Archives: Projects

(This was originally published on Optimal Partners’ blog.)

In our first segment of the How to Migrate to An Online LMS (Learning Management System) series, we gave a general overview of the project, covering the three main stages: planning, configuration and deployment. You may want to read through it first, because it will help you get a better grasp on the “big picture” before delving into the specifics. Our last entry discussed the steps for preparing for your migration, while this article will go into more detail on the configuration stage of implementing a new LMS—ranging from establishing what kinds of courses are offered to how to respond to initial testing feedback. Hopefully, this series will leave you with some of the tools needed to deliver a valuable product to your organization.

Migration Preparation

You should have an idea of how your courses will look early on

Before any data can be migrated over to your new LMS, you will need to configure it to meet the specific needs of your institution. In terms of course data, you’ll need to determine how your catalog will be structured, what types of courses will be offered, and how they relate to one another. You should have an idea of how your courses will look early on, even if you must wait until data is available in the new system to configure. A useful technique is to create templates to help make the migration process easier and aid with the development of new classes.

You will also need a plan for your users’ profile information before attempting to transfer it to your new LMS. Establish how your LMS will interact with your Student Information System (SIS), what data your students’ profiles will include, and how you’ll extract that data from the SIS. Keep in mind, the LMS will also draw information from other systems for faculty and university staff profiles, which may also need to be configured. Once user profile templates are established, you should look into what types of access each user is allowed—Instructional Design staff will most likely have more access to functionality than faculty, and faculty will have more access than students. How your LMS deals with security and authorization may need to be decided early on as well; determine who will have the authorization to make changes, who can see, and who can interact with specific content.

Online LMS’s often integrate with many different instructional tools, which may each need their own configuration before going live. Depending on your institution, Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) technologies will likely need to be set up, so that students can leverage additional features not delivered by a vanilla LMS. In many cases, reporting tools are already configured in line with universities’ needs. In the case that they aren’t, or that your institution’s standards don’t match those of your vendor, you’ll need to adjust them as well.

Remember to work closely with your vendor and instructional design experts throughout this stage of the project

The initial configuration process will take time, and it may be difficult to make decisions based on requirements that can change at a moment’s notice, but preparing for the configuration will help your project immensely in the long run. Remember to work closely with your vendor and instructional design experts throughout this stage of the project to guarantee that your institution’s needs are being met. A Steering Committee, including faculty and university staff, should also be consulted when making major decisions. Schedule weekly core team meetings to confirm that your chosen configuration options work well and don’t conflict with each other. Once you’ve decided how your new online LMS will operate and how it should be configured, it’s time to begin the migration process.

Migrating Into the New System

Approaching the migration of data into your new LMS in steps is paramount to the success of your project. Instead of trying to send everything over to the new system at once, start off by transferring a small set of information, then testing to ensure that the LMS works correctly. Make sure that the data you use to test the system doesn’t require other specific information to function properly. Once you’re certain that the new system works, you can migrate over the rest of the data, keeping an eye out for any issues that may arise and dealing with them as they occur. In addition, it’s also very important to verify with your vendor that they have a robust disaster recovery plan, just in case anything goes wrong. If you’re hosting your data on-site, then it’s up to you to confirm that there is an appropriate backup infrastructure in place.

Testing and Feedback

Your QA team needs to sign off on any resolved issues before transitioning into user acceptance testing

Congratulations! You now have a functional online LMS configured to your organization’s needs, but the job’s not done just yet. Your team is going to need to test your new LMS extensively before going live. The first step is to create a thorough list of functionality for your project team to test. Next comes the initial testing phase, where your team makes sure everything works properly. Once your team discovers a problem, you should document the issue thoroughly, prioritize it, attempt to resolve it, and then test to guarantee that it is resolved. Your prioritization should be based on the probability with which the problem will occur and the impact it may have on the user experience. Your QA team needs to sign off on any resolved issues before transitioning into user acceptance testing (UAT). There will be many different types of end users for this project, including students, faculty, and university staff, making UAT incredibly important. After testing is complete and you are ready to move into production, it’s best to open up the system to a group of pilot users, to give it a final look before doing a full go-live. Incorporating as many of your team members into testing and making sure each type of user is represented will guarantee that your transition to support goes off without a hitch.

Onto the Deployment Stage

Now that you’ve migrated your data into your new online LMS and tested it extensively, you are ready to migrate to production. Part four of this series will explain in-depth how to go live with your new LMS, train faculty and staff on how to use the new system, and transition to support.

(This article was originally published on Optimal Partners’ blog. Special thanks to Chris Frias, a project manager from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, for assistance on this piece.)

The construction of new offices and the remodeling of older ones is a large part of the yearly upkeep of Higher Ed IT. Spaces need to be redesigned around new technological requirements, and new construction needs to fit in comfortably with already established infrastructure. There’s a lot to consider on a project of this scale: not only do you need to focus on your organization’s needs, but also on what’s already installed in the surrounding space, and how your implementation will be future-proofed to avoid extra costs to your institution down the line. Luckily, there are a few key things to consider when constructing office space in a Higher Ed IT environment that will help ensure the success of your project and the longevity of your spaces.

10. Retain a Balance Between Private & Public Office Space

Not every priority in a Higher Ed IT project is necessarily technological; sometimes the psychological benefits of your product are as important as its functional benefits. This is especially true when constructing office space, where university staff and administration spend a majority of their time. If your offices primarily serve to promote privacy, then you may stifle collaboration and social behavior, but if you mostly provide public workspace, you make it difficult for the office workers to focus on their own tasks. Higher Ed is very collaborative in nature, especially when compared to some corporate environments, so it’s important to strike a balance between public and private office space to ensure the happiness and effectiveness of your institution’s staff.

9. Guarantee You Have Enough Electrical Capacity For Your Project

It may seem like a no-brainer to ensure that your institution has the electrical capacity for your new installations or remodeling plans, but it can be easy to overlook. More electrical capacity is required to compensate for an ever-increasing reliance on electronics, the discovery of more optimal storage procedures, which lead to more devices stored in smaller spaces, and the creation of new technological devices for Higher Ed IT. Before you can worry about power conditioning or grounding, you need to ensure that your institution and any electrical generators it relies on are outfitted to deal with the increased electrical requirements your project will bring.

8. Identify All Use Cases for Connectivity Before Beginning Construction

While most Higher Ed office workers will use a specific type of connectivity in their day-to-day work, it’s important to identify the range of connectivity that your project will require before starting your implementation. Your offices will need wired and wireless access to the internet. You may also need dedicated network connections from data centers or cloud-service providers. Covering all of your bases in terms of connectivity will help you create a project plan to meet those requirements, which is much easier than having to change your project as new requirements arise.

7. Set Up A Wireless Access Point For Every 30 People

A good rule of thumb is to install a wireless access point for every thirty people working in a dense office environment.

Although wired internet connections are much more reliable for desktop computers, wireless access should still be considered for your project, especially if your offices are housed on campus. One wireless access point alone will not suffice to serve an entire office, however. A good rule of thumb is to install a wireless access point for every thirty people working in a dense office environment. If your office building is near a place where students, faculty or staff congregate, consider installing wireless access points outside of your building, so they can service the immediate surrounding area as well.

6. Install Dedicated Circuits & UPS Units for Specific Devices

Dedicated circuits and UPS units serve to guarantee that reliable power is supplied to specific devices in your office while also protecting them from any potentially damaging complications due to shared circuits or sudden power surges. Not every piece of technology will require these precautions, but it is worth investing the time and money to protect your office’s computers, servers, and other expensive devices that may hold valuable data. Planning for these specific precautions ahead of time helps you to avoid going back and installing them after your equipment is in place.

5. Secure As-builts to Help with Future Projects & Troubleshooting

As-builts are a series of documents that record any changes and revisions to your facility by contractors who worked on previous projects. It’s important to secure as-builts that relate to your project, especially from your low-voltage installer, to ensure that any future moves or installations are based on up-to-date specifications. As-builts also help when troubleshooting any issues that arise during your project, by helping you figure out whether a problem is due to prior changes or related to your project. You wouldn’t expect a doctor to operate on someone without knowing their medical history, and similarly, you shouldn’t be expected to remodel an office without knowing what changes others have made to it in the past.

4. A Wireless Lighting Control System Can Save Money & Add Flexibility

Wired connections are often favored over wireless for their improved reliability, but wireless technology is advancing to a point where it can be very useful in specific contexts. For example, your lighting control system can benefit greatly from being wireless, as it’s often less expensive to install than a wired system. Once the system is installed, wireless lighting can be easier to work with. Depending on your specific system, it may also allow for remote monitoring and centralized control. Some systems even let you monitor individual fixtures, so you can keep tabs on which units need replacing, rather than waiting for something to go wrong. The added flexibility that a wireless system affords you during and after the installation process can greatly benefit your product’s longevity and the overall cost of your project.

3. Choose Your Flooring Carefully

Vinyl composition tile, wood, or rubber flooring can work well as alternatives to carpet.

Although it will help the overall aesthetic quality of the rooms you’re working on, the type of flooring you decide to install is very important for the technology you install in them, as well. Your choice of flooring will depend on the specific type of room you’re building or remodeling. Vinyl composition tile (VCT), wood, or rubber flooring can work well as alternatives to carpet where static electricity is a big issue. If no other options are viable, you can even consider anti-static carpeting to avoid damage to your electronic equipment. In cases where static electricity isn’t a problem, however, carpet can help create a comfortable and welcoming atmosphere for your office.

2. Establish What Can Be Saved

Sometimes when remodeling an office, your first instinct is to rip everything out and start fresh. This may work in some cases, but can be very costly to your institution and can possibly cause problems with how those changes interact with the rest of the office’s IT infrastructure. It’s important to start off by establishing what features can stay and which need changing. Sometimes old assets will need to be replaced to make room for newer features, even if they’re functionally sound. It’s important to keep in mind that every new addition brings with it a new set of possible issues that need troubleshooting. Finding a balance between what needs updating and what can be saved will help reduce the cost and potential negative impact your project has on the rest of the facility.

1. Choose Different Colored Cables

Cabling can be very visually confusing, with masses of cables running through your facility, all going to different devices and supporting different systems. Do yourself a favor and choose different colors for your cables during installation. The specific colors don’t matter as much as having them be universal across your facility so that people can know what cables serve what purpose at a glance and can avoid unplugging the wrong device. This will help throughout your implementation, as well as for any future work on the cabling you install.

(This was originally published on Optimal Partners’ blog.)

Project managers are always looking for quicker and more efficient ways to get work done. Every minute saved is another minute that can be used to focus on other tasks, meaning that any advantage you can get goes a long way. Luckily, there are a lot of simple tricks for managing your Higher Ed IT projects as optimally as possible.

Number 9: Eliminate, Automate, Delegate & Concentrate

Although this may seem like separate “hacks”, these four steps work in conjunction to help lighten your project management load. You should first eliminate as many tasks as you can from your project that aren’t necessary to its success. Some tasks may seem important to completing your objectives, but could be replaced with something more efficient or simply removed from your schedule altogether. Your time is a precious resource, and you must be critical of what you spend it on.

Once you’ve refined your schedule to include only your most important assignments, you should figure out which ones can be done without your active involvement. There are tons of useful tools and resources to help automate your job, allowing you extra time to deal with tasks that require your specific attention.

Leave yourself the assignments that only you can complete.

When an assignment can’t be automated, but doesn’t require your individual expertise, it’s best to delegate it to someone else. Let someone take care of the jobs that don’t need your supervision, and go onto your next task. Many project managers would feel more comfortable doing everything themselves, but that’s just not feasible. If you surround yourself with talented and enthusiastic team members, then you won’t have to worry about sharing your workload. Leave yourself the assignments that only you can complete, and delegate everything else to other people. This will ensure that you don’t get bogged down and that your project runs smoothly.

Multitasking is one of those skills that many people think they have, but more often than not, acts against their best interest. The initial thought is that multitasking helps people get their work done quicker, because they’re able to complete multiple tasks at once. While this may be true in an ideal scenario, it’s much better to concentrate on one or two tasks that only you’re capable of completing, finish them, and move onto the next assignment. This approach not only allows you to finish your work quicker, but also ensures that the tasks that specifically require your attention get completed before those that could be delegated to someone else.

Number 8: Implement Daily Stand-Up Meetings

Working in Higher Ed IT means attending a lot of meetings, but a short daily meeting could greatly benefit your project team. A stand-up meeting consists of team members each standing up and taking five to ten minutes to discuss how they’re allocating their time and what’s most important for them to work on. These meetings are meant to keep everyone on the same page and working towards a common goal, which can help when many people are working on different tasks and rely on each other to get their work done. If coordinating a daily meeting isn’t feasible for your team, then scheduling one every two days or twice weekly is still better than letting issues pile up until the next major project meeting.

Number 7: Use Mind Maps to Present Plans Visually

Proper documentation is key to running an efficient project, but not everyone responds the same way to a project charter or plan. Mind maps, or other similar diagrams, can help get important information across to your project team or stakeholders by presenting the data visually, rather than in blocks of text. Creating a mind map can even help consolidate and focus your thoughts, by letting you get your ideas out on paper. Some people may prefer more in-depth documents, but for most, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Number 6: Implement Social Task Management

Keep your team on the same page.

If you’re having issues with your project team’s communication or with bottlenecks in your production process, then a social task management approach may be exactly what you need. This management strategy revolves around using a centralized digital platform for your team’s communication, task tracking and project feedback. Applications like Basecamp, Asana, and Trello offer a wide array of features to keep your team on the same page and make tracking the progress of your project as easy as possible. Keeping everything in one place helps organize each step of your project, keep your team members focused, and ensure that issues don’t pile up before they can be addressed.

Number 5: Hire a Project Assistant

Don’t you sometimes wish you could clone yourself to get twice as much work done? Despite having a dedicated project team, your job as a project manager can still be a heavy weight to bear. Hiring a project assistant will give you the flexibility you need to focus on the success of your project, rather than the minute details of your schedule or your project team’s meeting agenda. These types of assignments need to get done so that you can get to the important parts of being a project manager, but it’s much more effective to have someone you work with closely take care of them instead.

Number 4: Utilize Dashboard Status Reporting

While mind maps are useful tools for visually representing information, dashboard diagrams give a very concise outlook of how your project is doing at a glance. They utilize geometry, colors and short text descriptions to give your stakeholders informative and succinct reports. Dashboards work alongside more detailed documentation to make your reporting process much more flexible, both in how it’s created and how it’s presented.

Number 3: Complete Any Task Immediately That Will Only Take 10 Minutes or Less

A large part of project management is knowing how to prioritize tasks, but more often than not, managers get so tied up in scheduling assignments and allocating resources, that they let a lot of little jobs pile up. A good rule of thumb is that you should complete any task that will only take between five to ten minutes, instead of filing it away for later. This will help cut down on the amount of work you need to do all at once, and will help clear up clutter in your schedule. The last thing you need is for a lot of small tasks to become a big hassle that distracts you from completing more important assignments.

Number 2: Set Aside a Time To Respond to Emails

Set up an “out of office” email message.

Emails are a vital part of the life of a project manager, but also a gigantic distraction that can make it very difficult to focus on a specific task. Instead of leaving your eyes and ears open to all avenues of communication, set aside a time to respond to emails or texts. Let your project team know that you’ve set aside a time to respond to their messages and set up an “out of office” email message, so that everyone knows that you’re not ignoring them. Without the added distraction, you should be able to be more productive with your day-to-day assignments, while being able to responding to the messages from your project team and stakeholders in a timely manner. Management requires finding a comfortable medium between being available for your team and getting specific work done on time, and this strategy will help you find that balance.

Number 1: Run Away For a Day

Project managers are almost always busy, jumping from one task to another, always connected and working to deliver quality products for their organizations. While many people work best under pressure and thrive off of success, sometimes their workloads can be overwhelming. Instead of letting your stress elevate to unsafe levels, it’s best to completely disconnect from your work and run away for a day. Take a day off, turn off your email and text notifications, and only answer your phone for urgent calls. This advice is a very common problem-solving technique, but it works on a larger scale for stressful jobs, as well. Not only will your mini-vacation give you the rest you need to give your project your all, but it will also give you a fresh perspective on any lingering issues once you return to work. Running away once in a while is not a quick fix to a cluttered schedule and an overwhelming workload; however, it works in conjunction with the other “hacks” on this list to make your job as a project manager easier and more efficient.

(This was originally published on Optimal Partners’ blog.)

In our first segment of the How to Migrate to An Online LMS (Learning Management System) series, we gave a general overview for the project, covering the three main stages: planning, configuration and deployment. We’re here to guide you through the details of your project, but part one of the series will help you get a better grasp of the “big picture” before delving into the specifics. This article will go into more detail on the initial stages of implementing an online LMS, ranging from how to decide which system is right for your organization to how to assemble a team for your project. Hopefully, this series will leave you with the tools needed to deliver a valuable asset to your organization.

What LMS Is Best For You?

Create a list of functionality that your organization requires, and perform a fit/gap analysis on the systems that prospective vendors offer.

Although your institution wants you to implement a new LMS, it’s up to you to work with them to decide which system best fits their needs. Some LMS’s offer features and functionality that others don’t, while some are more easily configurable. Your goal at this step is to create a list of functionality that your organization requires, and perform a fit/gap analysis on the systems that prospective vendors offer. Your list should consist of the technical requirements for a new LMS, as well as the specific preferences and configuration options that will make your users’ jobs easier. Some key things to consider are how you want your courses to be structured, what forms of reporting functionality your vendor can provide, and whether or not your new LMS meets any standards your organization needs to comply with. Take this opportunity to evaluate how your new system could build on the functionality of your old one, instead of trying to imitate it exactly. You might find that procedures and functionality can be optimized or redesigned to create a better user experience for your customers.

Creating Your Project Charter

Your project planning should begin with a project charter. This will help you establish your project’s objectives and requirements, and help you communicate them to your organization and project team. While your goal will be to migrate your institution’s data to a new online LMS, that still leaves you with a lot to figure out before diving into migration.

Your project’s scope determines how you plan on allocating your resources and team members to accomplish your objectives. This will help when assembling your project team, determining who should do what, and how each team member can potentially help others. This step is integral to the planning process, as so much relies on how you plan to get the job done in the first place.

Many projects progress in stages, where each step builds upon the step that came before it.

Your project charter should also include a proposed schedule for your project. This will not only help you see “the bigger picture,” but it will also make negotiations with your organization easier. Many projects progress in stages, where each step builds upon the step that came before it. This means that time management is very important, as each new stage in the implementation will require the last stage to be completed on time.

You will also need to touch on the basic requirements of your project: the costs, staff, and risks associated with the implementation, as well as your plan on how to transition from production to support. These are the kinds of topics that you’ll need to focus on while preparing your charter. Keep in mind, however, that your project charter is only a catalyst for your planning process, not a plan that’s set in stone ─ you’ll be able to adjust your project plan as the implementation evolves, but having a strong initial statement will help keep everyone involved on the same page.

Building Your Project Team

The project team you assemble will be the most important factor towards your success, especially since the implementation of an LMS requires a wide array of skill-sets and expertise. Hire as many talented people with previous experience in e-learning as possible. You should also negotiate with your vendor about working with the most experienced LMS implementation expert on staff, to help aid in the migration process.

Your team should start with your Project Sponsor, the middleman between your organization and your project. The Sponsor has the last call on any and all important decisions made throughout the implementation. Although project teams are less hierarchical in Higher Ed, the Project Director could be described as the second-in-command. The director provides overall direction for the team, ensuring that they are working towards a common goal, while also managing the financial side of the project. The project manager will provide the day-to-day management needed to keep the project in line with the project plan. They will monitor your team’s progress, ensure that tasks are completed on time, and plan for what’s ahead. Each section of your project team should also have someone at the helm. A Technical Lead and Functional Lead are necessary to keep tabs on the technical and functional teams respectively, while Network and Security Managers ensure that their teams have the resources and guidance that they need.

Work closely with your instructional design expert, LMS implementation expert, vendor, and project team.

One of the most important people to have on your team is an instructional design expert. They will help make the migration as smooth as possible, especially if your team is generally inexperienced in working on e-learning projects. You will need to work closely with your instructional design expert, LMS implementation expert, vendor and project team to deliver the best product for your institution.

Planning Your Project

It’s important to be as inclusive as possible while creating your plan.

Although your project charter is complete and your team is created, there’s still more planning to be done. In fact, having a team of talented and creative people can help the planning process expand upon what your project charter started. It’s important to be as inclusive as possible while creating your plan, not only communicating your ideas with others, but also including your team in the planning process directly.

The scheduling of your implementation is going to be tricky, since you’re often only given a deadline and a list of requirements to design an entire project. The key here is to start with your deadline and work backwards, making sure that each of your project’s components can fit together to deliver your product on time. If you can’t make room for something, you’ll need to find a way to either work around it or replace it with something that fits better in your schedule. You should plan ahead for any problems that may come up, as well. No project is perfect, and it’s always better to be proactive than reactive to issues that arise during your implementation. If you don’t end up using that time, then your team can perform additional testing or preparation for a smoother transition from production to support.

On To The Next Stage

Now that your project charter is finished, your team is assembled, and your plans are in place, you can now proceed to the configuration stage. Part three of this article series will explain in-depth how to configure your new LMS to fit your organization’s specific needs and how to prepare for your project’s migration to production.

(This was originally published on Optimal Partners’ blog.)

Why Implement A Learning Management System?

Online courses have become incredibly popular among a large portion of Higher Ed students, and many universities have responded by integrating e-learning into their normal course selection. These courses range from hybrid classes, which combine online assignments with traditional face-to-face learning, to completely online interactions between the students and their professor. A Learning Management System (LMS) acts as the backbone for these online courses, while also helping keep track of and providing useful data on classes for faculty and university staff alike. If your organization has decided to use an online LMS, there are a few key things you’ll want to remember before jumping into the project head-on. This article will act as an overview of the steps you’ll want to consider when migrating from a traditional classroom experience to an online LMS, while the rest of this series will delve deeper into each stage of the process, from planning to your project’s migration to production.

The Planning Stage

Keep in mind that your new system does not necessarily need to take on all of the components of your old one.

Before you start implementing your product, you must first identify which type of LMS will be best suited for your organization. Make a list of your organization’s business requirements and compare those with what vendors, and possibly open source products, offer. This fit/gap analysis can help you decide whether it would be better to customize your new LMS to fit your organization’s needs or to rework your procedures to better match with the new system. It’s important to keep in mind that your new system does not necessarily need to take on all of the components of your old one — this is an opportunity to optimize and rework how day-to-day procedures are done. Once you’ve selected the best LMS for your university, you can start planning its implementation.

The planning process starts with creating a project charter. Your charter should, among other things, specifically cover your project’s scope, the proposed schedule, any foreseeable costs your project will accrue, the required staff, possible risks associated with the project, and your plan for communicating to your users about its implementation. Don’t expect your charter to be completed in one sitting; you may need to revisit it.

Projects succeed or fail based on the merits of the people working on them, so it’s necessary to assemble the best team you can. Each stage of the project will require different types of expertise, from instructional designers to faculty members. Your team members should have backgrounds in e-learning, if possible ─ the more functional knowledge in the field, the better. All parties involved in your project will have to work together to ensure a smooth implementation, so make sure to maintain communication between the vendor, instructional designers, and the IT project team.

Take your “go live” date and work backwards.

Once your team is assembled, it’s time to create your plan for migrating to your new LMS. The key here is to take your “go live” date and work backwards, filling in each step in the process between now and your deadline. This will help keep your priorities in check, and ensure that any costs, risks, or staffing requirements will be accounted for. Once you’ve completed the first draft of your charter, gathered a talented team, and finished documenting your schedule/plan for the migration, you can start configuring your system to your organization’s specific needs.

The Configuration Stage

Don’t forget to have a Steering Committee that includes faculty to help you make major decisions.

Before your team can begin using the LMS, you must first configure it to fit your specific requirements. This process ranges from establishing what kinds of courses are offered to how Learning Tools Interoperability technology integrates with the system, and is essential to having the LMS work correctly. Collaborate with your vendor and instructional design experts to ensure all requirements are accounted for. Schedule weekly meetings to confirm that all of your chosen configuration options work well. Don’t forget to have a Steering Committee that includes faculty to help you make major decisions.

Once the initial configuration options are in place, more preparations must be made before your team can transfer that data into the new system. The most important things to consider at this step include what information you’ll require from your users, what kinds of administrative options you’ll need, and how you’ll integrate your university’s Student Information System and other systems. Only once your LMS is configured properly can your team begin to migrate information into it.

The migration process should be approached one step at a time to avoid unnecessary risks. Try testing a smaller portion of your data in the new system first, then transferring everything else once your team has established that the process runs smoothly. Don’t forget to verify that your LMS vendor has a robust disaster recovery plan in place. If you’re hosting it in-house, make sure you have a suitable backup infrastructure.

Incorporate as many members of your team and user base as possible in the testing process.

Now that the system is functional, it’s time to test it thoroughly, first creating a list of functionality. The best way to discover new problems and respond to user feedback is to incorporate as many members of your team and user base as possible in the testing process: this means getting feedback from university administrators, staff, faculty, and students, while being as flexible as possible when responding to their needs. When your team encounters a problem, the team should evaluate that problem and work to resolve it as quickly as possible, while also diminishing its impact on the project overall. Each new issue will take time out of your schedule, but staying on top of any manageable risks will help keep your project on track. If anything serious goes wrong, make sure to communicate the issue and your attempts to resolve it to your project team and stakeholders.

The Deployment Stage

Make user feedback as easy as possible.

Once the LMS has been thoroughly tested, it’s time to communicate with the rest of your user base about your project implementation — how the new system works and why it’s important to migrate over to the new LMS. Proper communication is paramount at this stage of the project, because no matter how much training you provide for your users, it’s important for them to understand the benefits of the new system. The best way to reach out to your university’s students and faculty is to encourage their engagement with the project: make user feedback as easy as possible, utilize social media to spread the word and have testers talk with other users about the new system. Once your user base is on board with your project, you can decide which type of training will best fit their needs.

Your team’s communication with university staff, faculty and students shouldn’t stop after the initial training and user outreach campaigns have ended. Maintaining a rapport with your users throughout the migration process and after the project goes live is vital to the success of your project. Universities are busy year-round, especially for staff and administration, so it’s important to be direct about when the system is set to go live. It’s up to your team to schedule the LMS migration around your organization’s needs — try to go live at a time when not many users would be impacted.

Create a frequently asked questions list to help lighten the load on your support team.

As part of the LMS’s deployment, your IT support team should be well trained in the new LMS, and supplied with the tools and resources necessary to keep up with any issues that may arise. Provide thorough documentation of the project and create a frequently asked questions list to help lighten the load on your support team. Keep in mind that technological issues aren’t the only problems that need resolving — you must also taken into account the preferences of your users when responding to their feedback. Keeping your stakeholder’s needs in focus is essential supporting a new LMS.

A Job Well Done

The success of the project relies heavily on how well you engage with your user base.

The migration to a new online Learning Management System can be costly and time-consuming, but with the right approach and a talented team, you can exceed your organization’s goals and meet deadlines. Communication is key, as the success of the project relies heavily on how well you engage with your user base. Once a transparent relationship is established between all parties, you can more easily adapt to meet the needs of your university’s staff, faculty, and students, while also conveying the importance of the project to everyone involved.

The next three articles in this series will focus on each stage of this process in much more detail and explain some of the more specific procedures involved in migrating to an online LMS.

(This was originally published on Optimal Partners’ blog.)

The word entrepreneur is often associated with successful business men and women who take chances on innovative ideas and create business empires, such as Bill Gates and Elon Musk. Despite having different end goals and practices, project managers in Higher Ed IT can learn a lot from the entrepreneurial mindset. Entrepreneurial project managers (EPMs) don’t just follow basic procedures; they take ownership of their projects, stay focused on the “big picture,” and inspire other team members to bring their projects to fruition.

Innovative

They strive to better allocate resources, manage time, and work to the strengths of their team members.

An average project manager may be content with sticking to standard management practices, but an EPM takes any opportunity to make their teams work more efficiently and to create value for their stakeholders. This sometimes means taking calculated risks when making decisions. Just as business entrepreneurs look for underserved markets, EPMs seek out innovation in their management strategies. They strive to better allocate resources, manage time, and work to the strengths of their team members to make a difference for their organization and to the processes of Higher Ed project management going forward.

Adaptable

Although the basic project management requirements for a Higher Ed institution may stay fairly stable, the field of Higher Ed IT is always evolving. This requires that project managers adapt to changes in technology and procedure to keep up with their organization’s needs. The entrepreneurial philosophy encourages EPMs to mentally walk through each part of their project and to follow that plan through to completion. Planning a project well isn’t necessarily sufficient for a successful project ─ a great project manager is able to proactively prepare for issues that may come up, and change their plans to compensate for those problems. The key is to avoid relying on reactionary management. Make sure that your team and project charter are ready to adapt as your project progresses.

Invested

They are self-motivated, and driven to excel, rather than just succeed at their job.

Just as a business entrepreneur puts their life into their work, an EPM feels a sense of ownership for their projects. They are self-motivated and driven to excel, rather than just succeed at their job. A great project manager nurtures a passion and devotion to excellence and instills those qualities in their team members. Try to create a collaborative environment for your team, and work with them, rather than just managing their assignments. Remember that an entrepreneur can’t do everything themselves (even though they might want to). Instead, they compensate by investing themselves in the success of their projects and being responsible for their team members’ success, as well.

Going Forward

Higher Ed is very different from the business world, but project managers in Higher Ed have a lot to gain from adopting the entrepreneurial spirit. To be a great EPM, you need to have a firm grasp on the future of your project, to be able to take chances on innovative ideas and to make important time-sensitive decisions. You need to be proactive, rather than reactive, to guarantee the satisfaction of your customers. The more you are personally invested in your project, the more you’ll motivate your team to succeed past expectations and deliver value to your organization.

(This was originally published on Optimal Partners’ blog.)

Mentoring Benefits Everyone

Mentoring is an incredibly rewarding experience. However, effective mentoring can often be difficult while managing a demanding project. Students may unintentionally be left by the wayside and you will need to ensure that they feel useful and engaged. This process takes time; but remember that it’s worth the effort to help undergraduates figure out where their skills and interests lie—once a strong connection is established, everyone involved will reap the benefits.

Treat Them Like Part of the Team

The work that a mentee is assigned should make them feel like an asset to the project. Giving students “busy work” and keeping them separate from their coworkers defeats the point of mentoring in the first place because both the student and the team will lose out on valuable learning experiences. Think of it like the domino effect: if the mentee is too busy getting coffee, they won’t be gaining the first-hand experience they need to succeed. Conversely, the team will lose the fresh perspective that a student will bring. Ultimately, an experienced team creates effective projects, but welcoming new ideas can lift the final product to a new level.

Help Them To Realize Their Goals

“Provide the guidance that will lead them towards realizing [their] goals.”

Mentoring isn’t only about finding talented students to work on your projects. Each student has their own goals and aspirations and it should be your aim to provide the guidance that will lead them towards realizing those goals. The best way to find out their interests and strengths in the field is to establish a functional relationship. Make time for as much one-on-one interaction with your students as possible: try meeting your team members for coffee or schedule a weekly meeting to discuss their progress. Getting to know your team members helps build an understanding that allows both parties to benefit.

Time Management Is Key

Everyone involved in Higher Education is busy, be it a student or IT professional. Scheduling mishaps with your team are bound to happen. Instead of focusing on them negatively, let them be a learning opportunity in effective time management. This, however, is not the solution to every problem. A demanding project may pull you away from your mentee in the same way that school may pull them away from you; both parties must accept this as a caveat of the mentorship.

Return on Investments

As long as everyone is willing to devote the time and energy needed to work together, both the students and your project will benefit. While it may be difficult to arrange the parameters of a mentorship, it is certainly an investment with a vast array of returns: not only for the sake of your project but the overall working environment. For more information about the many advantages of hiring undergraduate and graduate students for your projects, we have additional resources for you to peruse.

(This was originally published on Optimal Partners’ blog.)

While it had its ups and downs, last year was ultimately fruitful for Higher Ed technology innovation and improvement. Researchers are now studying how students learn with the help of wearable technology, EdTech professionals are exploring the potential learning opportunities provided by virtual reality, and blockchain is transforming from a buzzword into an emerging technology in Higher Ed. Similar advances made last year will help university IT departments prepare for 2017’s challenges. With that in mind, here are a few of last year’s most impactful Higher Ed technology trends.

Cybersecurity

Although cybersecurity is an ever-present challenge in university IT, last year marked an increase in awareness and preparation against potential security threats. Higher Ed institutions became popular targets for hackers in the last few years thanks in part to the vast amounts of personal information they house and the plethora of different devices that users bring to campus. Earlier in the year, information security ranked #1 on Educause’s Top 10 IT Issues list for 2016, and it has remained on top for their list going into 2017.

While universities work to protect their users from security breaches, the biggest challenge seems to be fighting against human nature. Phishing attacks and ransomware pose significant threats to Higher Ed institutions, especially when users aren’t aware that they may be vulnerable. IT departments are fighting back by training end users on how to avoid falling victim. With the addition of potential risks brought on by the rise of IoT, universities are going to need to make cybersecurity a high priority in 2017.

Advancements in EdTech

No one technology single-handedly changed higher education in 2016.

2016 was the year that science fiction met reality, at least in regards to Higher Ed technology. Virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality each continue to show their potentialfor creating unique learning experiences. Wearable technology has proven not just popular among students, but also useful for studying learning behavior. EdTech professionals continue to explore the myriad ways in which students thrive, rather than sticking to the traditional classroom dynamic. No one technology single-handedly changed higher education in 2016, but through advancements in many different areas, EdTech professionals are on their way to revolutionizing learning for the better this year.

Diversity in Higher Ed IT

Diversity became one of Higher Ed’s most important topics for discussion in 2016, not only in regards to an increasingly diverse student base, but also in the lack of diversity within the Higher Ed IT workforce. These challenges are more related than one might think. As a user base becomes more diverse, it is important to have their perspectives and needs represented in the IT departments that serve them. Whether it’s diversity of race, age, or gender, matching the expectations of users and building a stronger IT workforce through inclusivity is going to be an important objective in 2017.

Predictive Analytics

The data that Higher Ed institutions collect does nothing by itself, but with the right organization and analysis, it can be an incredibly useful tool. This last year, many universities took initiative to make sense of their data for the benefit of their stakeholders. Predictive analytics does more than just improve administrative efforts, however; student success technologies help provide vital details on how specific students are doing and how they can improve. These technologies were ranked #3 on Educause’s top 10 issues list, and are bound to be improved on and more widely utilized throughout the new year.

While many of the challenges of last year may continue into 2017, the advancements and innovations of the last twelve months give Higher Ed institutions a significant advantage. As long as university IT departments effectively communicate with their users, stay ahead of tomorrow’s cyber threats, and make the best use of technology to promote education, this year should be equally as productive as the last.

Sometimes, it can feel like Higher Ed IT moves at a snail’s pace; it can be slow to adopt new technologies, slow to get projects underway and slow to make key decisions on projects that go through multiple departments at an institution. While these snags are often unavoidable, there are a few things you can do to help shorten a lengthy decision-making process and minimize its effect on your progress as much as possible.

Get Ahead

With each major decision, try to have a plan and a process set up for arriving at an outcome, including any timelines and contingencies that need to be accounted for.

The key to avoiding project slowdown during the decision-making process is to realize the issue ahead of time and take actions to prevent it before it starts. Sit down with the project sponsor, decision makers, and stakeholders and agree on what the scope and deliverables for the project should be. Getting this out of the way early will help avoid having to ask important questions as you implement, which can be incredibly messy and could potentially delay the project. It may sound obvious, but thoroughly documenting decisions that are made in each meeting can also save time and potentially prevent those decisions from coming up again in the future. With each major decision, try to have a plan and a process set up for arriving at an outcome, including any timelines and contingencies that need to be accounted for. Some delays may be unavoidable, but with the right preparations, you can work to minimize their impact.

Be Inclusive

Including the right people in your project at the right time can substantially improve decision-making speed. If possible, bring in key decision makers for meetings on at least a monthly basis. If that isn’t possible, work with them to appoint a representative who can make decisions on their behalf. It’s also important to engage with those who will be impacted by the decision–whether they’re faculty, staff, or students. Reaching out to all related parties when making key decisions will help to expedite the process significantly. Don’t be afraid to take advantage of the opportunities that working in Higher Ed affords your steering committee; depending on your institution, you may be able to contact highly qualified academics with specific knowledge on the topic you’re deciding on.

Communicate

Getting stakeholders together to discuss the decision will be much more effective than trying to come to a decision by conference call or email.

Effective communication is important in all stages of a project’s life cycle, but it is especially valuable when trying to guide a committee or project team towards a major decision. Start off by conveying the decision-making process to those involved early on, and have them commit to following it. Once everyone is on board, have them agree on the nature of the question at hand and what the final decision will entail. While having everyone in the same room may seem impossible, getting stakeholders together to discuss the decision will be much more effective than trying to come to a decision by conference call or email. Individual meetings with committee or team members may also be necessary to ensure that everyone is on the right track.

Take the Lead

If you’re looking for ways to reduce the impact that downtime can have on your project, the most effective way to approach the decision-making process is to treat it as a project. Think of your steering committee as a project team; every committee member must understand and agree to their role in the process for the design-making process to be truly effective. Engage with decision makers to ensure that deadlines are met and that the plans that were initially agreed upon are followed. Establish a risk mitigation plan that covers what could go wrong, how likely it is to go wrong, and what can be done to minimize that risk. This will help prevent unnecessary delays in case something goes awry. As the “team lead”, you might be put in a situation where you need to trust your gut instincts in regards to a major decision rather than relying on hard data to back up your approach. Moments like this require strong leadership skills but can be made easier with the right preparation. Every project needs a lead, and your steering committee will benefit greatly from your willingness to take an active role.

While these four tips may be obvious to some, it’s easy to overlook the little things that can make a lengthy decision-making process easier for everyone. Making your steering committee as efficient as possible and preparing for any potential delays can work wonders towards minimizing the effects that a setback may have on your IT project.

This article was written in collaboration with Andy Barbeau, senior IT management consultant; Anna Tomecka, senior project manager; Glen Low, e-learning strategist; Nicolas Alvargonzalez, senior engineer; and Nuno Couto, senior project manager.

The success of an IT project in Higher Ed relies heavily on the strength and organization of the team responsible for its completion. That being said, building a dream team of department employees and contractors will not necessarily guarantee that your project runs smoothly. In fact, there are more subtle, and often overlooked, ways to improve the chances that your project meets its deadline, stays on budget, and exceeds stakeholder expectations. Here are a few of the best tips to keep in mind during your next Higher Ed technology project.

Start with the End in Mind

Proper project documentation can be easily overlooked but will significantly improve your chances of project success.

It may sound obvious, but stepping back and properly defining, agreeing upon, and documenting the desired end state for your project is essential. Proper project documentation can be easily overlooked but will significantly improve your chances of project success. How can success be achieved or measured if the criteria for measurement has not been defined? Norbert Kubilus, president and CEO at Coleman University, proposes that the improper definition and documentation of requirements is a primary reason why technology projects fail.To rectify this issue, he suggests that a document be created at the project’s outset to record its objectives. This document, often called a charter, should include “the institutional, functional, and/or programmatic outcomes” that the project aims to achieve. Once the goals of the project are established and effectively documented, project team members will have a resource to refer back to throughout planning, development, and implementation to ensure that they’re working in the right direction. However, this is not the only document that you need at the beginning of your project. It is also essential to have a more detailed requirements document exactly describing the features of the new product, whether it’s a vendor product evaluation, a cloud implementation, or the development of a new application.

Avoid the Us Vs Them Approach

Establishing a culture of collaboration within your IT department is paramount to empowering project team members and ensuring that everything runs smoothly. Effective communication shouldn’t stop with those working within your IT department, however. We had the chance to ask Joanna Young, digital advisor and senior managing director at BlueLine Associates and former CIO at Michigan State University, for her insight.

“Simply put, there are basic ingredients to increasing chances of project success. First, a ‘one team’ approach where sponsors and stakeholders participate and buy into the business objectives and how the project will be stewarded and executed. Second, I advise ‘hyper collaboration’ where all participants can contribute, chat, and suggest in a variety of in-person and digital ways.”
-Joanna Young (@jcycio)

Nuno Couto, founder and CEO of Optimal Partners and senior project management consultant, shares a similar sentiment.

“There is collaboration and there is Collaboration. In the ideal scenario, collaboration is not just the monthly Steering Committee meetings. As Joanna Young mentioned, there is a place for electronic communications. However, there are also much more informal conversations with stakeholders, situations when they can provide honest, unencumbered feedback on a one-on-one basis. The question to ask is “How can I go out of my way to make sure that the right people feel truly involved and have input into the decisions made?”
-Nuno Couto (@nunomcouto)

Be Prepared For Change

Although Higher Ed may be slow to evolve in general, IT projects need to buck that trend to survive. It’s key to ensure that your team is well equipped to deal with anything that gets thrown at them, from major bugs to budget constraints and delays. Not all change is necessarily bad, but nevertheless, your team should be prepared to react accordingly without compromising the project’s original vision. When asked on Twitter to provide a tip for project success, Ganesan “Ravi” Ravishanker, CIO at Wellesley College, proposed bringing “partners along to believe that all projects are forever beta.” Having everyone on the same page and creating a “formal change-control process to handle implementation realities and stakeholder requests,” as Kubilus puts it, is essential to keeping the project on track while providing the flexibility to adjust when necessary.

Mitigate Risk Throughout

There’s a lot that goes into starting an IT project in Higher Ed, so it can be easy to overlook processes that may not seem worth your time. Let’s be clear. The task of creating a risk mitigation plan for your project should not be dismissed. Something as simple as a spreadsheet with a well-defined list of risks with associated probability of occurring, level of impact scores, mitigation approaches, and responses can be a huge asset. At the very least, going through this effort will ensure that stakeholders are aware of the risks. At best, your team will have a thorough plan for how to react to potential problems before they run into them.

Remember, the risk mitigation plan is not complete until the project is. It must be reviewed and updated on a regular basis to ensure that any changes in the project status are reflected in the risk mitigation plan. When presenting potential risks to the project leadership and sponsor, it’s incredibly valuable to be able to show that there is a thoughtful risk mitigation approach in place.

Allocate the Proper Non-Monetary Resources

For a project to succeed, team members and stakeholders must be given the time needed to work on it.

Higher Ed IT project teams are often expected to work magic, providing value to stakeholders without the budget to support them effectively. A well-managed budget may be an obvious requirement for project success, but Kubilus explains that while “providing team members with the resources they will need to undertake the project” is key, not all resources are necessarily monetary. For a project to succeed, team members and stakeholders must be given the time needed to work on it. “This is extremely important for faculty and staff stakeholders, who will find it difficult to juggle project duties with everyday teaching or office responsibilities,” Kubilus writes. Ensuring everyone commits time to the project isn’t always enough, however; managing everyone’s time properly and providing team leadership enough time with stakeholders is also vital.

Finishing your project on schedule may be daunting, but there are strategies to prepare for potential conflicts. Set a realistic deadline from the get-go and ensure that everyone is on the same page about when the project is expected to be completed. Allocating a significant buffer time to the project deadline upfront will ensure that your team has the wiggle room to deal with inevitable bumps in the road. If the project runs into trouble and has a non-negotiable deadline, then management must be willing to either decrease the scope or increase the staff on the project.

Clearly Define Roles & Processes

One of the most overlooked portions of project planning is the documentation of team roles and processes. This should be part of the project management plan. “Project management plan?” you may ask. “Isn’t that the same as the project plan?” No, it isn’t. The project plan is a schedule with tasks, assignments, and durations, while the project management plan is just that. It’s a description of the agreed responsibilities that each team member has and what project management processes will be put in place. For example, will you have daily stand-up meetings? What issue tracking tool will be used? How and who will communicate to team leadership and how often? Who is responsible for the final technical decisions? As Couto explains, “almost every time that a project manager of a project of significant size does not create a project management plan, they regret it.” Require your project managers to document roles and processes at the outset of the project and you will save yourself a lot of headaches.

The real defining qualities between a successful project and a failure is not how many bumps there are in the road, but rather how a project team prepares for and responds to issues as they come up. Keeping these often overlooked tips in mind is a great way to increase your chances of project success.