Risk,  Communication  &  Change  Management  

eLearning  Project  Management  

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     Michael  M.  Grant  2011  

Risk  Management  

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Risk  defined  …  an  uncertain  event  or  condition  that,  if  it  occurs,  has  an  effect  on  at  least  one  project  objective.  

—  from  PMBOK  

Identify  potential  risks  

Ê  Reviews  of  previous  projects  &  project  documentation  

Ê  Brainstorming  

Ê  Interviews  with  stakeholders  

Ê  SWOT  analysis  

Assess  potential  risks  

Probability  

Impa

ct  

1   3   5  

1  

3  

5  

Probability  x  Impact  =  Risk  

Ê Probability  of  3  x  Impact  of  5  =  Risk  of  15  

Response  to  Risks  

Transfer  

Avoidance   Mitigation  

Acceptance  

Rank  the  risks  

Ê Rank  the  risks  in  order  of  severity  

Ê This  also  represents  the  order  in  which  you  will  need  to  monitor  the  risk,  such  as  through  allocating  resources  or  changing  the  project  plan  to  manage  the  risk.  

See  page  51  in  Lynch  &  Roecker  (2007)  for  presenting  the  risk  management  plan.  

Communications  Management  

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Communications  Management  Plan  

The  communications  plan  describes  the  strategy  for  keeping  the  project’s  stakeholders  sufficiently  informed  to  avoid  any  disappointment  regarding  cost,  schedule,  or  quality  (Verzuh,  2008).  

The  plan  identifies  what  kinds  of  information  will  be  distributed  to  which  stakeholders  (Schwalbe,  2010).  

Sample  Plan  Stakeholder   Type  of  

information  needed  

Medium   Frequency   Response  required  

Sponsor  Name   1.  Document  reviews   Email   As  produced   Edits  &  approval  

2.  Project  updates   Blog  posts   Weekly  

Client  Name   1.     Hard  copy   Monthly  

2.    

3.  Etc.  

Adapted  from  Lynch  &  Roecker  (2007),  Schwalbe  (2010),  &  Verzuh  (2008)  

For  more  complex  plans,  you  may  also  have  space  for  …  

Ê Contact  persons  

Ê Emails,  phone  numbers  

Ê Who  will  produce  the  information  

Change  Management  

Image  from  swisscan  at  http://www.flickr.com/photos/7578081@N07/2111488572  

Image  from  http://www.alltechnicalfaqs.com/2010/12/cost-­‐risk-­‐and-­‐other-­‐paramaters-­‐over.html  

Changes  over  the  life  of  a  project  

Change  Request  Form  

Identifies:  

Ê  Date  of  the  request  

Ê  Name  of  person  making  request  

Ê  Description  of  the  change  

Ê  Reason  for  requested  change  

Ê  Effect  of  change  on  cost  &  schedule  

Ê  Whether  the  change  was  accepted  or  not  

Change  Management  Plan  

Ê  Describes  the  process  that  will  be  followed  when  requests  for  changes  are  received  or  identified.  

Ê  May  involve  a  change  request  form,  a  change  management  log/record,  and  possibly  a  change  control  board.  

Change  Management  Log  

Identifies:    

Ê  The  change  

Ê  The  tasks,  processes,  and  resources  affected  

Ê  The  proposed  implementation  date  

Ê  Status  of  change  

Adapted  from  Sheen  (2009-­‐2010)  

References  

Ê  Kloppenborg,  T.J.  (2008).  Contemporary  project  management.  Mason,  OH:  South-­‐Western  Cengage  Learning.  

Ê  Lynch,  M.M.  &  Roecker,  J.  (2007).  Project  managing  e-­‐learning:  A  handbook  for  successful  design,  delivery  and  management.  New  York:  Routledge.  

Ê  Schwalbe,  K.  (2010).  Information  technology  project  management  (6th  ed.).  Boston,  MA:  Cengage  Course  Technology.  

Ê  Sheen,  R.  (2009-­‐2010).  Project  risk  management  tools  &  techniques.  Retrieved  February  4,  2010  at  http://www.projectmanagementguru.com/risk.html  

Ê  Verzuh,  E.  (2008).  The  fast  forward  MBA  in  project  management  (3rd  Ed.).  Hoboken,  NJ:  Wiley.  

Ê  All  images  from  swisscan  at  http://www.flickr.com/photos/swisscan/  

     

Michael  M.  Grant  2011