Ridge View Media’s Blog

Project Management and Getting Revisions Done

I get asked the question below a lot by managers, instructional designers, trainers/facilitators, and technical communicators at professional associations meetings and special interest groups:

“Jenise, how do you get your SMEs to read your drafts and then get back to you with their feedback? On time?

Good question. Is managing SMEs like herding cats?

I’m not promoting myself as an expert on this topic. I’m only going to share my opinion. In online forums, I’ve read for some years now how others try and “get” time with, and feedback from, their SMEs. Apart from herding cats, a few examples include:

-Yes, you can attend seminars on coaching skills, and learn to talk in a convincing manner with your SMEs.

-Yes, you can bribe your SMEs with donuts and chocolate-chip cookies.

-Yes, you can “sic” your manager on the SME’s manager (not that those two managers should be seen as fighting dogs, of course!) so that the SME is bullied into working with you.

What Works for Me

I respect the SMEs I work with as valued colleagues. And, I know they’re working under the watchful eyes of their manager (and everyone else above in the corporate food chain), and may have worse time constraints than I have. I try and have an initial and brief Project Scope meeting with both the SME and his/her manager. What results is a good conversation in the same room where the SME and the manager can “reshuffle” the SME’s time and priorities to help me get my job done.

I try and get invited to the project table early on in the life cycle. I meet with the project manager to explain how long it will take, approximately, to do my part of the bargain (documentation, training, etc.). I like project managers (been one myself), and they find out that my meeting is all about helping them, and the business, to be successful.

If I’m brought to the project table late in the game on a crunch project, my approach is still the same. In this case, I’ll explain to the project manager that we may need to negotiate some of the deliverables. Or, we may need to contract with freelancers to get the job done, and I offer to be the Lead.

Jenise, what if they won’t bring in contractors and they won’t negotiate the deliverables?

That depends on the project, and how long I’ll need to work under crunch mode. I value life and my loved ones. Once time is spent, you can never get it back. So, my answer to the above question depends on my going back to the project manager to re-negotiate deliverables. I’m a team player during crunch time, but if poor management and out-dated processes are the cause, I do speak up and suggest improvements. We spend enough time at work as it is! Poor management and processes need to be fixed.

Performance Planning

What works in many companies, though, is a true “Performance” organization. This means that the performance plan for the SME will include responsibilities and goals on working with cross-functional project team members. A truly enlightened organization will include measurable goals.

I prefer meeting with the SME and his/her manager because the performance-plan approach, although a good idea, could feel “punitive” to the SME if the plan is poorly written and s/he is not helping me meet my project targets. That’s when I have no choice but to say something to my manager or the SME’s manager, and the SME’s behavior is then treated as a declining performance issue.

My preference is that the performance plans be written to reward the SME not “punish”. The plan should encourage collaboration and team work. Incent the SME to work with me.

Hey, that rhymes! I’m a poet, didn’t know it. I’m “Always Learning”.

Photo Credits:

DrBacchus on Flickr, Cat Herders.

Wyscan on Flickr, Dog Fight.

Is exawstin >> LOLcats on I Can Has Cheezburger?.

RL Jenise Morphs into SL JayCee Galicia!

On 22 June 2008, I was born in Second Life. For the newbies out there, “RL” means Real Life and “SL” stands for Second Life. My avatar’s name is JayCee Galicia. JayCee, obviously, for my initials in RL, and Galicia from the list of 20 SL last names made available to me when I registered. Why did I choose Galicia? Well, it’s my favorite province in Spain. And, that’s another story for another post.

So, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you (drum roll….): JayCee Galicia!

The first Group I joined was the ASTD Forum, established by the American Society for Training and Development. Unfortunately, they get together during lunch hour Pacific Time, and I’m at work with no computer access to Second Life. One day, I may bring my laptop and go to Starbucks, or some place where I can WiFi into the ASTD Forum at noon to meet the Forum members.

Here’s JayCee Galicia in SL’s Welcome Island, the first sim a newly born avatar awakes in after registration and login are successful.

The blond avatar to the right mentored me through my first hour. He and his wife have a lovely sim that is now my home base. They are from British Columbia, Canada, and they run a business in Second Life:

Paektu 23, 117, 91 (Mature)
A Stained Glass: Antique Furniture Antiques Clothing

Rick Hudson and Candace Hudson are very warm, welcoming people. They host about 300 avatars total, mostly newbies, and they do not allow role plays. If you teleport to their location, you must be who you are in RL. Below, you see me in front of a blazing fireplace with an inspiring view of the … Canadian Rockies?

Why Am I in Second Life?

Because I want to see what professionals from both the academic and the corporate sides of the learning world are doing in a virtual world. Training (Learning) is going on in Second Life, and I want to experience it. Why? Because I believe that one day, I will be facilitating a learning event inside a virtual world. Others are doing it, and I want to give it a try as well.

Why? Well, as my blog’s tag line says: I’m “Always Learning”, and I want to keep up with the learning world!

(Besides, it’s a ton of fun! I can FLY in Second Life, er, I mean, JayCee Galicia can fly!)

If you are in Second Life, please add me as a Friend.

For the ultra-newbies, to learn more, visit:

www.SecondLife.com; see also www.LindenLabs.com

Update - Later the Next Day….

Karl Kapp, who’s in my Blogroll, keeps his pulse on Second Life, other virtual worlds, and how organizations in both the public and private sector are training their learners successfully “in world”. Please visit his post: Practice Makes Perfect in Virtual World (27 June 2008).

Another SL Resource (7/9/2008)

Through Karl’s kind comment below, I followed the link to SL Trip Tips, a great “in world” resource!

More to come on SL in future posts!

I am Librarian, I am Avatar
Well, wow! I don’t remember librarians at school looking like these who inhabit Second Life (SL)!

Seriously, even though this is not a video but a Slideshare.com presentation, I was very impressed by it.

Bernadette Daly Swanson, a Librarian at the University of California at Davis, has published an engaging and informative presentation on how academic and public libraries effectively use SL. (Her faculty page.)

Take a look at her presentation….

| View | Upload your own

Confession & Who’s Having Fun Now
When I was in high school, and even through my undergraduate college years, I wanted to be a university librarian. I was young and single, then. People discouraged me from that career choice. They told me the job didn’t pay well, and that librarians didn’t have much fun.

“Who wants to check out an encyclopedia?” they’d say, hinting that I wouldn’t get asked out on dates if I was a Librarian. I didn’t want to be perceived as a walking encyclopedia back then.

Well, from my current vantage point of a non-Web 2.0 and non-elearning 2.0, traditional corporate training department sitting behind a firewall fortress, with regulatory and network security folks constantly on watch….Bernadette and her fellow librarian avatars are having a ton more e-learning 2.0 fun than I am!

Hmmm…but, according to her presentation, the research indicates that all learning professionals will be involved in SL in the near future. I look forward to that day, as long as the learners actually learn. But, I’m not going to wait until I get the official mandate.

It’s Time for SL
It’s time I visit SL despite my full schedule. Why? Bernadette’s presentation has kicked me over the edge out of complacency because, as a Librarian, she’s having way more educational fun than I am in my somewhat traditional, corporate world. (I coulda been a Librarian; look at what I’m missing out on!)

And, like Bernadette, because I believe that SL will be a part of the general training world sooner than the regulators and network security folks might want. The needs of the business and of the learners will require it. As blended learning begins to replace first-generation e-learning, I believe SL will replace Webinars. So, good-bye WebEx, Citrix, Adobe Connect…hello Second Life (or a behind-the-firewall, purchased version)!

That means I need to prepare myself to gain the skills and tools I’ll need to be a virtual-world facilitator.

Besides, we’ll all have nice physiques like the Librarians’ avatars without going to the gym!

Note: I haven’t researched the Librarian career field lately. Just for fun, I went to Flickr.com to try and find a photo of a fuddy-duddy librarian. Ohmygosh how things have changed!

21st Century Librarians on Flickr.com

Sigh. They are having way too much fun. At least I’m “Always Learning”!

Update! Alternatives to Second Life

Look what Karl Kapp has posted on his blog…a list of “behind-the-firewall” virtual world companies! Woo-hoo!

http://karlkapp.blogspot.com/2008/06/alternatives-to-second-life.html

Thanks, Karl! I am also adding you to my Blogroll.

Wow, Another Update!

And, I just found Dr. Tony Karrer’s post on SL videos that show you how others use SL for their learning activities. I can’t wait for the weekend!

http://elearningtech.blogspot.com/2008/06/second-life-learning-videos.html

Instructional Systems Design Education | The Frugal Way

Gas prices for regular grade (87) at my local Costco are rising close to $4.70-9/10…well, as of today. And, everyone talks about rising fuel costs just like people talked about rising real estate prices during 2004-2006.

As fuel costs rise, the cost for anything and everything increases. Neighbors and coworkers are cutting back to the bare bones. For some families, it’s really, really tough as there’s too much month at the end of the money. What’s ironic is that now it’s common to share with others what you’ve cut out of your household budget. A few, random selections I’ve heard are:

“Oh yeah, we’ve cut out HBO and Showtime from our cable service.”

“I just canceled the pest control service.”

“We’ve changed newspaper delivery from 7 days to just Sundays, now. During the week, we’ll just read articles online.”

“We’ve started a vegetable garden in our backyard! Want some of my extra tomatoes?”

Limited Money for School

While we weather (and adjust to) the current economic situation, some of us are putting off getting certificates or degrees in online instructional systems design. However, I see an opportunity in all of this! Some weeks ago, I read a blog post on whether it’s really “worth it” to get an advanced degree in ISD.

Cammy Bean and Dr. John H. Curry had several friendly exchanges about this at his blog Effective Design.org Like Cammy, I have learned a great deal on the job and from talented mentors. Now, the fun part comes after you’ve read Dr. John Curry’s entire post. Look at the link near the bottom. See it? An “Aha!” moment! The link says:

My Personal Challenge

What a great list of resources! “Dr. John’s” and Cammy’s exchange has inspired me. For the past year, I’ve been thinking of getting my M.A. in EduTech, and I believe I will one day. As a former Adjunct Professor in the Community College district, I support academia whole heartedly. Until then, however, I am going nurture our household budget during these economic times and start on my “formal” ISD education the frugal way.

Thanks to the Internet and our wonderful community of online ISD bloggers, you and I can start our self-study ISD education at any time! The challenge for me will be to schedule the time and “git ‘er done”.

The “Free ISD” Series (Sharing It with You)

So, there. Now I’ve done it. This inaugural post begins a series where I will post the ISD/EduTech resources that I find. It will also serve as my journal to document my progress (or, lack there of!). Will you join me? Want to be a fellow learner or my mentor? I hope so. A graduation party by myself would be kind of lonely.

Yes, I’m “Always Learning”!

Photo credits (under Creative Commons license):

AgentAkit for “Arm/Leg”

Goodimages for “Graduation Ceremony Procession”

We had a surprise visit from family over the weekend, so my WordPress upgrade to 2.5 is temporarily postponed.

For my RSS audience of two, Tom and Scott, let me give you a wonderful and inspirational gift:

The Instructional Technology Council’s 2008 e-Learning Student of the Year (grab some tissues, seriously), Pamela Himmel:

 http://4.79.18.250/file.php?file=/1/PamelaHimmel.htm