happening on a given project
have a component that could be used for documentation
be multi-layered (a public component available without login; a private component for authenticated users only)
provide distribution components (RSS...)
standards based
has a simple and easy-to-use interface
hosted externally or internally
provide multiple views of content (via tagging, grouping...)

I've been surprised at how hard it has been to find an application that meets many of these needs.

I've been playing with SharePoint for a few months but feel that the learning curve to make it an effective and organic tool is significant. Basecamp is a bit too simple. I entertained the idea (suggested by our brilliant Director of Administrative Systems, Ted Simpson) of using Educause Connect (but it lacks the overview and cohesive functions we're looking for).
A straight-up wiki application might be the closest thing I've found; yet something is missing (perhaps the calendar/overview features). I have the feeling that the solution is much simpler and more obvious than is apparent to me.

This is a request for your ideas and suggestions about good solutions for web based project tools.

Resistance is...a good thing

smiltenb — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 18:07:29 -0600

I went for a bike ride on Saturday and it was a particularly windy day in Baltimore -- gusts between 18-22 mph. The way to ride in the wind is to lean into the gust in order to keep yourself upright (and to keep from getting blow across the road). Of course you have to be a bit careful -- as soon as the blast lets up continuing to lean (into the calm) may make you swerve into traffic or someone's mailbox.

Until two years ago I was convinced that riding in the wind was superior to riding in the hills. An epiphany occured after a time trial on the eastern shore of Maryland where the roads are pancake flat but the wind whips all around the course. I realized that hills have definite beginnings and ends and the wind does not. It keeps right on whipping your face or sides -- and you never know when it might start up again (or when it might end). Unlike climbing, there is no way to plan for recovery.

Riding in the wind, much like riding the hills, does make you stronger (just ask Lance Armstrong). And it was during my windy ride on Saturday -- as I was leaning into a gust on a downhill -- that I realized the resistance of wind is really no different that the resistance I've encountered leading technolgy initiatives at my institution.

MICA is just begining a multi-year technology iniative that encompasses web applications; our administrative systems and academic programs. In many respects, I consider this project to be a complete re-invention of how we do business (from paying bills to educating students). And while it's absolutey thrilling to be leading many of these objectives, I know there will be resistance along the way. In fact, there's been plenty of resistance just getting to the point of making an institutional commitment. And successful navigation through this resistance to change has required a bit of leaning toward the reluctance in order to get through it. In fact, accepting and embracing the resistance has been critical to getting buy-in and support.

When you're riding through the wind on a bike you can choose to accept it as a part of the experience and work with it; or you can fight it the entire way. During that time trial on the eastern shore, I fought the wind for 40 km and not only did I have a horrible finish, it was the most exhausting race. Facing fear and resistance with technology initiatives is no different.

Constant (and repeated) efforts to try to change the opposition are much like spinning your pedals and only going inches. Acknowledging the unwillingness to embrace a change provides some resistance in the gears and actually allows you to gain ground. As project leaders and innovators in our communities we need to lean on resistance and use it to sure us up. By leaning with those who are most reluctant we begin to help them move toward accepting change. And when they begin to accept change you are in for a great ride -- the wind disappears and suddenly you effortlessly move full speed ahead.

Each time we move with the resistance we get stronger. And our institutions become stronger. And that's a really good thing because there is bound to be another windy day.