Online Resources for Areas of Concern in Project Management

Communicating with Clients and Customers

The Art of Communicating With Clients

In this article, Raphael Lapin provides insightful answers to 20 questions about communicating with customers and clients. Questions range from "Why is listening to clients so important?" to "How do you get clients to open up about their lives, attitudes, and dreams for the future?"

Controlling Scope Creep

Seven Steps for Avoiding Scope Creep

In this article, Shelly Doll illustrates a "scope creep horror story" and then summarily outlines 7 key steps for avoiding scope creep in a web development project. These steps include 1) understand project vision; 2) understand your priorities and the priorities of clients/customers; 3) define deliverables and have them approved; 4) parse deliverables into actual "work requirements;" 5) ID major/minor "milestones;" 6) determine resources and critical path - make assignments (GAANT or PERT charting); and 7) expect some scope creep to occur and be prepared for it.

Changes in the Environment

The Titanic sunk, so what? Project manager response to unexpected events

The authors of this research article present results of a study of multiple project manager's responses to various unpredictable situations in project management. The article is long, but illuminating and utilitarian (not the "gutter" type). Here's the abstract:

"Projects are inherently uncertain and face unexpected events, from small changes in scope to unforeseen client’s bankruptcy. This paper studies how project managers respond to such events and how successful and unsuccessful responses differ from the perspective of the practitioner. We analysed 44 unexpected events faced by 22 experienced project managers in defence and defence-related organisations. The project managers compared two unexpected events that they faced, one that they considered the response successful and the other unsuccessful. We identified three pillars supporting successful responses to unexpected events: (1) responsive and functioning structure at the organisational level, (2) good interpersonal relationship at the group level and (3) competent people at the individual level. The events and respective responses analysed suggest that improvement in project management can be achieved by better managing these three pillars, allowing project and programme managers to 'create their own luck.'"

Staying on Schedule

Project Management 101 - Part 3: Managing Time and Schedule

In this article, John Reh is concise and to the point about how to stay on schedule in project management (I suspect he has his own schedule to keep). He highlights the importance of identifying key tasks, creating a detailed schedule, and identifying a critical path.

Failure to Understand and Sufficiently Appreciate

W.L. Gore and Associates (Gore) is a company that develops medical devices. In reality, Gore is a materials development company (think Teflon, their most famous product), but one division is dedicated to developing applications of these materials to medical devices.

In the early 2000's, the medical device division developed a product aimed at treating aortic aneurisms. This device was a simple long tube of teflon material, with rings to hold the teflon open, like a Chinese finger trap. Along the length of the tube ran a long, thin connecting bar used during the "deployment" of the device into the aorta (these are the really cool devices that are inserted into the heart and blood vessels through a vessel in the leg - in the picture above, the Gore device is on the left and a competing device is on the right).

Because a very similar Gore device was already in use for aneurisms in the abdomen, early clinical testing of the new device didn't include pulse-fatigue testing, where the device is repeatedly bent back-and-forth. Over time, it was discovered that the long connecting bar would break because of the much harsher and more active environment near the heart.

Failure to do the pulse-fatigue testing was a result of a lack of understanding by the engineers on the project of the anatomy and how that area of the body moved. At the same time, the clinical physicians on the project likely knew about the anatomical issues, but had an under-appreciation for them in terms of engineering problems. A related issue leading to the failure of the device may have been complacency on behalf of the project manager and other team members. Because a similar device had been implemented effectively in other areas of the body, it was assumed the new device would work well in the aorta near the heart.

Gore has taken steps to reduce this type of failure by implementing more complex and advanced a priori modeling. In addition, they require project managers to be very well schooled in all aspects of the development process. If the project manager on this particular project had been able to make the connection between the physicians' knowledge and the engineers' knowledge, the failure might have been avoided altogether.

The FDA determined that the breakage of the connecting bar in Gore's device was not "life-threatening." However, Gore has a very conservative policy on all its devices and voluntarily chose to remove the product from the market because they deemed the risk of damage from the broken bar too high. They felt it was possible for the broken bar to gouge or even penetrate surrounding tissues, including the aorta. While legally they could have continued to produce and market the device, they chose to go back and re-design it in order to meet their own standards of safety and to avoid simply producing a "good-enough" product.

This decision, a direct result of failure during initial project management, not only cost Gore a lot of money, it became an emotional struggle for the project members as well. After the product was removed from the market, almost daily a doctor or two would call the company requesting the product be put back on the market ("it's FDA approved") because, they would say, "you're killing my patients by not letting me have your device."

Failure to understand and sufficiently appreciate key aspects of a project often leads to failure to produce or to produce well. Sometimes, as in the case above, it can lead heavy consequences indeed.

My Curriculum Vitae

Click on the following link to access my up-to-date CV.

TJ Bliss CV

MEG Grant Budget

Here is a first draft of my proposed budget.

Wages
Number of Undergraduate Students	1
Wage per Hour	$0.00
Number of Graduate Students	1
Wage Per Hour	$21.00
Number of Hours Per Week	20
Number of Weeks	12
Cost For Graduate Wages	$5,040
Total Wages	$5,040
Supplies
Laptop	$2,000
Digital Audio Recorders (2)	$200
Digital Video Cameras (2)	$300
Digital Still-Photo Cameras (2)	$250
Pens/notebooks/etc.	$100
Total Supplies	$2,850
Travel
Travel - Malawi
Airfare (2 RT tickets)	$5,500
Food (30 days @ $20/day x 2)	$1,200
Hostel (@ SAFI)	$0
Translator (20 days @ $50/day)	$1,000
Immunizations (x 2)	$200
In-country transportation	$1,036
Travel - 2012 AERA Conference
Airfare (3 RT tickets)	$1,229
Registration/Membership Fees	$385
Hotel (4 nights @ $120/night x 2)	$960
Food (5 days @ $40/day x 3)	$600
Total Travel	$12,110
GRAND TOTAL	$20,000

Funnel Vision

• The United Nations predicts that much of the world's population growth between 2008 and 2050 will occur in developing countries, including all the countries in Africa (Population Reference Bureau 2008).
  
  
• In Malawi, an East African country, the 2010 population estimate was 15.5 million while the projected 2050 population estimate was 37.4 million, an increase 135% (Population Reference Bureau 2010). (Filter: Malawi)
  
  
• Agricultural activities in Malawi comprise 87% of the labor force, with 80% of food production and 65% of agriculture GDP coming from smallholder farms, mostly engaged in growing maize (New Agriculturist, Country Profile –Malawi 2001). Inefficiencies in farming have contributed to 35% of the population of Malawi being undernourished (Population Reference Bureau 2010). (Filter: inefficient smallholder farming)

• Since the 1970’s, widespread and various agriculture extension education efforts among smallholder famers have been enacted to improve food security and crop production at both the national and local levels (Davis 2008). (Filter: agriculture extension education)
  
  
• Research has shown that extension efforts that are tailored to local situations are more effective at effecting change than standardized programs applied systematically across a wider geography (Anderson 2002, cited in Davis 2008). (Filter: localized extension)
  
  
• Farmer Field Schools (FFS) exemplify one model of extension applied to agriculture that is flexible enough to adjust to local cultural and environmental needs (Gallagher 2006). At FFS, small groups of farmers meet regularlymwith an agricultural expert or government extension agent and engage in discovery learning, famer experimentation, and group problem solving (Davis 2008). (Filter: Farmer Field Schools)
  
  
• FFS are in place in all 27 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa and have met with some success in terms of increased productivity and learning (Davis 2008, Tripp 2005). (Filter: FFS in Sub-Saharan Africa)
  
  
• However, as Davis (2008) reports in a review on extension education in Sub-Saharan Africa, “as with many [extension] models worldwide, there has not been enough effort to provide hard evidence of the effectiveness of FFS. Most FFS programs rely on ex post evaluations, which are not able to provide rigorous results as to how the program compares to alternative programs or to the counterfactual situation of having no FFS [traditional apprenticeship]. If there are data, they often remain in the grey literature, and the information is not available to stakeholders who could provide peer review and validation of the methods and results.” (Filter: lack of comparative research on FFS vs. alternative extension models)
  
  
• One recently developed alternative model of extension education in Malawi is the School of Agriculture for Family Independence (SAFI), a privately funded Agriculture Technical School (ATS) that incorporates a 1-year period of formal classroom and lab-based curriculum followed by a 1-year FFS-type learning environment, with instruction provided mainly by faculty from the University of Malawi. (Fitler: Agriculture Technical Schools; SAFI)
  
  
• The purpose of this research is to rigorously describe and compare three models of agricultural education and extension in Malawi: ATS, FFS, and traditional apprenticeship.

Literature Cited

Anderson, J. R. (2002). Ecosystem health and economic development: Rural vision to action. Rural Development Department, World Bank, Washington, DC, U.S.A.

Davis, K. E. (2008). Extension in Sub-Saharan Africa: Overview and assessment of past and current models, and future prospects. Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education 15(3), 15-28.

Gallagher, K. D., Braun, A. R., and Duveskog, D. (2006). Demystifying farmer field school concepts. www.infobridge.org/asp/documents/3200.pdf

New Agriculturist. (2001). Country profile: Malawi. Downloaded from the world wide web on October 14, 2010 http://www.new-ag.info/country/profile.php?a=874

Population Reference Bureau. (2008). “World population highlights,” Population Bulletin 63(3).

Population Reference Bureau. (2010). Data by Geography: Malawi: Summary. Downloaded from the world wide web on October 14, 2010 http://www.prb.org/Datafinder/Geography/Summary.aspx?region=41&region_type=2

Tripp, R. Wijeratne, M. and Piyadasa, V. H. (2005). What should we expect from farmer field schools? A Sri Lanka case study. World Development 33(10), 1705-1720.

My Question - Totally Revised

Dissertation Big Question

What [impact] does the [1-year formal training phase] at [SAFI*] have on the [participation in] and [attitude] of [farmers] [toward] the [FFS**l-type phase]?

[How] does the [1-year formal training phase] at [SAFI] [influence] the [participation in] and [attitude] of [farmers] toward the [Farmer Field School-type phase]?

[How] does the [1-year formal training phase] at [SAFI] [influence] the [participation in] and [attitude] of [farmers] toward the [Farmer Field School-type phase] [compared to farmers in traditional FFS situations]?

How do SAFI farmers' [participation in] and [attitudes toward] the SAFI FFS-type phase compare to [participation] and [attitudes] of non-SAFI farmers in traditional FFS situations?

How do SAFI farmers' [attitudes] and [beliefs] about [agriculture] compare to the [attitudes] and [beliefs] about [agriculture] of non-SAFI farmers in traditional FFS situations?

How do SAFI farmers' [understanding] and [practices] of [agriculture] compare to the [understanding] and [practices] of [agriculture] of non-SAFI farmers in traditional FFS situations?

How do SAFI [alumni's] [understanding] and [practices] of [agriculture] compare to the agricultural [understanding] and [practices] of [alumni] of traditional FFS in [Malawi]?

How do SAFI [participants'] [knowledge], [practices], and [productivity] in [maize farming] compare to maize farmers who have participated in traditional FFS in [Malawi]?

How do SAFI participants' beliefs, knowledge, practices, and productivity relative to maize farming change over time compared to maize farmers who have participated in traditional FFS and to maize farmers who have not participated in extension education in Malawi?

What is the effectiveness of SAFI--in terms of participant beliefs, knowledge, practices and productivity relative to maize farming--compared to traditional FFS and to farming not influenced by extension education in Malawi?

*SAFI = School of Agriculture for Family Independence
**FFS = Farmer Field Schools

Meg Grant Research Question

What does SAFI look like, what do FFS look like and what does traditional smallholder farming look like in Malawi?

How do three models of agricultural education in Malawi (Agriculture Technical Schools, Farmer Field Schools, and traditional apprenticeship) compare?

How do representatives of three models of agricultural education in Malawi--Agriculture Technical School, Farmer Field School, and traditional apprenticeship--compare?

How do Agriculture Technical School, Farmer Field School, and traditional apprenticeship models of agricultural education in Malawi compare?

MEG Grant Research Purpose*

The purpose of this research is to describe and compare three models of agricultural education in Malawi: Agricultural Technical School, Farmer Field School, and traditional apprenticeship.

(*Note - While a research question is appropriate from a positivist perspective, from a post-modernist perspective a research purpose is preferred to a research question. Since Dr. Smith is a postmodernist qualitative researcher, we will be using a research purpose instead of a research question.)

Literature Review

Traditionally, extension in Africa was focused on increasing production, improving yields, training farmers, and transferring technology. Today extension is going beyond simple "transfer to facilitation, beyond training to learning, and includes assisting farmer groups to form, dealing with marketing issues and partnering with a broad range of service providers and other agencies" (Davis 2008).

Many countries have Agricultural Advisory Services run by the government, but these are often inefficient and rife with waste because extension agents are not well trained and dissemination of information is slow and nonhomogenous (Davis 2008).

There are issues with measuring the impact of extension efforts, especially in linking cause and effect quantitatively (Davis 2008).

At the same time, extension has been shown to have significant positive effects on knowledge, adoption of techniques and skills, and productivity (Birkhaeuser et al. 1991).

The magnitude of extension impacts is highest in countries where farmers have access to schooling, technology, and extension (Evenson 1997).

In the 1970's, Integrated Rural Development Projects (IRDPs) were established in multiple African nations. These programs included extension and research efforts but often neglected training, linkages with research, and proper management (Anderson 2002; Davis 2008).

IRDPs were also ineffective because they tried to apply a standard model to a myriad of local situations. These inefficiencies led to the development of multiple models of extension including (but not limited to) training and visits (T&V), participatory approaches, farming systems research, farmer technical schools, and farmer field schools (Davis 2008). These models of extension allow for adaptation of extension efforts to local conditions and allow for flexibility in program modalities and administrations.

The farmer field school (FFS) approach is an especially intriguing recent development in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). FFS are generally composed of 20-25 farmers who meet informally and regularly (viz. once a week) with an expert facilitator. Learning activities include discovery learning, farmer experimentation, and group action (Davis 2008). FFS are geared toward a variety of agricultural subjects, ranging from food security to animal husbandry (Davis 2008) and such schools can be found in at least 27 SSA countries, including Malawi (Braun et al. 2005). To date, there has been little research conducted examining the impact of FFS on economy, productivity or learning (Davis 2008).

The School of Agriculture for Family Independence (SAFI) in Malawi is a hybrid of a modified FFS model and a technical trade school model. Students at SAFI participate in a formal classroom and "lab"-based curriculum on campus for 1 year and then return to their farms for a second year. The "on-farm" portion of the program is essentially a FFS situation, where under the guidance of expert facilitators, farmers apply the knowledge and skills gained in their first year.